Congregation Certifications

Reducing Our Energy Footprint

n June of 2007, we vacated the physical home of First Parish to make way for an extensive rebuilding and renovation project. The old Parish Hall, built in 1888, was essentially razed, and a beautiful new, larger, and environmentally progressive building rose in its place. Despite being 25% percent larger and the addition of air conditioning, the new building reduced our utility costs 50 percent and our “carbon footprint” by 43 percent.

In 2010 First Parish in Needham became the first house of worship in Massachusetts to receive the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s prestigious Energy Star, the national symbol for protecting the environment through superior energy efficiency. Nationwide, First Parish was just the sixth house of worship to be so recognized.

Going Solar

In 2013, we took our next major green step when First Parish officially “plugged into the grid,” activating 38 newly installed solar panels on our roof. The photovoltaic panels now supply much of the building’s electricity and, when the building’s needs are low, pumps electricity back into the grid.

The system is designed to produce about 15,000 kilowatt hours of electricity per year — almost 50% of the electricity First Parish consumes — avoiding nearly 14,000 pounds of annual carbon dioxide emissions. This is in addition to the savings gained just by the renovation. The performance of our solar system can be monitored online — note especially the second tab which shows our energy savings in terms of pounds of CO₂ not put into the atmosphere or miles not driven.

The addition of our new solar panels has raised our EnergyStar rating from 95th to 98th percentile.  As of March 2014, we are tied with two other churches for the highest EnergyStar rating for houses of worship in the entire US.  Overall 42 houses of worship have received a passing score of 75 (but we don’t know how many have applied.)  Interestingly, six of those 42, or 15%, are UU churches even though only 0.3% of the total number of houses of worship are UU.

Renovation Details

The new Parish Hall (below) is a sparkling air-conditioned space ideally suited for receptions and parties, artistic performances, art shows, and, of course, coffee hour. Sun-drenched by day, intimate at night, Parish Hall has excellent acoustics and a beautiful maple floor harvested from sustainable forests. An adjacent modern pantry facilitates the final preparation of food and beverages to be served in Parish Hall. The ground floor was completely rebuilt giving us well-equipped classrooms, a music room, and the beautiful Oakman Parlor. Similarly, the office wing was completely renovated and now houses modern offices, a copy and mail room, and the Wyeth Conference Room. Water use in the new building is down 40% from pre-renovation levels.

Elements that contribute to the remarkable energy efficiency of the new building include:

• High-efficiency argon-filled windows
• An improved ventilation system that allows for heat recovery
• High-efficiency air conditioning, with eco-friendly refrigerants
• Separate temperature control for all spaces
• Extensive passive heating in Parish Hall, along with “free-cooling” using CO2 sensors
• High efficiency light fixtures throughout and motion-controlled switches in many rooms
• Energy Star appliances
• High R-rated insulation
• Low-flow toilets, with separate settings for liquid and solid waste and automatic low-flush flush urinals
• Retention of storm water onsite, reducing load on the public sewer system

First Parish’s commitment to the environment is also shown in its use of materials, such as maple flooring harvested from sustainable forests certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, and paints, carpets, furniture and other materials chosen for their environmental friendliness. Our maintenance of the buildings and grounds includes the use of organic fertilizers and green cleaning products and supplies. The building is also pre-wired and piped for a five-kilowatt solar photovoltaic system on the roof to generate electricity. Adding the solar panels remains an important goal for the congregation.

The realization of our dream for a truly green building reflects a deep commitment on the part of First Parish to the seventh principle of Unitarian Universalism — respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part. That commitment is further embodied in the Green Sanctuary initiative, a parish-wide effort to live mindfully on this precious planet.

Setting ourselves to the task of Greening our Congregation, together we promise these things:

Most simply, we will each do our small part to care for the earth around us.

We will start with one step forward toward the thriving world that we envision.

Then we will step again, and again, settingforth together in this community.

Deep problems call for religious answers. Recognizing the depth and urgency of the environmental crisis, we must answer the earth’s call to our spirits.

We will bring the concerns of the earth to live deep in our hearts and in the heart of this congregation.

Realizing that we have been too concerned with consuming things now, we must turn our attention to the future.

We will take up the needs of the generations to come: clean water to drink, sweet air to breathe.

Acknowledging the earth most basically as our home, we must set about the task of restoration.

In this our congregational home, we will find small and large ways to remember the environment in our worshiping, our learning, our celebrating, and our justice-making.

Aware of the urgency and complexity of our environmental crisis, we end by promising simply this:

As people of faith, we pledge ourselves to work toward a planet transformed by our care.

                                                                           ~ Molly Housh Gordon

The following Children’s Covenant to Green Sanctuary, written by former Director of Religious Education, Irene Praeger, has also been used in our regular services, as welll as in Children’s Worship.

Children’s Covenant to Green Sanctuary

With the goal of making our congregation green, we the children of First Parish promise:

We will do whatever we can to care for the earth around us.

We will start by taking one step forward toward healing our earth.

Today we will join hands to care for our beautiful building and grounds and all the creatures who share this space with us.

We know that we have paid more attention to what we want rather than what we need.

We promise to pay more attention to those things that we really need, so that we can give ourselves and the children who come after us clean water to drink and sweet air to breathe.

Big problems call for UU kids to take action.

We must act now using open minds, loving hearts and hands that serve.

Knowing that the earth is our home, we pledge to do our part to respect the circle of life.

In our church home we will always look for ways both small and large to honor and celebrate the wonder and beauty of our natural world.

                                                             ~ Irene Praeger, DRE, CRE