UPDATE on Partners:
Philadelphia Office
Spread out over time, the costs of lighting and heating older
religious properties may not always seem severe, especially
when utility bills don’t outpace weekly giving. However,
many annual financial statements show that energy costs
often burden congregations. That’s why Partners is teaming
up with The Reinvestment Fund and the Jessie Ball duPont
Fund to find creative ways for congregations to make their
buildings more energy efficient.
Congregations care about saving money and reducing their
environmental impact, but older buildings can be in need of
energy-efficient retrofitting, and congregations simply may
not have enough to pay for the upgrades.
Enter The Reinvestment Fund (TRF), a source of financing
for neighborhood revitalization. Partners recently worked
with TRF to survey almost 30 congregations in Delaware
to better understand their energy use and attitudes about
financing capital improvements to their buildings. TRF is
considering establishing a loan program specifically for
religious congregations to make improvements to their
buildings to make them more energy efficient. The savings
in utilities costs experienced by a congregation would help
pay off its loan.
The results of the survey have not yet been released, but the
potential impact of such a loan program is vast. It’s clear
that the problem of energy use has multiple manifestations:
congregations use more energy than is needed; heat leaks
out of buildings through doors and windows; boilers are
incorrectly sized and not used to their full potential for
efficiency; and sometimes congregations simply pay a more
expensive rate on energy than they should. Thanks to this
project, congregations may be able to hire an energy auditor
Philadelphia Advisors
The Reverend Dr.
Roy G. Almquist
Charles B. Casper, Esq.
Lary Ceisler
Helen Cunningham
The Reverend Yvette B. Davis
Scott Doyle
James Flaherty
Melissa Jest
Emanuel Kelly, FAIA
James Kise, AIA
Catherine Lynch
Dr. Roger Moss
Michael Stern
Monica Taylor
The Reverend Mark Tyler
Geraldine Wang
Eric Wilden
David Winkowski
7 • Sacred Places • www.sacredplaces.org • Winter 2013
Andy Rudin’s Interfaith Coaltion on Energy aims to inspire
congregations to reduce the costs of operating their facilities.
Photo courtesy of Andy Rudin.
to identify critical steps they can take to make their buildings
more efficient and have the funds to take those steps.
The Pratt Center for Community Development in Brooklyn,
NY, tested a similar project with three local congregations
housed in older buildings. According to its 2011 report,
Sustainable Houses of Worship: Converting Religious Institutions
into Beacons of Sustainability, the three churches have begun
implementing improvements that are expected to reduce
their energy costs by as much as 20%, and they expect to
recover the cost of these investments through energy savings
in well under two years.
Congregational skepticism about taking on debt can
be reduced by focusing on the enormous benefits that
congregations and their communities will gain when sacred
places are less expensive to operate and share space with
outreach programs.
Partners knows that religious congregations are centers for
community. The Pratt Center emphasizes that they can also
be centers for sustainability. In its 2011 report, the Center
writes, “We believe that many religious institutions are ready
to embrace an environmental stewardship role and provide
leadership to their communities.” Partners looks forward
to helping congregations become good stewards of their
buildings and the larger world. d