Carbon Net Zero 2030
Updated: November 2024
1. What have we done?
- Since May 2023 a small group of 6 or 7 has started working towards achieving Carbon Net Zero for Otley Parish Church (OPC) by the year 2030. This is in response to the national policy set by the Church of England.
- OPC already had an Energy Audit (See it Here) carried out in Autumn 2022 and we await a report from a new Energy Audit done in September 2024.
- The Group used the 360Carbon tool to calculate our carbon footprint for 2022 – please follow the hyperlinks to find the detail. These have helped the team to frame the size of the task of achieving carbon net zero.
- Six months of research led to the presentation in November 2023 of the Otley Parish Church ‘Roadmap To Carbon Net Zero’ which you can find here.
- The Parochial Church Council (PCC) has commissioned a Feasibility Study into replacement and insulation of the Church roof: more details below.
- We are pleased to report that at their meeting on 14 October, the PCC approved the Environmental & Sustainability Policy, which you can read here. The policy (authored chiefly by Martin Hird) underpins the work of the Carbon Net Zero group. We will draw up an action plan now for us to begin implementation of this policy, in which we hope the whole of the Church community will become involved.
- The CNZ Group have produced a presentation covering its work, the next steps to take and the challenges still faced. This was successfully shown at the Otley Community Lunch in September. We look forward to sharing this presentation and our plans during a Sunday morning service – date still to be confirmed.
2. What would a Carbon Net Zero Church look like?
This is a suggested model by the Church of England
BUT Otley Parish Church is not an average Church, it is a Grade 1 Listed Historic Building (the oldest in the town). The nave and aisle roofs which were installed in 1867 (at a cost of £347) are now in a poor state and require replacement. In principle the PCC accepts that the sensible way forward is to use the opportunity of roof replacement (and potentially the ceiling) in the main part of the church building to incorporate insulation to reduce significantly our energy consumption, energy bills and carbon footprint.
In June 2024 the PCC commissioned a roof replacement Feasibility Study by the Church Architect. A draft study was sent to the CNZ group to consider in September. The Architect and potential contractors visited the Church early in October and a final version of the Feasibility Study will be presented to the PCC in November.
In the study, the church architect has suggested how insulation could be fitted between the existing roof beams, as illustrated here:
The Feasibility Study gives us an indicative cost approaching £600,000 to replace & insulate the Church roof. This would be a first step towards achieving Carbon Net Zero but obviously will require some major fundraising. A small group of parishioners are working with the CNZ group and the Diocese on a Fundraising Strategy but if you have knowledge or experience in this area, please do get in touch with us via the church office.
3. How can Otley Parish Church attain Carbon Net Zero by 2030?
We can address Heat Loss:
From data gathered by the churchwardens in the 40 days before Christmas 2022, combined with the 3D model of the Church on this website, the group has been able to calculate the likely areas of heat loss from the Church building, as shown in this pie chart which shows that just insulating the roof would bring significant benefits.
We are very grateful to Otley 2030 for putting us in contact with Dr Eric Peterson who has provided thermal imaging inside and outside the church to help identify specific points of heat loss and infiltration.
This thermal image, taken on a frosty day in April, shows the north wall and roof from the outside. The lighter colour of the roof, and the associated temperature figures, indicate that the roof is the greatest point of heat loss from the church, with it being about 6 degrees hotter than the walls.
We now have a good idea of the steps required to achieve
Carbon Net Zero at Otley Parish Church
4. How long will it take?
The timeline below lists the main actions and when we think they could happen. Note that the timing is speculative and may change as we work through the project.
5. What will it cost and how can we afford it?
At a rough estimate, replacing the Church roof and insulating it will cost in the region of £600,000. As a Church community we would fund raise and look for grants to support this work. The steps which follow-on would not be as expensive, as we are considering solar panels and changing from gas boilers to an air source heat pump (ASHP). Installing insulation will reduce the energy consumption, solar panels can provide an income stream and will contribute to the running costs of the ASHP. The ASHP delivers the main progress towards Net Zero and solar photo voltaics can be used to achieve the Net Zero target.
We are working with other local bodies, such as Otley 2030, Otley Energy, Otley Town Council, Leeds City Council, the Diocese of Leeds to share benefits and expertise.
6. What else can we do?
There are some small steps, “quick wins” which can help to reduce the church carbon footprint. Some can be done by volunteers at zero or very little cost. Slightly bigger steps may require professional work.
We continue to work towards achieving these small wins to reduce our carbon footprint, by preventing heat loss. For example the clerestory windows at the very top of the Church building have not all closed properly for years and the mechanism needs attention. We are looking at hiring a scaffolding tower to reach these windows and at the same time we may undertake a high clean of the Church for those hard to reach cobwebs!
