Episcopalians are all about protecting the environment, but Diane Lowe is wary of how her fellow parishioners at Ogden's Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd will react to a suggestion they hang fans to bring heat down from the 135-year-old sanctuary's wood plank ceiling.

"I can't see that flying," Lowe tells Steve Ritchey when he suggests the ceiling fans during an energy audit.

Ritchey works for Utah Interfaith Power & Light, a nonprofit coalition of faith communities that promotes actions to combat global warming. He conducted audits at Good Shepherd and the United Church of Christ Congregational in Ogden this week.

To Lowe's reticence about the fans, Ritchey has an argument.

"It's kind of like our mothers told us. There are starving children in Africa, and now it's because of global warming and climate change," he tells her.

"Well, I could suggest it and run," Lowe, chairwoman of the parish's building and grounds committee, replies with a laugh.

Good Shepherd actually has taken a number of steps already to cut energy consumption.

A couple of years ago, it installed new double-pane windows throughout its office wing, adjacent Tuttle Hall and the basement that holds classrooms, a dining room and a kitchen.

Thermostats are set at 68 degrees, and Linda Harden, parish secretary, has converted many of the lights from incandescent to compact fluorescent
Advertisement

(CFL) bulbs, which use less electricity and produce less heat.

But in his 90-minute audit, Ritchey found ways Good Shepherd could be an even better shepherd of resources.

Doors to the outside need weather-stripping or replacement. Lights in the sanctuary and Tuttle Hall should be switched to energy-efficient systems. In the basement, he says, the fresh-air intake for the boiler should put cold air at floor level rather than head level.

Thermostats in rooms unused during the week should be set at 50 or 55 degrees, he says, and the entire church needs new timer-based thermostats to better control energy consumption.

The two refrigerators in the kitchen should be moved a few inches apart. "A little more airspace," he says, "would help these operate more efficiently."

Ritchey will prepare a written report, outlining steps the parish could take to save energy, ranging from low-cost immediate measures to more complicated and costly changes.

Such audits have become a big part of Utah Interfaith Power & Light, which began earlier this year and is affiliated with a national organization started by an Episcopal priest.

So far, Power & Light has performed energy audits for 10 faith communities, from Logan to the Salt Lake Valley, Ritchey says. He expects to do 20 more next year.

Besides saving energy, some Utah churches, such as the Holladay United Church of Christ, have installed solar panels.

"Churches are way good at remembering God's creation on Earth Day," Ritchey says, "but not the rest of the year."

Utah Interfaith Power & Light is trying to change that.

"We do work on human power and God power," Ritchey says, "to make the world a better place."