Success Story: First Christian Church

Partner Information

Located in Des Moines, IA
72,000 sq. ft. church
Annual Cash Savings: $6,000
Annual Energy Savings: 87,114 kWh
Payback period: 3–4 years
Prevented 120,000 lbs. of pollution

“Go for it! Compact fluorescents and motion sensors will pay back quickly, and T-8s with electronic ballasts are the way to go. Do maintenance on a regular basis.” — Mike Henderson Building Engineer

Church Equates Energy Efficiency with Stewardship

The First Christian Church in Des Moines, IA, knows that good stewardship not only means tending to a congregation, but also reducing energy use so that the pollution caused by generating electricity is lessened - thus helping ensure a better environment for everyone.

Because of its extensive efforts to lower its energy consumption while maintaining a comfortable atmosphere for its congregation, the First Christian Church received a year 2000 ENERGY STAR for Congregations Award.

Lighting the Way

Mike Henderson, the building engineer for the church, says the church took a number of steps to lower its energy consumption. Not only did it install highly efficient equipment, but it also set up a maintenance schedule to ensure that everything continues to run smoothly. Henderson has a bit of advice for anyone considering improving the energy efficiency for their congregation’s facilities: “Go for it!” Although some congregations might be resistant to change, Henderson says that once they learn the benefits of implementing energy saving measures, they will embrace the idea enthusiastically.

The first step the church took was to upgrade to high efficiency lighting. Compact fluorescent lamps, which are designed to fit into standard incandescent lamp fixtures, and T-8 fluorescent lamps with electronic ballasts were installed throughout the church to save energy and improve the overall quality of the church’s lighting. In addition, the church installed occupancy sensors to automatically turn off lamps when not needed, highly efficient light emitting diode (LED) exit signs, and timers on outdoor lights. Not only do the lighting improvements save energy dollars, but since the fluorescent and LED lights have a life span much greater than standard incandescent lamps, they save money on maintenance.

Saving Energy = Effective Stewardship

To save energy dollars and improve the comfort of the building, the church plans to install variable speed drives on its air-handling units to increase energy efficiency.

In addition, the church has improved building insulation, thus ensuring that energy isn’t unnecessarily lost through the building’s walls and ceilings.

A Star in the Firmament

Installing highly efficient equipment saves energy, but Henderson knows that proper maintenance also affects energy costs. As part of its efforts, the church has tuned up its heating equipment, upgraded its boiler controls, and set up a maintenance schedule.

Henderson says there are several benefits the church has received through its energy saving efforts. The church is saving approximately $6,000 annually — money the church can use for its own church and community programs. The church saves on the time required for maintenance, especially the time required to replace lights. And, safety and security in the church have been improved because of the installation of occupancy sensors, which automatically turn on lights when a person enters a darkened section of the building.

Because of its many efforts to save energy and reduce the production of pollution caused by generating electricity while maintaining and even improving the comfort and safety of its building, the First Christian Church received a year 2000 ENERGY STAR for Congregations Award.