Energy Audit Worksheet

Help Stop Global Climate Change!

#4: How to Reduce CO₂Emissions,

South Church ’s Energy Audit/Worksheet

Our Goal: Save 1500 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions per person annually.

This goal came from the 1990 Kyoto Accords, which suggests that each person reduce his/her CO₂ emissions by 1500 pounds and that business, industry and government reduce another 3000 pounds of CO₂ emissions reduction per person. Experts believe we have only another decade to do both these things if we are to avoid catastrophic global climate change. Consider lobbying your Congress people to get them going on their end! And of course, any additional reductions beyond 1500 pounds that you can make at home are very worthwhile.

There are many ways to reduce emissions, and the Audit/Worksheet below will give you ideas on how to do more than you have already. If you have ideas of your own, please come share them with us. We’ll write them on Yellow Flowers and put them on the Green Sanctuary Tree in the Fellowship Hall. Below are a few ideas we’d like to share with you that don’t lend themselves easily to computations of numbers of pounds of CO₂ emissions reduced.

· Replace meat with vegetarian meals. Factory-farmed meat production is considered to be one of the major contributors of global warming by the Union of Concerned Scientists.

· Buy organic produce. Buy locally produced food (less transportation needed).

· Write your legislators about environmental issues. (See sample letters at the Ministry For Earth table in the Fellowship Hall during coffee hour.)

· Vote for political candidates who will fight to stop global climate change.

· Educate others; consider talking to six people about how they might help.

The Audit/Worksheet below was adapted by South Church , State Street , Portsmouth NH , from the Maine Interfaith Climate Change Initiative for Faith Communities. CO₂ emissions reductions listed below are average estimates and were derived from the US EPA, the Environmental Defense Fund, the Children’s Earth Fund, the National Audubon Society and the Co-Op American Quarterly.

For more information, please contact Judy Miller at 433-8572, Diane Woods at 868-2962, Heather Parker 682-7506, Dave Cohen 207-363-0616, or Nancy Hoop 207-439-1636.

How to Participate:

On the following pages are practices to reduce CO₂ emissions. Give yourself credit for those practices you have implemented in your life since 1990, and give yourself credit for any new practices you are pledging to now implement in your or your family’s life. Remember, doing more also saves you more money.
Add up the totals on each page and at the end, hopefully, you have reached or exceeded the Kyoto goal of reducing 1500 pounds of CO₂ emissions per person annually on an ongoing basis. This will be a harder goal for families to meet than for individuals. Don’t get hung up on the exact numbers, it’s OK to extrapolate. And by all means, call us if you need help; see contacts above.
When you have finished, we’d love to hear how many pounds of CO₂ emissions that you and/or your family have reduced. It’s more fun when we work together! Come add your name with your CO₂ emissions reduction number to an Audit Apple and place it on the Green Sanctuary Tree. We thank you and the earth thanks you.

Let’s begin:

Electricity

Hint: Use power strips to turn off phantom loads on stereos, microwaves, TVs, etc.

Lights

Hint: Reduce more by purchasing Green Power, electricity that is generated from renewable sources such as solar, wind, hydro, geothermal or biomass. Go to www.mainecouncilofchurches.org or talk to Dave Cohen (see contact phone numbers on page one.)

Prorate below if different wattage are used:

Replace 100-watt incandescent bulbs with a 27-watt compact fluorescent bulbs:

For each CFB used, 160 pounds CO₂ emissions reduced _________

2. Replace 75-watt incandescent bulbs with a 27-watt CFBs

For each CFB used, 120 pounds CO₂ emissions reduced _________

3. Turn lights out when you leave a room

120 pounds CO₂ emissions reduced per room _________

Lights Subtotal ________

Hot Water Usage

1. Give your hot water heater a jacket of insulation

Electric, 660 pounds CO₂ emissions reduced _________

Oil, 360 pounds CO₂ emissions reduced _________

Gas, 260 pounds CO₂ emissions reduced _________

2. Drop the hot water temperature 10 degrees F (but keep above 120)

Electric, 660 pounds CO₂ emissions reduced _________

Oil, 400 pounds CO₂ emissions reduced _________

Gas, 290 pounds CO₂ emissions reduced _________

3. Do 4 out of 5 washing machine loads in cold water

Electric, 460 pounds CO₂ emissions reduced _________

Oil, 280 pounds CO₂ emissions reduced _________

Gas, 200 pounds CO₂ emissions reduced _________

4. Use low-flow showerheads

Electric, 920 pounds CO₂ emissions reduced _________

Oil, 560 pounds CO₂ emissions reduced _________

Gas, 400 pounds CO₂ emissions reduced _________

5. Install a solar thermal system to help provide hot water

720 pounds CO₂ emissions reduced _________

Hot Water Subtotal ________

Home Appliances

Hint: Look for Energy Star when replacing appliances and save up to 40%!

1. Buy a new refrigerator; recycle at the landfill the old inefficient one.

220 pounds CO₂ emissions reduced ________

Run your dishwasher only when full. Use the energy-saving dry

Setting (don’t use heat to dry): 200 pounds CO₂ emissions reduced _______

Buy a new high efficiency, low-water washing machine

440 pounds CO₂ emissions reduced _______

Home Appliances Subtotal ________

Page 2

Home Heating and Cooling

Hint: Ask your utility company for a home energy audit to find out where your home is poorly insulated or energy-inefficient. Prorate below, if appropriate.

