DURING winter, if you step inside any of the medieval churches that I serve, within minutes your breath will mist, although heating-systems have been running for hours. Nigel Walter, a conservation architect with specialist experience in working with church communities, is also a licensed lay minister who understands all too well the pressures of limited resources, personnel, and knowledge which hold back PCCs from embarking on the challenging task of attempting to make ancient buildings cost-effective and eco-friendly.
Beginning with a straightforward rationale for endeavouring to make churches more sustainable, the book sketches out a basic theological overview, placing some of the blame for ecological exploitation at the door of historical Christian anthropocentrism, before offering contemporary readings of scripture which perceive a clear interrelatedness between God, humanity, and non-human creation.
This leads into four general principles for church buildings: do your maintenance well; use electricity, not fossil fuels, for heating; allow the pattern of the building’s use to determine its heating solution; remember that what works in a home won’t necessarily be effective in a larger, older setting.
To produce a suitable plan, we need to be able to understand what is on offer, and this is where the more detailed second part of the book really gains ground. Simple and comprehensible explanations of a wide range of technologies clearly delineate their pros and cons for countless contexts. From types of heat pump to photovoltaic panels, varieties of battery to sources of water, much is covered, concisely and instructively. Once the right technology has been discerned, then you need to know whom to work with and how to obtain the relevant permissions, all neatly explained in the final chapters.
Readable, realistic, and packed with information highly relevant to the majority of the roughly 39,000 church communities in the UK, this accessible guide has a great deal to commend it. Although costs will inevitably fluctuate and technologies develop rapidly, nevertheless there is something appropriate and achievable here for every church council or building committee who want to ask the right questions, make informed decisions, and act sooner rather than later.
The Revd Richard Greatrex is Rector of the Chew Valley East Benefice, in Somerset.
Making your Church Sustainable: A practical guide to getting to net zero
Nigel Walter
Canterbury Press £14.99
(978-1-78622-497-2)
Church Times Bookshop £11.99
