The Diocesan Synod has voted to work towards the ambition of Net Zero Carbon by 2030. It can seem a daunting task, but one simple step, taking an hour of your time will help us target our support to you.
The Church of England’s Energy Footprint Tool is now open for churches to enter fuel and power use from 2023.
The data collected from the tool will help your church understand its carbon footprint and will mean you may be eligible for more targeted diocesan support for your net zero projects.
This work is an essential part of caring for God’s Creation, by helping to combat global heating and climate change.
The easy-to-use online tool will tell your church what your carbon footprint is, based on the energy you use to heat and light your buildings.
What do I have to do?
Simply enter your church’s energy figures from the year before. Once you have entered all the data, you will immediately receive a report and results on your computer or smartphone. This includes:
- The church’s carbon footprint in CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent)
- A simple assessment of your buildings’ efficiency, in graphical form
What do I need to get started?
You will need your utility bills for the year before: electricity, gas, oil, or whichever other fuel you use. For example, if you are completing it in 2024, you need your 2023 bills. If you have solar panels, find information on their generation over the preceding year.
If you have a separate church hall you will need to add this building, and enter the bills for this too. If you want to exclude an area which is permanently rented out to tenants and sub-metered, you will want this information to hand.
For most churches, we already know the floor area. If we don’t already hold this information, you will need a sensible estimate of the m2 floor area of the church, and any other associated buildings you are inputting, such as the church hall.
You will also need a sensible estimate of the number of person-hours that the church is used throughout the year. Please remember when entering this data that a good estimate is fine – these numbers do not need to be 100% accurate, and long as they are in a relevant ball park.
The system is open until 31 July 2024 and you can find it on the online Parish Returns system: https://parishreturns.churchofengland.org/diocese-menu/verify-data
There is more useful information, including FAQs, on the Church of England website.
If you need more support in filling in your EFT, please get in touch with the Creation Care support team: creation.care@london.anglican.org
How to fill out the Energy Footprint Tool - A short walk through
