BeliefWatch: God Is Green

OhDear · 04-30-2007, 12:59 PM

Here is a link to the whole article: God is Green.

And here is a portion of the article.

OD

Quote:

April 30, 2007 issue - Have you ever stopped to consider how much it costs to heat—or cool—a church? These huge and sometimes ancient and drafty structures sit empty for most of the week—but the Wednesday-evening Bible-study group needs lights and probably a few cups of coffee, and so does the Saturday-morning marriage-prep class. Often it's easiest to keep the lights on, even when there's nobody home. As factions in the evangelical world duke it out over whether environmentalism should be a theological priority, a number of churches, synagogues and mosques nationwide are undertaking serious efforts to make their buildings "green."

teethandclaws · 04-30-2007, 02:58 PM

Skylights would seem to me to be an effective, one-time cost that would help, especially during these longer spring and summer days.
They would provide young children in the services with something to look at, and possibly decrease their fidgeting in the pews, which is sometimes distracting to other patrons, though some might deem their upward gazes as disrespectful.
That 250,000 dollar utility bill does seem to be quite wasteful.

chrisg967 · 04-30-2007, 06:52 PM

How about solar panels in the shingles? Think about it next time you re-roof.

Hio · 04-30-2007, 06:54 PM

Well whats the going price on panels...plus it all depends on where you live....Hale is bad for panels lol

chrisg967 · 04-30-2007, 07:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hio

Well whats the going price on panels...plus it all depends on where you live....Hale is bad for panels lol

I guess a church would be classified as a commerical rather than residential application of the product. Here are price lists for a company in Ohio:
Residential
Commercial

Seems like solar panels would pay for themselves in electricity savings, but maybe as a roof they aren't that great? I found a site that lists solar shingle companies (left panel), but the warranties don't seem to be as long as conventional roofs.

You may have a point on the potential for hale damage. I only found one link about hale damage and solar panels - maybe I wasn't using the right search phrase.

teethandclaws · 04-30-2007, 07:29 PM

Doesn't it hail everywhere in a thunderstorm? I've lived in a lot of states and seen hail in all of them, though it was the worst in Colorado.

Hio · 04-30-2007, 07:30 PM

not all the time in a thunderstorm, when we get them in the northeast, depending on the time of the year its just all rain.

teethandclaws · 04-30-2007, 07:33 PM

Yeah, I kind of worded that wrong. It can happen in a thunderstorm. I am in the northeast too, for the time being.

chrisg967 · 04-30-2007, 07:34 PM

It can hail anywhere, but the size and duration of the downpour varies. The one link I saw said their panels could "withstand hale impacts up to 25mm".

Hio · 04-30-2007, 07:35 PM

Yeah so I dunno how the protection would be for the panels, and if you did cover them with something would that hinder the collection of solar rays