Virginia Episcopalian Magazine Winter 2012 Issue | Page 24

GOING GREEN

Christ Ascension, Richmond makes big changes with high payoff
TYLER FOX
Being green is popular these days, and
the way some people talk about it, you
could be forgiven for thinking that your
soul’s eternal salvation is dependent
upon it. But greening a church is hard
work – and don’t those new-fangled
solar panels cost an arm and a leg? The
story of Christ Ascension, Richmond
demonstrates that improvements can
be made to energy use and efficiency
that have an immediate impact on both
church finances and a church’s carbon
footprint and be economically viable at
the same time. The issue of economics is
no small factor for many congregations,
but being good stewards of God’s
creation can go hand-in-hand with being
good stewards of your parish’s funds.

Christ Ascension achieved full
parish status in 2009 after a period of
receiving aid as a mission church. The
original church building that is still in use
was built in the late 1950s, when energy
efficiency was not part of building design.
As a financially independent church with
small margins, they were well-aware
of the need to cope with an old HVAC
system that was inefficient and becoming
unreliable. While their membership was
steadily growing and good things were
happening to the parish, they were
nevertheless in the position of wondering
whether an improvement to the building
was even possible.

Then a situation arose that forced
the issue. One of the tenants of the
building is a daycare center whose
rent provides a crucial component to
their budget for its use of the Sunday

school wing on weekdays. “There were
two major reasons for undertaking
this project,” explained Bob Moffett, a
member of Christ Ascension who was
called to this ministry: “We wanted to be
good stewards of the money we have, as
well as preserve the income stream from
our renters.”

The congregation identified a small
team who had the gifts and energy
necessary to examine the energy
situation at Christ Ascension. Led by
Charles Jenkins, the team responded to
a standing invitation from the diocesan
Stewardship of Creation Committee
and were put in contact with Rocco
Tricarico, a certified architect and former
Committee chair.

“There were two parts to our
project together,” said Tricarico. “I
helped them first identify easy fixes
that they could do without the help of a
professional, and then I trained them on
using EPA’s Portfolio Manager Software.”
The U.S. government’s Environmental
Protection Agency has developed a
free online utility specifically for church
buildings to audit their energy use. “The
Portfolio Manager is a fairly thorough
program and can really help you to get to
know your building” said Tricarico.

“We found that the software
demanded some time at start-up to
enter data from the beginning of the
church fiscal year, but very little time is
required thereafter – less than one-half
hour per month,” said Moffett. Craig
Dubishar, the chair of the Stewardship of
Creation Committee, hopes that every

Want to learn more?

Visit the diocesan Stewardship of Creation Committee Web site at
caringforgodscreation