Host a Free Energy Audit Workshop
These workshops, which are approximately two hours in length, include an informational presentation and a walk-through of your facility by an experienced energy professional. We'll help you discover ways in which you can save money on your energy bills while helping to protect God's Creation.
For further information, contact us at info@ncipl.org or call 919-828-6501.
Become a Creation-Conscious Congregation!
and
10 Simple Things YOU Can Do
(To Reduce Global Warming)
We want to reduce CO2 emissions as individuals, congregations and governments in order to reduce the rate and extent of global warming. In North Carolina we can reduce emissions
* by reducing our consumption of electricity and gasoline,
* by purchasing NC GreenPower through our utility providers or at www.ncgreenpower.org.
* and by working with public officials to encourage a large-scale switch to safe, clean energy generation.
Scientists estimate that we must reduce carbon emissions worldwide by 70% of 1990 levels to stabilize the climate, and in the US for most of us that means reductions of 80%-90% of current usage. How do we make such a drastic turn in energy use patterns?
1. We find out how much coal, gas, and oil our households used in 2000. We collect utility bill records (available on utilities’ websites) and estimate household driving and airplane miles.
2. Several websites offer carbon footprint calculators to estimate how much carbon a household has been releasing. An excellent one is
http://www.cool-it.us/index.php?refer=acterra&task=carbon . (This site is occasionally unavailable. Try again the next day.) We plug in our own 2000 figures and post the results on the home bulletin board.
3. We conduct a household energy audit, with the whole family walking through to observe air leaks, concentrating on ceilings, windows and doors. If we can afford it, we call in a professional auditor.
4. We weatherize, install energy-efficient appliances, and replace incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent lights. Solar hot water heaters are a reasonable purchase now ($2600 after tax credit) for homes with an 8-foot-square section of sun on the roof.
5. We maintain charts that show how we’re bringing household usage down, month by month, project by project.
6. We organize energy committees in our congregations to practice the same energy-saving strategies in our religious buildings. For large buildings, an energy audit contractor will usually be a cost-saving investment. See the Four-Step Energy Audit Guide below.
7. We promote energy efficiency in our places of employment and at our children’s schools.
8. We form carpools and ride public transit, leaving our cars at home to walk or ride bicycles whenever possible.
9. We practice justice by participating in weatherization projects for people who can’t afford that expense. We form the projects ourselves if necessary, using resources from www.rebuildingtogether.org, www.greencommunitiesonline.org, or www.cleanenergydurham.org
10. Personal usage of fossil fuels must be lowered, but that is small stuff compared with government and industrial consumption. Industry leaders and public officials must adopt the same strategies as they manage their buildings and transportation. Here we can use the power of our purchases, boycotts, votes and persistent petitioning to demand large-scale action.
Report to NC IPL as your congregation makes changes that reduce CO2 emissions! Below are more resources.
IPL Shopping Cart - for energy saving on-line purchasing
Energy Audit Contractors
Four Step Energy Audit Guide
Renewable Energy Sources in North Carolina
NC GreenPower
CFL Fact Sheet
US Department of Energy CFI Guide
Conserv-ative Values Brochure
How Creation Conscious is Your House of Worship? Brochure
Light Bulb jokes
(light bulb jokes with images)
Other Energy-Efficiency Links
Energy audits: http://p2pays.org/ref/34/33609.pdf
Energy Star Online Training Sessions:
http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=business.bus_internet_presentations
US Green Building Council - Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design:
http://www.usgbc.org/DisplayPage.aspx?CategoryID=19
NC Solar Center (see NC Daylighting Consortium link):
http://www.ncsc.ncsu.edu/resources_by_sector/businesses_and_institutions.cfm
DPPEA Energy Page (see Energy Saving Opportunities):
http://www.p2pays.org/energy/
