But where do you start? It can all seem overwhelming. Here’s ten simple steps to get your church started on its journey to net zero carbon.
1) Find some people to work together, this is a big challenge to do alone. Maybe you could team up with another church in your deanery, or get a keen volunteer from the community.
2) Have a look at our resources and case studies for inspiration and advice.
3) Register for Eco Church and have a look at the survey questions – they have lots of ideas for free, including many easy changes you can make.
4) Start recording regular meter readings so you can see how much energy you actually use. Or get a smart meter to make it even easier!
5) Fill in the Energy Footprint Tool (EFT) to get an annual carbon footprint report to share with your PCC and help get more people on board!
6) Use the Church Heating Checklist to think about what where your church needs to be heated – is it the space or the people? All the time or just Sunday morning? Everyone, or just the choir?
7) Use our new Practical Guide To Net Zero Carbon for Churches to help you through lots of potential measures to save energy and reduce carbon.
8) Get some expert advice. You can ask your DAC, your QI architect, or get an independent energy audit. This will give you a summary of the likely measures suitable in your church.
9) Check what grants are available through the Church of England.
10) Finally - have a nice cup of tea and celebrate everything you have done!
Do you need more inspiration?
Watch our new short animation to find out what steps you can take on your net zero journey.
You can also take a look at our new Practical Guide to help you – this is packed full of tips and advice, a handy flowchart to help with heating solutions and a checklist for step by step actions you can take as a church. There’s also a Word version of the new guide as well, handy for printing or for cut and pasting information into your own church documents and reports.
