By Maroof Ahad
This year, Newo has conducted ASHRAE Level 1 (walkthrough) energy audits for a number of church buildings as part of the United Church of Canada’s Faithful Footprints program, which funds energy efficiency building updates.
In this blog post, I’ll share just a little bit of what we’ve learned from auditing these buildings, which will hopefully be useful to anyone who’s looking to reduce energy consumption, save money and green their faith buildings or their homes.
After doing so many audits, we found there were a lot of similarities between church buildings. Here are some suggestions that should help you get the best bang for your buck, starting with the easiest and most affordable.
Weather sealing
Nearly every church we visited had one thing in common: they were losing a lot of energy through weather sealing around doors and windows. Weather stripping degrades and should be changed about every three to five years, but it pays for itself in less than a year through the energy saved. If drafts are coming through your windows or doors, this is the first thing you should look into because it’s cheap, it’s easy to do and it makes a difference. However, if a door is bent or warped, weather stripping will not solve the problem and the door will need to be replaced.
Faucet aerators
The second cheapest thing to do is replace your faucet aerators. Most of the churches we visited hadn’t replaced their aerators in decades, and were experiencing a flow of around two to three gallons per minute. Replacing them with low-flow ones (about one and a half gallons per minute) will save a lot of water, as well as reduce waste of hot water, which costs money to heat. If you want to start somewhere, this is a good option, as it costs only about $5 to $10 an aerator.
Programmable thermostats
Another thing we found in nearly every church we went to were non-programmable thermostats. Often the temperature of a space used only once a week was set for a comfortable 23 degrees, which means a lot of energy is lost. Installing programmable thermostats allows you to set the temperature for when the building is unoccupied. Ideally, when you have a sanctuary that is used once a week while the rest of the building is used three or four days a week, you can program each zone accordingly. This can create a huge savings; each thermostat costs probably around $500 installed and pays for itself within two to three years. One note: we would recommend changing all the thermostats with the same brand to make it easier for users. Another option to consider is installing locked thermostat covers, because people tend to increase or decrease the temperature and then leave it, potentially interrupting your programming schedule. A thermostat cover will prevent this.
Insulating water lines
Another easy and affordable option is insulating your water-heater lines. In a lot of churches we went to, the water heater was recently upgraded, but there was no insulation on the hot water lines, which means the water you have paid to heat loses its temperature on the way to the tap, and you end up running more water than you need to get the hot water you want. Insulating those water heater lines is not only cheap, it will ensure your water is at proper temperature whenever you need it.
Lighting
One of the best ways to spend your money will be lighting. Most churches have fluorescent or incandescent lights, but if you want energy efficiency, LEDs should be on the top of your list. It will reduce your operating costs as well as reducing your energy consumption by around 50%, which is huge. And while it helps that people are usually conscientious about turning off lights when a room is not in use, it could be useful to install occupancy sensors in washrooms or common spaces.
Appliances
In a lot of cases, churches are using older, energy-inefficient freezers or fridges. Whether it makes sense to replace them depends on how old and how much energy they’re using. If stoves aren’t often in use, consider turning off the pilot light completely, or otherwise reducing phantom energy loads.
Windows
Now we’re coming to some of the very costly retrofits. A lot of older church buildings have single pane windows, which are very bad in terms of energy efficiency. Replacing those with triple panes will improve the overall condition of the building, reduce drafts and save a lot of energy. The downside is, from a cost standpoint, it will be 30-50 years before those triple pane windows pay for themselves. If you have money, go for it! Your building will be more comfortable. Otherwise, caulking the windows and making sure they are airtight will be the way to go. If you have stained glass windows that you want to preserve, the cheapest option is to install acrylic sheets on the outside and make sure it’s air sealed. The more expensive option would be to install regular windows on the outside so that the stained glass can still be enjoyed from inside.
Water heaters
If you see rust on top of your water heater, there is a backdraft happening, which could be dangerous for people in the space. It means the carbon dioxide, which is supposed to be going out of the building, is sucked into the building. If you notice rust on your water heater, consult an HVAC specialist. Speaking of the water heaters, their usual lifespan is around 12 years. We have seen some over 30 years old that are still working. But if yours is coming to the end of its life, you can replace it with a condensing water heater, which is more efficient, cost-effective, and eco-friendly than a non-condensing heater. However, most churches don’t need hot water all the time. If your church is being used only one day a week, why use energy to heat water for the other six? If you are planning to replace your water heater, the other option you can go for is an on-demand water heater. They are a bit more expensive, but longer term you will save money because you won’t have a big tank of water sitting there heating up to 49 degrees.
HVAC
The usual life of a furnace or boiler is between 10 to 15 years. If it’s time to replace it, there are high-efficiency options (around 98%), but this intervention is also on the expensive side. One thing we have seen in a lot of churches is where small buildings have been renovated and expanded over time, and in upgrading their HVAC systems they simply kept adding furnaces. (Up to eight in one instance!) Consider bringing in an HVAC specialist to size the system appropriately so that you’re not wasting your energy and you’re not have to replace eight furnaces when what you need can be done by only three or four. Also, consider HVAC zoning. As mentioned above under programmable thermostats, if your sanctuary is used one day a week, your offices five days a week and you have a basement which is used probably two or three days a week, separating those zones on different thermostats will save a lot of energy.
Insulation
Other major upgrades such as insulating walls are very expensive, with a payback of around 50 to 70 years. If you have money, then go for the installation.
Fans
Fans are often a feature of large spaces, circulating the warm air that rises to the ceiling. The problem is that many church buildings have very old fans, which can pose a fire hazard. If you have a very large sanctuary where there are a lot of old fans, consider replacing them with high volume, low speed fans, which are what you might see in big shopping complexes or superstores.
Solar
Electricity is expensive and it’s going up, and if you’re planning to reduce your carbon footprint, one of the easiest ways will be solar. We usually don’t consider solar to be an energy efficiency strategy, because we’re not making a building energy efficient. What we’re doing is generating energy. So if you are planning to install solar, we would first recommend you switch to LEDs and save energy that way, then install solar. Of course, if your roof needs replacing, do that first! A reputable solar installer won’t install panels on an unsuitable roof.
Is geothermal the way to go in Alberta?
Garnet Borch
The short answer is: financially, no, although environmentally, yes.
The main reason is that in Alberta, natural gas is really cheap. And so per unit of energy, electricity is seven times more expensive than natural gas and geothermal. What’s cool about geothermal is that it’s very, very efficient — 400% efficient — whereas your most efficient natural gas furnace is about 95% efficient. By upgrading to geothermal, you are increasing your efficiency by four, but then you’re increasing your costs by seven going to electricity from natural gas.
Not only does geothermal not save you operational costs, it’s about 10 times as expensive in capital costs. I really wish I could tell you something different, because electrification is our future. But unfortunately, our energy reality in Alberta right now makes that quite inhibiting.
Maroof Ahad and Garnet Borch are certified energy managers at Newo. If you have questions about this post or energy audits, you can find then at maroof@newo.energy or garnet@newo.energy.
Happy Birthday and congratulations to all of you on your commitment to make this world a better place!
Peace, and may many blessings continue to come your way,
Don