Report of Parish Response to the 2007 Resolution Calling for Climate/Carbon Neutrality Energy Audits
At the 2007 Diocesan Convention, the Resolution Calling for Climate/Carbon
Neutrality Energy Audits was passed unanimously, and stated that each
parish shall:
"conduct an in-house environmental audit of its energy
use, consumption patterns, and plant use management" and "report
by the 177th [2009] convention on its audit and its plan to address
deficits in its local environmental stewardship, including a report
of its comprehensive energy use."
At the 2008 Diocesan Convention, Bishop Tom Ely re-established the
Diocesan Committee on the Environment (COE) and charged it with keeping
the subject of healing the planet before the Diocese, both in terms
of education and action.
As one of its first actions, the COE created a resource-efficient, on-line survey that provided a means for each parish to fulfill its responsibility to report on its energy assessment and environmental plans; and, for the COE to compile this information for reporting to the 2009 Diocesan Convention. This report is a summary of parishes’ responses to the on-line survey.
On-Line Survey
The on-line survey asked each parish to provide the following:
- Parish contact information, including the naming of two (2) Environmental Stewards to serve as contacts with the COE for future environmental topics and action.
- Completion of an energy audit to document their response to the 2007 Resolution
- Actions taken and planned to address energy efficiency and environmental stewardship.
- Prior two (2) years of energy use data (heating and electricity use and costs) to establish baseline energy use data for each parish.
In addition, the survey asked parishes to comment on the barriers to their energy efficiency and environmental actions; and, their use of Eco-Teams using the "Low Carbon Diet" workbook to help parishioners to address their personal carbon footprints.
Survey Process
Each parish priest, or senior warden, in the absence of a priest, was notified of the survey via e-mail from the Diocese and was provided with an electronic link to access the survey document and to input their responses. The COE also identified committee members available to help with survey responses, and included the option of using paper copies of the survey document if parishes were not able to use the on-line survey. Some of the experiences, i.e. "lessons learned", from the use of this electronic survey process are summarized in a later section of this report.
Survey Responses
The COE has compiled the data from all of the individual parishes that responded to the on-line survey and summarized key data received in the documents that accompany this report.
Conclusions from the Survey:
- There has been less than 100% response to the 2007 Resolution
- Not all parishes are at the same level with respect to taking actions to be more energy efficient and environmentally aware.
- Almost all of the parishes that did respond to the survey are doing things to be more energy efficient, e.g. thermostat setback, caulking/weatherstripping, installing efficient lights; and to become more environmentally aware, e.g. recycling and using fewer disposables.
- Parishes could be doing more to be energy efficient, e.g. turning OFF unnecessary refrigerators, insulating heating pipes, sealing ductwork; and to become more environmentally aware, e.g. composting food waste, encouraging ride sharing, creating more Eco-Teams.
- Estimates of individual parish carbon footprints based on the energy use data are very approximate and do not include important factors such as transportation energy use.
Findings from Using the On-Line Survey Tool
- Not all parishes are at the same level with respect to using electronic reporting
- There was a need to find the "right" person to respond to the survey
- The survey asked for things that parishes have not done before, i.e. identify an Environmental Steward and to compile energy use data.
- The effort to collect/compile energy use data for the survey was greater than the effort needed to respond to the survey on-line.
Recommendations for Continuing Efforts
As part of its charge to keep the subject of healing the planet before the Diocese, both in terms of education and action, the COE plans to pursue the following:
- Follow-up with parishes that did not respond to the on-line survey in order to establish a complete database of parish responses.
- Build communication among Environmental Stewards to improve the sharing of environmental and energy information
- Work with the Diocese to integrate the survey into annual reporting processes
- Encourage parishes to pursue the creation of Eco-Teams to help parishoners address their personal carbon footprints.
- Refine the on-line survey tool to make it easier to use, while continuing to support those having difficulty with electronic media
- Improve the estimation of parish, and subsequently the Diocesan, carbon footprint
- Compare energy use data with baseline data as a way to evaluate progress toward carbon neutrality.
This report and the accompanying documents has been compiled
by a task force of the COE, consisting of Ron McGarvey, Denise Noble,
Bob Wertz,
and The Rev. Anita Schell-Lambert, ex-officio.
Download the report as a Word file.
Download Excel spreadsheet of survey responses to questions about energy audits and appointment of environmental stewards and eco teams.
Below are graphs of other responses.
