The Congregational Church of Needham

The sustainability journey of the Congregational Church of Needham has followed a long, circuitous series of events rather than a consistent and straightforward plan. However, we have reduced our carbon footprint by 58% through intention and persistence.

The church formed an Environmental Ministries Team (EMT) in 2008. One of our first actions as the EMT, in coordination with the building manager, was to add insulation to the walls and ceilings in 2009—seven truckloads, in fact! The project was supported by a MassSave commercial program that paid 75% of the cost. While this reduced our heating oil use by 16% and carbon footprint by 19%, the benefits were invisible to congregants, except on paper in the reduced utility cost at the annual meeting.

Then, in the early 2010s, the church began a capital campaign for which one of the four goals was energy efficiency. However, no concurrent engineering had been engaged to balance architectural plans. Renderings of a stunning new glass atrium on the north side of the building engaged the congregation, while there was no mention of what it would take to heat the new space. One major problem, EMT inferred, was that energy efficiency was invisible with no chart to show impacts. There was lip service but no measurable goal. That needed to change.

EMT dug into the archives of energy bills to chart it, then requested the Board set a carbon footprint goal of -25% by 2020 and -80% by 2050 (both compared with 2004, as far back as our archives went), aligning with the City of Boston's goals at the time. The Board agreed, and we published our chart widely within the congregation. We could see from the data that, despite the success of the insulation project, fuel oil use was the biggest carbon polluter. Ultimately, the capital campaign design work came to an abrupt halt when the church opted to purchase the building next door instead of building an addition.

A New Opportunity: Heating System Replacement

With the capital campaign's energy efficiency goal in mind, in 2015 a Board member with a building management background started looking for a partner to replace the approximately 30-year-old, degraded cast iron oil boilers (which had long lost their 80% efficiency rating) with high-efficiency gas-fired ones, and in the process remove the old oil tank and its associated failure risks. He found collaboration with the EMT. He called us in with “Green and Green”: save money and be more sustainable. At the time, Massachusetts Interfaith Power & Light (MassIPL) was promoting high-efficiency gas boilers having MassSave rebates.

While EMT was not keen on the fracking and distribution leaks associated with gas, we decided to support the change, and in the fall we installed 96% efficient Lochinvar boilers. Concurrently, we also upgraded most of the circulators (pumps for the hot water heating) to variable speed ones, reducing the electrical usage associated with heating. The efficiency improvement resulted in a 55% cumulative reduction vs. 2004, well ahead of the 2020 goal adopted by the Board. Financial impact was equally beneficial, reducing heating cost by 75%.

Embracing Other Opportunities

In 2018, we turned our attention to another way to reduce the electricity's contribution to carbon footprint: LED conversion. After consulting a MassSave commercial contractor, we were fortunate to take advantage of a sale that vibed with our Treasurer's favorite f-word: FREE! (Otherwise, it would have been a 10% church participation in the cost.) For well-being, we chose warmer color temperature LEDs to replace existing fluorescents for the spaces used by children's programs, and dark sky compliant lighting outdoors (warm color temperatures and pointed down, etc.). We chose to no longer uplight the steeple, instead putting a warm, welcoming accent on the front porch lighting. The net result was a 30% reduction in electrical usage and cost, contributing to another very nice drop in our carbon footprint for a total reduction of 58% since we started.

Very recently, the flat rubber roof over the church offices required replacement due to increasing leaks. The Property Team, with our EMT representative and a knowledgeable architect in the ranks, took advantage in early 2023 to add a layer of dense foam board underneath the new roof to increase the insulation. This was one area where it was cost-effective to add at replacement time and had not been addressed in 2009 when the other insulation was added. And the insulation work qualified for MassSave subsidies!

Solar Panels: A Story of Starts and Stops

Throughout this period, EMT strongly desired visibly fulfilling our faith-based commitment to the environment: installation of a solar array on our south-facing sanctuary roof. Efforts to install solar panels in 2009 (led by Deb Baldwin, the first leader of the EMT) and in 2013 had failed, both principally due to a lack of public support from the church leadership at the time. Future leadership would prove to be more receptive to the idea.

