First Church - Stewarding The Planet Starts In The Sanctuary

First Church - Stewarding The Planet Starts In The Sanctuary
Cambridge, MA
$7,577
$0 left to fund
Project Description:
Installing insulation and LED lighting in the Sanctuary will keep the room more comfortable all year and save $7,558 and 27 tons of CO2 per year.
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1,070,590 lbs
Lifetime Savings CO2: 1,070,590 lbs Energy Costs: $120,961
LightingWeatherization

Project complete! Check out the full recap here and photos here.

More about the organization

The First Church believes in stewarding the planet and what better place to start than in the Sanctuary we worship in.

Right on the Cambridge Commons, the First Church of Cambridge Congregational is the 4th oldest continually operating church in the country, having first gathered in 1636. We are an open and affirming church and a Just Peace congregation of the United Church of Christ. We are committed to making a difference in this world through ministries of justice and reconciliation in God’s name.

Installing insulation in the roof of the Sanctuary will keep the room warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer. Replacing the 126 inefficient light bulbs in the Sanctuary with modern LED lighting will decrease the electrical bill by $6,088 per year and the bulbs will last for over 2 decades.

NSTAR rebates, and donations from HEET (Home Energy Efficiency Team), the Chorus Foundation, Cambridge Agassiz Harvard Fund and others will triple your donation.

 

More about the project

This 140-year-old building has not a speck of insulation in the roof of the Sanctuary, making it akin to heating a tent in the winter: very expensive and still uncomfortable. Insulation will save money and energy and keep the Sanctuary more comfortable.

The lighting in the Sanctuary uses 20,000 watts per hour (frequently just to light a room for a single student to practice the organ). Replacing these with LED bulbs will cut electricity use by 88%.

 

NGE Cool Green Info

Because heat rises, the most important part of any building to seal and insulate well is the attic. Installing 12 inches of dense-pack cellulose in a roof empty of insulation has been shown at Boston’s latitude to cut heating bills by 26%. Cellulose is made from recycled newspapers treated with borate so it is nonflammable and vermin won’t nest in it. The borate is chemically inert, making this insulation one of the most effective, least toxic and most environmentally friendly insulations possible.

LED lighting has great color tone, dims beautifully, contains no mercury, and doesn’t emit damaging UV rays. Each bulb is rated to last 27 years at 5 hours of use a day, dramatically decreasing the number of bulb that have to be changed over time.

 

NGE-Estimated Project Metrics

  • Lifetime savings are 141 lbs CO2 and $16 energy costs per dollar donated
  • A $5 donation eliminates 706 lbs of CO2 and saves $80
  • A $25 donation eliminates 3,532 lbs of CO2 and saves $399
  • A $14 donation eliminates one ton of CO2 and saves $226

Comments From Project Supporters

Cathy Garnett
from Cambridge, MA
I am on the Church Building and Grounds Committee and work to support making our building greener and cleaner.
Erika Abbas Hanna
from Somerville
MA
To improve the stewardship of the resources we have--not only more efficient care of our physical building, but also to waste less of the energy resources we have here on Earth
Margaret Gooch
from Somerville
MA
Glad to see this happening! A pleasure to contribute to seeing this important work underway.
Donald Whitehead
from Arlington
MA
God gave us this magnificent planet as our home and we must honor His gift of life and love. Conservation is the only way we are going to sustain life on earth.
Steve Jones
from Nashville, TN
TN
Glad to see 1st Church in Cambridge leading the way on lighting efficiency. I've relamped every church I've belonged to and am always looking for better technology. I'd love to hear the specs on your LED system going in. CT UCC conference has a Green Church certification program, you may want to connect with them and get some synergy going at the National UCC level!! I am relamping my current church, Brookmeade UCC in Nashville with some off-the-shelf dimmable LED lighting now. I love that the UCC is so cutting-edge. Best wishes to your success!
Deric Corwin
from Cambridge
MA
Wonderful idea with benefits for years to come.
Anita Anger
from Wellesley
MA
Thanks for this opportunity to make First Church a Green Church!
Sarah Griffith
from Cambridge
MA
As an advocate for addressing climate change through greater efficiency—that is greater comfort and lower cost—greening First Church is a no-brainer, particularly when I have an upcoming plane flight to offset!
Laurel (O'Donnell) Blough
from
What a great idea, First Church! I remember the sanctuary always being freezing during the cold months. Good luck meeting your goal, and have a Merry Christmas!
anonymous
from
A gift in honor of and with huge thanks to Rich Goode (and Jenn, Jess and Imogene too)!
Karen Anne
from
Great that this goal is going so well and so quickly. Thank you one and all.
Ute
from
Awesome initiative!
Dorian Hardwick
from
Pleased to be able to contribute to this good cause
Marian Smith
from
Good work finding this grant! Thank you from all of us.
Susan Redlich
from
Our local action to reduce our building's carbon "footprint" is also part of addressing the bigger issue of social justice--where the poorest communities of the world, who have contributed the least to global warming, are impacted the most severely by the climate changes caused by the affluent nations.
Dave and Alice Kidder
from Watertown
MA
We were inspired by Bill McKibben's sermon at First Church to make every effort to reduce our carbon footprint. Helping do that through First Church is one small step closer to the vision of a pro-planet policy and one which acknowledges our role as Earth Stewards.