1. Consider replacing your windows with energy-saving models

Up to 10,000 pounds CO₂ emissions reduced _______

2. Heat some or all of your house with wood. Wood is a renewable energy sources so will not add any net CO₂. Your wood stove must have a catalytic converter to not pollute the air.

(prorate below if more is reduced)

Reduce 100 gallons of oil, 2,220 pounds CO₂ emissions reduced _______

Reduce 100 gallons of bottled gas 1,300 lbs CO₂ emissions reduced _______

3. Nudge the thermostat down one degree or more.

Electric, 410 lbs or more CO₂ emissions reduced _________

Oil, 250 lbs or more CO₂ emissions reduced _________

Gas, 180 lbs or more CO₂ emissions reduced _________

4. Turn the thermostat down 10 degrees F at night.

Electric, 2,070 lbs or more CO₂ emissions reduced _________

Oil, 1,260 lbs or more CO₂ emissions reduced _________

Gas, 900 lbs or more CO₂ emissions reduced _________

Turn the air conditioner’s thermostat up one or more degrees.

220 lbs or more CO₂ emissions reduced _________

Get an annual tune-up. Replace filters. Save 5% of energy used.

Air conditioner: 220 pounds CO₂ emissions reduced _________

Electric furnace: 1,030 pounds CO₂ emissions reduced _________

Oil furnace: 640 pounds CO₂ emissions reduced _________

Gas furnace: 450 pounds CO₂ emissions reduced _________

Caulk or plug up leaks around windows and doors with

weather-stripping and close shades and curtains at night

Electric, 1,600 pounds CO₂ emissions reduced _________

Oil, 1000 pounds CO₂ emissions reduced _________

Gas, 700 pounds CO₂ emissions reduced _________

Insulate walls and ceilings; this can save about 25%

Up to 2,000 pounds CO₂ emissions reduced _________

Home Heating and Cooling Subtotal _________

Reduce, Reuse and Recycle

Hint: Reduce waste; buy minimally packaged goods; choose reusable products over disposable ones; recycle. The less we manufacture, the more energy we’ll save!

1. Recycle aluminum cans, glass bottles, metal cans, plastics, cardboard, and newspapers.

Recycle 25% of your garbage can: 850 pounds CO₂ emissions reduced

Reduce, Reuse and Recycle Subtotal ________

Page 3

Transportation

Hint: If your car has an air conditioner, make sure its coolant is recycled whenever you have it serviced as coolant gases are much more active greenhouse gases than CO_2; save thousands of pounds of emissions this way.

1. Whenever possible, walk, bike, carpool or use mass transit. Whenever possible when driving, use the most efficient route.

For every gallon of gasoline not used, you reduce CO₂emissions by 20 pounds

______ number of gallons times 20 = ______

2. Trade in the gas-guzzler auto for a fuel-efficient one that gets five miles more per gallon

Up to 2,000 pounds CO₂ emissions reduced _______

Trade in the gas-guzzler auto for a fuel-efficient one that gets five miles more per gallon

Up to 4,000 pounds CO₂ emissions reduced _______

3. Carpool, leave your car home 2 days per week

1,590 pounds CO₂ emissions reduced _______

4. Tune-up your car annually

900 pounds CO₂ emissions reduced _______

5. Combine car errand into one fuel-saving trip

500 pounds CO₂ emissions reduced _______

6. Keep car tires properly inflated

250 pounds CO₂ emissions reduced _______

7. Flying produces about .9 lbs of CO₂ emissions per person per mile,

whereas mass transit produces about .5 lbs per person per mile.

CO₂ emissions reduced = .4 times X_____ miles of shorter trip = _______

Transportation Subtotal _ _______

In the Yard

Hint: Plant trees next to your home and paint your home a dark color in cold climates

1. Use a push mower instead of a power mower

80 pounds of CO₂ emissions reduced _______

2. Plant a tree on the south or west side of your home to provide cooling shade

150 pounds of CO₂ emissions reduced _______

In the Yard Subtotal _________

Schools, Businesses and Community

Hint: Make sure lights, heat and office equipment are turned off or lowered each night. Use power strips to turn off phantom loads on computers, printers and other office equipment.

Work at your business or in your community to set up recycling programs.

For every pound of office paper recycled, 4 lbs of CO₂ emissions

4 times X______ number of pounds = number of lbs CO₂reduced = _______

1. If your job allows, work at home one day a week and reduce 20 lbs of emissions

For each gallon of gas not used:

______ number of gallons times per week times 20 times number of weeks =______

2. Replace some business travel with video conferencing, email or phone communication.

880 pounds of CO₂ emissions reduced for every 500 miles not traveled _______

Schools, Businesses and Community Subtotal _________

Add up the subtotals and see how close you came to the Kyoto Accords goal of 1500 pounds per person annually. Please place your name and total on the Green Sanctuary Tree in the Fellowship Hall, and then we invite you to take Steps 5 & 6 to help stop global warming. And thank you!!!

Grand Total of Pounds of CO₂ Emissions Reduced _________