Our Accomplishments to Date

• The Green Sanctuary Task Force was founded in 2005 to help the church become a Unitarian Universalist certified Green Sanctuary congregation, accomplished in 2007.
• In 2012 we made improvements to our building, including installing high-efficiency windows, doors, and lighting, and began to upgrade HVAC systems as they neared the end of their productive lives.

• In 2013, with the installation of 24 KW of solar panels
  that offset almost 60% of our electricity, we became
  an Interfaith Power and Light Certified Cool Congregations at the 50% level, having already reduced our carbon footprint by 50% since 2010.

• In 2015 our building earned Energy Star® certification for congregations, a percentile ranking, which compares our building to its peers. The standard was reset in 2018 as more congregations were becoming certified. We have earned it annually through 2023.
• In 2017 we added 16.2 KW of solar panels to cover or offset over 85% of our building’s electricity annually.

• We track our energy use and production using an EPA Energy Star® program to see how we are doing. This “weather normalized” chart shows how our energy use would be under average weather conditions over time. The energy use intensity, or “Source EUI” score, includes energy transmission, delivery, and production losses for the energy, for a more complete assessment of the building.

NOTE: Due to problems with two of our inverters from June to December 2023 almost half of our solar panels did not send power to our building or the grid, which lowered our 2023 Energy Star® score and raised our electricity bills.