In 2017, a Property Team was revived and structured to include a Board member chairperson and an EMT representative, ensuring environmental thinking in decision-making for the building and grounds. We then once again attempted to install a solar array, under a PPA plan that included financing the re-roofing as we were now cash-strapped due to the purchase of the second property, and the roof still had half its life remaining. We were very close to signing a contract when the installer pulled out, their lawyer flagging an overextension in liability due to the proposed in-house roofing part of the installation.

The Inflation Reduction Act Breathes New Life into Solar

Currently, we have resurrected the PV array project with, hopefully, all the proverbial stars aligned for a purchase: a supportive permanent senior minister, a motivated Board member to champion the effort, improved finances after having sold the building next door, the Inflation Reduction Act's Direct Pay program for a 30% “credit” on a purchase, and a significant solar fund in memory of Deb Baldwin, who passed away earlier this year. We decided this time to first garner sincere Board support through an estimating process, and believe we are within reach of that ultimate visible sign of our congregation's commitment to the environment in 2024. In addition, we anticipate an offset of 23,000 lbs of carbon emissions. Once our solar array is functioning, we plan to apply for Energy Star status for buildings.

Summary

Assuming the solar project is successful, it would bring our total carbon emissions to 64% lower than those in 2004. And, importantly, for the financial sustainability of the church, we have reduced our energy costs by 65% compared to what they would have been in 2022 if we had continued consuming the same amount of energy as we did in 2004.

In the near future, we in EMT also realize that a request to our Board to update the church's carbon footprint goals to net zero by 2050 is in order. Municipal aggregation with a renewable energy portfolio is being pursued by our Town's Climate Action Plan Committee for any net purchase from the grid. After that, electrification of heating is on the mid-range horizon, as well as continuing opportunistic air sealing and insulation as projects arise.

Lessons Learned

1. Organizational structure is important to make sure your green team is involved in decision-making. Make sure you have a seat at the table. It's key to have a Board member with whom to partner for ensuring both environmental and financial success. It is also important to engage the senior minister and their faith-based environmental commitment.
2. Set a carbon footprint goal. Collect energy usage data from utility bills, calculate carbon footprints, chart, and publish. Then set goals. It's worth the effort, while difficult if not impossible to make decisions if you don't know where you stand nor where you're going. MassIPL has a good spreadsheet ready for use which requires only minimal spreadsheet skills. If needed, recruit a church member with spreadsheet expertise to crunch the numbers.
3. Communicate. If possible, have green team members participate in other committees and ministries such as the Property team or Deacons (spiritual leadership). It is an opportunity to communicate the successes and savings accomplished by the team both financially and as an expression of a faith-based commitment to mitigating climate change. Honk your horn, speak up. Have a celebration during coffee hour to celebrate your successes. Publish green team activities in local newspapers.
4. Focus on heating. The data clearly told us that heating our building was the single biggest energy expense and largest source of carbon emissions. Both the insulation work and the high-efficiency gas boilers we installed resulted in greater savings and carbon emissions reductions than our solar panels will.
5. Convert to LEDs before installing solar; reducing electricity consumption allows you to considerably reduce the size and cost of the needed array. Even if you have room for more, get whatever solar system your congregation can afford on the roof. You will need a larger, second array in the future for electrification of heating, so leave room in the layout of the array.
6. Get to know your building. One regret we have is that the sanctuary's ceiling slot access panels which allow hot air in the summer to escape upward were covered with loose cellulose insulation and can no longer be opened lest a mess (and not manna) fall from the heavens. This was an oversight: the 1950s-era design was not understood at the time of the insulation.
7. Outdoor lighting. Ceasing to uplight the steeple was a great move for us. This is wasted light going out into space, and removing it is an opening for a warm visual accent at night on the welcoming entry into our congregational space. Use warm and low-lumen lighting outdoors to care for the night creatures and neighbors' health, following dark sky guidelines. Instead of leaving lights on all night, use motion sensors for security: they draw the attention of the police.
8. MassSave. Take advantage of what MassSave commercial contractors have to offer at great pricing and act upon the experienced recommendations of Massachusetts Interfaith Power & Light.