Church takes huge strides to reduce carbon footprint

Church takes huge strides to reduce carbon footprint

A church that reduced its carbon footprint by 80 per cent led to the architects behind the transformation being short-listed for a prestigious national award.

Promoted by The Architects’ Journal, the AJ Retrofit Award recognises and celebrates the design expertise behind the renewal and repurposing of existing buildings, setting a precedent for ways to slash the industry’s carbon footprint.

Archangel Architects, exhibiting under the name Church Build at CRE Midlands 2023, did not get the winning entry but as founding director Nigel Walter said: ‘Even being named on the short list was an accolade which we appreciated and was a testimony to the quality of the work.’

The reimagining of Downing Place United Reformed Church in Cambridge, completed in 2021, created an open and inclusive church and community centre. The church embraced the opportunity of redevelopment to significantly reduce its carbon emissions through upgrading the building fabric, installing energy efficient services (MVHR, LED lighting, solar PV panels) and switching to renewable energy suppliers. The absolute reduction in CO2 by the redevelopment has proved dramatic.

At the outset of the project, two years of historic gas and electric bills were compared with Church of England benchmarks which revealed energy use was 80 per cent more than the C of E average for the halls, and more than double the average for the church. After 12 months in use actual annual CO2 emissions were calculated. The church showed a reduction of 80 per cent and the halls a reduction of 77 per cent.

The Rev Nigel Uden, the church’s minister, said: ‘Downing Place Church has recognised that sustainability is a crucial issue for our time, not only for ourselves but for the whole planet and future generations. As part of our response, the church has established a group which aims to help develop our theological understanding of sustainability; take appropriate decisions regarding the church’s own life; act co-operatively with others who share the same goals and encourage personal lifestyle commitment.’

Margaret Reynolds, architect and member of the building committee, said: ‘I examined two years of energy bills in 2019 and realised what a huge amount of energy we were using.

‘We were delighted to find the building retrofit measures we proposed were so effective in reducing the carbon emissions. All the redevelopment work and expense proved very worthwhile.’

Nigel, a specialist conservation architect with 30 years’ experience of community-based architecture, added: ‘One of the greatest triumphs of this project has been that it has acted as a catalyst for the whole church community to embrace sustainability. We have achieved a lot for a relatively small budget though there is always more to be done.’

• Church Build will be on stand F3 at CRE Midlands 2023

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Organisations looking to book a stand should contact James Batterbee 0161 250 2306 (E: james@creonline.co.uk) or Carol Malpass 0161 250 2467 (E: carol@creonline.co.uk)

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