Warming and greening Devon's churches

Devon’s churches are getting greener. Eighty churches from all over the South West took part in a pioneering conference to look at heating their buildings more effectively.

Churches are encouraged to carry out energy audits or benchmarking to determine both the use of their buildings and also energy demands, with a view to making more efficiencies in the future. The new national energy- measuring scheme aims to grade our churches like fridges and to improve each year from F towards A ratings.

The conference was held at the recently re-ordered St. Stephen’s church in Exeter High Street, which uses ultra efficient convectors which produce and circulate effective warm air currents, with heat stored in ceramic plates.

Examples were cited of using renewable energy such as solar electricity to provide power for the church, burning wood pellets or wood chips from local sources, and drawing on heat from the ground.

Those present heard that the regional project EcoChurch SouthWest has successfully installed more than 200 solar panel schemes on church properties in Devon, Gloucestershire and Somerset. Churches in Cornwall and the Cotswolds are seen as amongst the first carbon-neutral in the country.

Martyn Goss, Exeter Diocesan Environment Officer said, “Bringing together those interested in better church heating and sharing good ideas has inspired us to take further steps to greening our churches and, in the longer term to make financial savings. If we can reduce carbon, we can save energy and therefore save money, and still provide more comfortable churches for future generations”.

Further details of the conference and its follow-up can be found on www.exeterstf.org.uk