Already some work has been done by volunteers on cleaning the Parish Room heaters and the ventilation system with its heat recovery unit to improve their efficiency. The heaters are now much more effective and quiet running.
To better understand the heating profile of the church building, we have installed small temperature and relative humidity sensors in the nave, Parish Room and mezzanine. These feature continuous logging and remote monitoring. If you look carefully, you may be able to spot the sensors. The data from the these will be informative, particularly now that colder weather is here and we are using the heating system again.
Church South Wall Before Pruning
A work party in the Church grounds last year has had a lasting effect on the South facing wall, allowing in more light and warmth and preventing the build up of damp. A 2024 working party will take place on 16th November at 9.30am.
Following last year’s work party, it has been observed that the south side of the Churchyard was full of tits, wrens and blackbirds feeding from the bare soil dug out when we cleared the trench that runs alongside the wall. The sun on the wall looked good and draws the eye down the path as well as providing extra light and warmth and preventing the build up of damp.
South Wall After Pruning
The tree pruning arisings have been taken up to add to the habitat piles in the north west corner of the churchyard where they were seen attracting the birds.
The guttering around the Church roof has been cleared and repaired, which also helps to prevent the build up of damp. Windows which are stuck open will be assessed for repair/permanent closure to reduce heat loss.
The diocese approved further churchyard tree work, this time by professional tree surgeons, which took place in March 2024. This was to prune many of the trees and remove 3 conifers which had outgrown their location. Replacement trees have also been planted. The work has allowed more sunlight to enter the church and brighten the beautiful stained glass windows on the south side. These all help to make our heating of the building more efficient and so reduce our carbon footprint.
Some of these steps towards net zero may seem small, but all help to improve the current efficiency of energy use by, for instance, filling in gaps to reduce draughts and regular maintenance of air circulation, ventilation and heating systems, windows, gutters and Churchyard.
7. What are other Churches doing?
We are encouraged that other churches in the Diocese have already made good progress towards being Net Zero Carbon by 2030; All Saints Ilkley, Holy Trinity Skipton, St Chad’s Far Headingley and Menston Parish Church to name but four. Our neighbouring churches have kindly agreed to site visits so that we can see what they have done so far – you can read about it on their websites via the hyperlinks in this article. These visits have been useful and have led to recommendations to see more places where the Church of England has reduced its carbon footprint. More recently, we visited York Minster and were inspired by their vision, commitment and big steps already taken towards carbon net zero. Work is in-hand to fit 184 solar panels on the Minster roof by the end of the year.
“If we can do it, everybody else can do it…” said Alex McCallion, the minster’s director of works and precinct. Read more about the work at York Minster in this BBC article.
We are hopeful that if the Church of England is serious about churches being Net Zero by 2030 they will be flexible in their consideration of our plans. Please keep checking back here on the website for updates as we move towards Carbon Net Zero.
8. Find out more
Achieving Net Zero is a long and complicated task. Fortunately, the Church of England has provided many useful documents to help us along the way. Below are links to some of the more accessible documents that we are using.
Diocese of Leeds Toolkit: sustainable Heating in your church:
https://d3hgrlq6yacptf.cloudfront.net/63dac5b59618e/content/pages/documents/dac-heating-toolkit.pdf
The above PDF document includes a link “Church of England – Environmental section” which has lots of useful information and yet more links! The following 2 links seem quite relevant to OPC circumstances:
Roadmap to Net Zero Carbon by 2030:https://www.churchofengland.org/about/environment-and-climate-change/net-zero-carbon-routemap/reducing-emissions-churches
There is a long list of Case Studies but this particular one covers a Grade I church (as is Otley Parish Church) with air-source heating and solar panels:
https://www.churchofengland.org/about/environment-and-climate-change/towards-net-zero-carbon-case-studies/low-cost-low-carbon
The following Diocese of Leeds DAC Environmental Policies and Guidance document is long, but pages 15 to 18 for Heating and pages 23 & 24 for Solar Panels (etc) are relevant. Whatever the PCC decides to do, the Diocesan Advisory Committee (DAC) will have to approve:
https://www.leeds.anglican.org/dac-sustainability-policy
The following guidance is very detailed and there is a lot of reading in the various sections. C of E comprehensive guidance on church heating including options appraisal:
www.churchofengland.org/resources/churchcare/advice-and-guidance-church-buildings/heating
Finally, The Diocese of Leeds has produced a Heating Checklist. Diocese of Leeds Church Heating Checklist https://d3hgrlq6yacptf.cloudfront.net/63dac5b59618e/content/pages/documents/heating-checklist-july-2022.pdf
