Environmental Stewardship Assessment – How Are We Doing? 

Using God’s Resources Wisely

A few months ago, a team from Massachusetts Interfaith Power and Light (MassIPL) visited our church to meet with our Facilities Manager and members of the Buildings and Grounds Team and to conduct a detailed Environmental Stewardship Assessment of how we use the resources God has provided for us.

Specifically, MassIPL looked at what we buy from utility companies (electricity, natural gas, and water), how we use their products when they enter our building, how our building is constructed, and how our building use habits impact how much energy and water we use. They sent us their 70-page report in June and here are some of their findings…

• In 2025, BBC spent over $41,000 for energy, with roughly an even split between electricity and natural gas. Compared to other churches, our energy use per square foot of building space is a little high. This means we still have a potential to become more energy efficient. 
• BBC relies almost entirely on natural gas for heating. Compared with fuel oil, natural gas burns cleaner and has a smaller carbon footprint. In 2020, we worked to upgrade many of our gas heating units with a focus on energy efficiency. Through these efforts, our church currently meets carbon emission targets for 2040.  
• Massachusetts has been in a drought for over two years now. As is the case with most houses of worship, our water use is relatively low because nobody actually lives at BBC.  Regardless, our church has taken steps to reduce our water consumption by using water-saving sinks and toilets and by carefully managing our outdoor irrigation systems.

There is more work to be done. MassIPL provided a “to-do” list to help us prioritize our efforts. Some of their suggestions include replacing our existing heating and cooling units with more energy efficient models as they reach their useful life expectancy, thereby further reducing our overall energy use in the future. This will reduce both what we spend on energy and our carbon emissions.

In addition, we should continue to monitor our building use and take advantage of opportunities to save energy. For example, the single pane windows in Community Hall should be upgraded or replaced. Finally, our church is well suited for the addition of solar panels on the roof of the Sanctuary and Fellowship Hall or on canopies over the parking lot. This could reduce or eliminate about $20,000 of electricity costs annually.

There is much to digest in the report MassIPL prepared. We are all called to be wise stewards of God’s resources. We have no alternative “Planet B” to go to. As we work together, we can make the best use of the facility and resources we’ve been blessed with and look forward to saving more energy (and money) in the future.

We encourage you to download a copy to get a detailed look at how we’re doing. As always, please feel free to contact Ben Gregson if you have any questions on our energy efforts.