It isn’t enough to renovate the church or add a few plants and call it greener. The best way to make a church sustainable is for it to go through an audit. Stephen Collette is an audit manager from Faith and Common Good, who believes that churches can become places of greenery and sustainability.
He shared that while renovating the church, most of the focus is on the energy. But Faith And Common Good, a Toronto based organization focused on food and water and air quality, waste, maintenance, and landscaping.
A half-day audit of the church costs $1750, and as many members of the church can participate in it. Recently the Gordon Kind United Church underwent an audit. The staff and church members participated in it. Gordon King United Church is a 93 old red building that needs to become energy efficient and sustainable.
Faith and Common Good is the organization that helps churches audit themselves. They have done around 1000 Green audits to date, which is a large number.
According to the window experts, the red church building of Gordon is receiving funds from the Winnipeg Foundation to renovate. And even the Sir Thomas Cropo Foundation donated an amount to fix the rose window in the church.
Collette, who is responsible for the audit of the building, made a 40-page long report on what’s wrong and what part of the building needs fixing. He focused on the air seal because that way, you can keep the heat inside the building. It is an energy system that will work effectively.
Churches in Canada put their hope in God, but they also want to be environmentally sound and socially responsible. It is a commendable initiative taken by the congregations.