Net Zero Carbon stories: Hit the ground source running

St John the Evangelist, Wembley: Next steps for church with state-of-the-art Eco Building

St John the Evangelist in Wembley has had more than its fair share of problems. The vicar, Ngozi Njoku, arrived in 2020 in the middle of lockdown. Face to face communication was impossible, and the usual round of introductions and handovers couldn’t happen. Not an easy way to start ministry.

Located a mile from the famous stadium, it’s a parish lit up by Wembley’s great arch. Yet down at street level, serious antisocial-behaviour problems exist. Rough sleepers have camped out behind the church, leaving a trail of human waste, whilst vandalism and drug use in the church yard are common. Hard to minister to, and hard to witness on sacred ground. But Ngozi just humbly shrugs and smiles. “This is where God has called me to be.”

Swamped by the demands of ministering in an area of pressing need, who has time to think about global issues like climate change and biodiversity breakdown? Amazingly, St John’s has a state-of-the-art answer to that question. The Parish Centre sits next to the church, sunlight streaming in from a glass roof high above, creating a light-filled sanctuary. But more than that, it houses a spectacular array of eco technologies, so neatly packaged inside you’d never know they were there.

The solar panels make themselves known pretty quickly as they bring in a whopping £3,000 a year in feed-in tariff. The building went up in 2011, back when solar was still a nice little earner.

Then there is the recycled ‘grey water’ collected from the rain that is used to flush the toilets. That proves to be a quick discovery too. Bike racks and LEDs aren’t hard to spot.

It takes a little longer, though, to uncover the rows of valves, neatly tucked away in cupboards, that run the underfloor heating system. Sadly, it’s temporarily glitching, mainly due to a double whammy of interregnum and lockdown disrupting the annual servicing of the system. St Johns’ bills have gone through the roof since they had to sub in electric standalones.

But this building still holds a secret buried so deep that only one small panel hints at its existence. Down in the earth, pipes have been installed to capture the constant heat from the ground, which is then brought back to the surface, condensed, and pumped round the building by the Ground-Source Heat Pump.

For every parish racing towards Net Zero, this place is like an Eco dream.

“I’m so happy that I come into this place where everything is already done. All I have to do is keep it going,” Ngozi beams.

They recently put in a Smart Meter, and Ngozi is overseeing the completion of the Energy Footprint Tool (EFT) so they know their Carbon Footprint. She also has her sights on joining Eco Church. With a Parish Centre that’s the envy of many, it surely won’t be long before they’re racking up eco awards.

The Diocese of London now has a team in place to support churches on their journey towards Net Zero Carbon.

Find out the top 10 things your church can do on that journey.  

Article author Alison Moulden