Project data sheet: Peterborough Unitarian Universalist Church’s storm windows project
This page provides additional information that you may find useful about the project, including project details, NGE’s energy metric calculations, and contact information for project organizers and vendors. To return to the general project page and make a donation, click here.
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PROJECT DETAILS
The Peterborough Unitarian Universalist Church’s storm windows project is an energy efficiency project consisting of installing new storm windows to provide an additional thermal barrier in the sanctuary of the church.
Winn Mountain Restorations in Lyndeborough, N.H. will furnish and install six large sanctuary windows and two smaller interior storm panels. The external storm windows will be Allied Hol-D Series. This work will be done after all existing windows are weather stripped and repainted, and the storm window installation will take about one week.
This windows project will be the culmination of the church’s larger "greening" process. In total, the church has already spent $30,000 on energy efficiency improvements, including installing six programmable thermostats, weather stripping, an energy audit by S.E.E.D.S, installing attic insulation, installing an energy efficient hot water heater, upgrading to CFL bulbs, and purchasing an energy efficient refrigerator and freezer.
Additional information
In 2009, Peterborough Unitarian Universalist Church became a Green Sanctuary, as designated by the Unitarian Universalist Association. It achieved this by undertaking a greening process that began with an energy audit and included educational programming and efficiency upgrades. Project organizer, Anne Fischer, told NGE that the church is the centerpiece of the community and that these energy efficiency upgrades serve as a model for all who use its facilities.
“One of the seven principles and purposes of Unitarian Universalism is ‘respect for the interdependent web of all existence,’” Fischer said. “To this end, our [Peterborough] congregation wants to reduce its carbon footprint while also teaching the greater community about energy efficiency and living green.”
Not included on this page -- but shown to NGE -- were additional technical specifications of the windows that will be used and other information connected with the project. You can see photos from the project on New Generation Energy's blog.
PROJECT SAVINGS CALCULATIONS
Assumptions
- This is an efficiency project defined as the installation of storm windows over existing windows, which will provide additional thermal protection. In the calculations below, we estimate the savings that come from this additional protection.
- The $13,285 listed project cost is the complete cost to purchase and install the storm windows as quoted by Winn Mountain Restorations of Lyndeborough, N.H.
- NGE categorizes this type of window installation as a window upgrade and uses a calculation lifetime of 25 years. Window upgrades are replacements or storm window additions for individual windows not comprising a structural component of the building.
Sources of green savings
Energy savings may arise from a window upgrade in the following two areas:
- Reductions in heating needs. By using high performance glass and casements, less energy is radiated from the interior of the building to the exterior, and less heat is conducted from the interior to the exterior. Both of these factors will reduce the amount of heating fuel needed to maintain the building temperature during the cold season, lowering energy bills and reducing CO2 emissions.
- Reduction in cooling needs. Same as for heating but in reverse. By using high performance glass and casements, less energy is radiated and conducted from the exterior to the interior of the building. Both of these factors will reduce the amount of electricity needed to maintain the building temperate during the warm season, lowering energy bills and reducing CO2 emissions.
Calculating savings from heating
There is relatively little, independently published information on calculating heating savings from upgraded windows. In addition, since there are many different combinations of old window hardware and new window hardware as well as other factors that affect heating savings for a given project, we will have to rely on some amount of guestimating to arrive at the heating savings for this project.
We calculate the heating savings in two ways and then compare the results.
The first method we use is a savings figure derived from the actual storm window vendor, Allied Windows. Using the vendor’s website, we plug in the total square footage of the windows and several other factors, to get an estimated 647 gallons of oil saved per year. That’s a savings of $2,717.40 per year at the church-provided fuel cost of $4.20 per gallon.
Next, we use 3M’s Energy Savings Estimator, but this time we calculate savings from installation of plastic. This calculator factors in location (Concord, N.H. in this case) and other variables such as window size and temperature (70 degrees). We model the windows as being upgraded from single pane to single pane with an additional insulation plastic layer.
Using the 3M calculator and the project parameters, we arrive at an annual cost savings for oil heating of $2.64 per square foot of glass. This equals $2,073.20 for the actual total of glass of 784 square feet. However, it seems reasonable to assume that a storm window will perform better than a sheet of plastic, so we increase this figure by 25 percent. This gives a total estimated savings using the 3M calculator of $2,591.25 -- remarkably similar to the Allied Window calculator result of $2,717.40
Since the storm windows are made by Allied, we give its calculator the benefit of the doubt and use that figure for annual heating oil savings.
Therefore, the projected heating savings are:
Projected annual $ savings: $2,717.40/yr
Projected annual CO2 reductions: 647 gallons * 22.38 lbs CO2/gallons oil = 14,480 lbs CO2/yr
The projected lifetime heating savings are:
Projected lifetime $ savings: 25 yr * $2,717.40/yr = $67,935
Projected lifetime CO2 reductions: 25 yr * 14,480 lbs CO2/yr = 362,000 lbs CO2
Calculating savings from cooling
The church sanctuary where these storm windows will be installed does not have air conditioning so there are no savings from cooling that we can ascribe to this project.
Summary of project savings
The total savings from this project are directly related to the heating savings.
Projected lifetime $ savings of $67,935
Projected lifetime CO2 reductions of 362,000 lbs CO2
This project’s energy metrics calculations were done by Chuck Lewin. If you have any questions or comments about these calculations, please email Chuck at lewin@newgenerationenergy.org.
PROJECT ORGANIZERS AND VENDORS
The following information is provided for the benefit of the general public. In particular, we hope that this information will be helpful for other small businesses and nonprofit organizations considering similar green energy projects.
Project participants have agreed to answer questions from the general public regarding their project, and contact information is listed below. While these real world experiences can be an invaluable source of practical information, we ask that anybody engaging in correspondence with the listed project participants be sensitive to their time availability.
Project vendor information is included without any qualification whatsoever from New Generation Energy as to the suitability of the listed vendor for a given green energy project. Please note that NGE receives no financial support from these vendors. This information is included to allow the general public to correspond with these vendors.
Project organizers
Anne Fischer
Project vendors
75 Holt Road, Lyndeborough, N.H.
603-654-2115
www.winnmountaionrestorations.com
800-445-5411
513-559-1212
PROJECT SUPPORTERS
The following organizations and businesses support Peterborough Unitarian Universalist Church's storm windows project:
For more information about becoming a business supporter, please email strzelczyk@newgenerationenergy.org.
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DISCLAIMER
The information contained herein is provided by New Generation Energy solely as a public service. New Generation Energy makes no warranties, either expressed or implied, concerning the accuracy, completeness, reliability, or suitability of the information contained herein.
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