Becoming Good Earth Stewards: ENERGY STAR Action Workbook for Congregations

By Carl Sigel

As people of faith, increasing our congregation’s energy efficiency is a key step in lowering our carbon footprint and decreasing harmful carbon dioxide emissions. Conserving and managing the Earth’s resources is one of the cornerstones of the stewardship teachings of virtually every faith tradition and joins with EPA’s mission to protect human health. The EPA’s ENERGY STAR program provides the tools, training, and technical support to help your congregation achieve and sustain a high level of stewardship. According to the EPA, “energy efficiency is the fastest, cheapest, and largest single resource solution for simultaneously saving energy, saving money, and preventing greenhouse gas emissions.” ENERGY STAR has documented that average energy savings of 30 percent or more are achievable in worship facilities with no-cost actions, strategic investment, and smart operations and maintenance. A good way to get started on becoming more energy efficient is to download and put into action in your faith community the ENERGY STAR Action Workbook for Congregations.