Solar Panels at St Mary Spring Grove
This page forms part of the Diocese of London's Shrinking the Footprint microsite.
The Diocese of London's Climate Action Projects form part of its strategic plan to address the challenge of energy use and carbon emissions from its buildings. See Route 2050.
Climate Action Projects aim to cut the energy use of churches across the Diocese by at least 20.12% by 2012, 42% by 2020 and 80% by 2050.
Climate Action Projects to at least 100 churches in the Diocese have commenced or are in course of procurement. They may include:
Projects for energy-saving or sustainability purposes, or other projects requiring choices on the same parameters, include those to provide for:
Aspects of all of these were studied by the Diocese's Generic Building Solutions project. The final report and guidance from Generic Building Solutions may be downloaded from that page.
Churches for potential pilot projects are now being assessed.
Depending on circumstances, the following is likely to be the pecking order for improvements:
See also Environmental Audits.
Bear in mind that some projects, such as replacing lighting or heating, are seldom viable to undertake until an existing system has reached the end of its life.
These and other questions include whether the project is:
Replacing light bulbs is among three basic steps advocated by the Diocese's Shrinking the Footprint campaign.
It is considered a zero-cost measure because although low energy lamps cost more, their lifetime is longer, which also reduces costs to access and replace.
See What we can do.
This is also called 'micro-generation'. To fill the energy gap and tackle climate change, renewable technologies, such as solar panels and biomass boilers, should be introduced as widely as possible.
Many churches are beginning to do this.
Download basic guidance on options for renewable energy here:
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At least 13 solar panels projects are completed in the Diocese, with over 50 more under development or being considered. See Solar Panels.
This is the technical term for wood-burning stoves (chips or usually pellets).
This technology is almost carbon-neutral and well worth considering for many churches.
Ground source heat pumps are beneficial for new homes, and may be worth considering for smaller churches and many church halls.
Air source heat pumps may also be beneficial in some cases.
Water should be used sparingly, so far as is consistent with good hygiene. The Thames Water area is currently suffering a drought, and a hosepipe ban has been imposed.
We do not know of any church that recycles water on site yet. 'Grey water' systems are more appropriate for new housing. The new Parsonage of St John Wembley has a rainwater harvesting system.
Make sure to have your church benchmarked before and after any project.
This is important to verify savings and whether the project has achieved what it set out to.
Project finance may be sought from grants, government Feed-in Tariffs or the Renewable Heat Incentive, bank loans or in some cases loans from the Diocese and other schemes.
A package of financial support and procurement is currently being devised. Contact the Head of Environmental Challenge.
Owners including churches may form cooperatives with each other, to share and potentially reduce costs. Some parish trusts may also contribute.
To talk through any project, contact:
