Energy Audit Project 2020
The online form to register interest in this year’s Energy Audit season will go live on Friday 24 July and will be open until 30 September. The audits themselves will take place from October - March.
Like last year, we are asking churches to register their interest in receiving a subsidised audit by filling out an online form on the Parish Buying website. This year the audits are available to churches nationwide, but qualifying criteria will apply. We will be working with ESOS Energy once again to carry out the audits, allowing us to improve the service, building on our experience from the last round of audits.
As we work towards Carbon Net Zero 2030 we are encouraging churches to really consider the carbon emission saving they are making and not just the financial one, our messaging will reflect this.
The audits will be advertised in the July, August and September Parish Buying newsletter, Parish Buying social media and web content, so please keep an eye for these and share on your channels. We will also put an advert in the Church Times print and online version.
To receive the Parish Buying newsletter you will need to register with Parish Buying, this is free and very simple and quick to do, just go here and register.
The subsidy provision
The full cost of an audit is £445 (+ VAT). Qualifying churches will receive a subsidy of £200, making the price £245 + VAT = £294.
For a church to receive a subsidised audit they must fulfil at least one of the criteria outlined below. If a church does not qualify for a subsidised audit, the online form will allow for the customer to proceed with the registration process and book an audit at the full price of £445 +VAT = £534.
What are the criteria for receiving a subsidised audit?
The energy audit request form will ask the person from the church to tick to indicate if they meet one or more of the criteria below. They only need to meet one criteria to qualify for a subsidy.
These criteria are:
- Qualifying by energy use: With a combined energy usage of >100,000kWh per year.
- Qualifying by church size: Floor area of >1000m2 .
- Qualifying by fuel: They are currently using an oil boiler.
- Qualifying by urgency: They have a report showing that a major component of their existing heat system has less than 2 years of operating life left in it.
- Qualifying by commitment: They have passed a Parochial Church Council (PCC) motion committing the church to work towards net zero by 2030.
- Qualifying by intent: They are already planning:
- A major reordering,
- An extension, or
- A substantive project which the energy audit could help inform.
Churches will simply need to tick which criteria they meet, they won’t be asked for proof as it will be taken on trust.
Does an audit include separate church buildings?
Church Energy Audits are charged per individual building. The audit can include church halls, meeting rooms etc if they are part of and physically attached to the church building. If a church would like additional buildings to be surveyed (i.e. separate church halls) then these will be charged as additional audits. If the additional buildings are linked to the church by external corridors, then these would be charged as separate audits.
All these details will be available on the Parish Buying website Energy Audit page from 24 July, but I wanted to contact you in advance to let you know the plans. We don’t anticipate any issues meeting 24 July as our go live date, but will let you know if there is any delay. If you would like to mention it to churches in your dioceses, then that would be great and let them know to look out for the July Parish Buying newsletter which will include the details about applying.