The Energy Footprint Tool has reopened for churches around the country to enter their 2021 utility bills, and find out their carbon footprint.
In February 2020, the General Synod announced an ambitious target for the Church of England to become net zero by 2030. The Energy Footprint Tool is an important step in measuring a baseline of current emissions, and to measure progress towards achieving this goal.
This is a first step for the Church of England to understand and monitor the footprint of some 40,000 buildings across England. More and more parishes are getting involved and adding their data every day. Helping to build up a picture for the church to take action.
The Energy Footprint Tool is available for all parishes using the Online Parish Returns System and only takes ten minutes to complete. The Diocese of Manchester have created a short instructional video in how to use it. To complete the tool, you will need to have the whole of last year's electricity and gas/oil bills. The Energy Footprint Tool will tell your church the amount of carbon produced annually by heating and lighting your church buildings. There are two useful graphs that show you your efficiency scores: one for energy efficiency based on building size and one for attendance. It can take account of separate buildings such as church halls, as long as you have the utility bills for them.
The EFT is now open for you to enter your 2021 utility bills. It remains open until July 31st 2022.
For more information and answers to FAQs, see our Energy Footprint Tool page.