As part of the Church of England's commitment to be carbon ‘net zero’ by 2030, the ‘Energy Footprint Tool’ (EFT) was developed to be used by churches to help measure the Carbon footprint. The EFT is linked to the Parish Returns System and every church is asked to complete an entry each year to help keep track of its energy footprint. Complete your EFT entry by 31st July.
About the Energy Footprint Tool
In 2019 the national Church of England’s General Synod adopted a target for the Church of England to be carbon ‘net zero’ by 2030. This means that carbon emissions emitted by the Church of England in heating their buildings and through work-related travel are equally balanced by capturing carbon from the atmosphere where sufficient reductions can’t be made. The use of the word ‘carbon’ is a simplification for practical purposes. It is actually used to refer to a number of gasses that are known to be the key contributors to global warming including carbon dioxide and methane. These gasses are often measured in terms of COâ‚‚e (equivalent), which helps to compare their impact on global warming. Watch a video here for more info.
Some instructions to help you complete the process
To complete the EFT you will need a login and password for the Parish Returns system. This can be acquired from CentralServices@liverpool.anglican.org if you don’t already have one.
Before you start this process, please note that you will also need the following information:
- A figure for energy use for the year. This can come in the form of kWh used, AND/OR cost (£).
The following information is optional:
- Estimated size of the building (in metres squared).
- Estimated average number of people visiting the church (either in a week or across a year).
- Estimated number of hours a week the church is open.
- Estimated number of miles OR money claimed for work-related travel across the year.
Entering your data:
- To enter your data please visit https://parishreturns.churchofengland.org/ to enter your data.
- Click “Login to enter or view your data” and enter your details.
- Click “Enter your data” and then click the green “Enter your data” button under the “Energy Footprint Tool” header.
Possibly cut off here if article word limit dictates (389 words)?
Buildings and Fuels Used:
The first question asks: “For how many buildings would you like to enter data?”. This is for if you have multiple buildings or blocks, with different readings for each. This will multiply the form to allow you to enter your data for the different buildings/blocks.
Energy Usage:
On the ‘Energy Usage’ page, please enter the relevant energy information, where possible (i.e., energy use in either kWh annually, or the cost of the annual energy type in £). When moving on to the next page, you may get a message of “Are you sure?” if there are any blank spaces. If you do wish to continue, please do press the “Continue” button.
Building Size:
On this page there are optional demographic information asked about the building.
For the Building footprint (square metres) this will be prepopulated for 75% of churches. If this is not prepopulated, please feel free to estimate the size of the building. The average church size is around 400m2
â–ª A large church is around 650-1200m2
â–ª A small church is around 100-250m2
Average attendance:
This should be estimated to incorporate any person that would enter the building (including services, groups, weddings, visitors etc) across an average week/year (which ever answer you give will prepopulate the other).
â–ª An average of 50 people attending services a week = 2600 a year.
â–ª An average of 20 people visiting a week = 1040 a year.
â–ª A fresh expression that has 10 people a week = 520 a year.
â–ª Having an average of 1000 people attending weddings across a year = 19 a week.
â–ª Altogether, this would give around 100 people a week and 5000 people a year.
â–ª Please remember, this just needs to be an estimate or best guess, please do not spend too much time on this!
Number of hours church is open in an average week: There are 168 hours in a full week. Again, please do not spend too much time on this, an estimate or best guess is more than enough.
Work-Related Travel Expenses: To record whether any work-related travel expenses claims were made in the past year.
o If yes, how much? – The answer can be given in either Number of Miles or Cost Claimed (£).
o Again, if the information is not easily found/known, please do not spend too much time on this question and either guess or leave it blank.
Results Page
- Please scroll down and click “Submit”!
- Gross CO2 emissions (tonnes): The total number of emissions attributed to the energy used by that building.
- Net CO2 emissions (tonnes): The total number of emissions attributed, minus the emissions attributed by certified green/renewable suppliers.
- Reported Offset (tonnes): The number of emissions reported as offset by the energy suppliers.
- Emissions per m2 rating: Equivalent to national Display Energy Certificates for public buildings.
- Net CO2 Percentile: Where your net footprint lies alongside all churches within the Church of England