Published in the Enews May 30, 2024
The Solar Committee is nearing the end of our work, preparing our final presentation of options to the Vestry for a decision at their upcoming meeting. The research process began last year and included an extensive structural engineering study as well as many meetings with master carpenters, roofing contractors, and solar suppliers. We have been exploring a variety of scenarios and approaches to supplying our energy needs in a sustainable way that will benefit generations to come.
The St. Andrew’s community stewards a remarkable 200 year old landmark treasure in Hopkinton. Our defining mission has been to modernize our approach to energy sustainability for our current and future use, protect and preserve our sanctuary’s historic character, and save money in the long term which could be devoted to other important ministries. Our hope is to be able to announce final plans in the coming weeks that excite everyone in the congregation about our commitment to honor and protect God’s creation through this major endeavor, made possible by the Renewing the Gift Campaign.
-Martha Buttenheim, Chair
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Dear Friends in Christ,
I'm happy to share that just after Martha penned that message the Vestry did indeed receive the Solar Committee's presentation at our May 28th meeting. And our Vestry has voted in favor of a solar installation with annual electricity production of about 33,000 kilowatt-hours, offsetting in the range of 32,000 pounds (16 tons) of CO2 emissions per year.
All our Campaign projects are about making our worship accessible to all people. Some accessibility is immediately obvious, like an altar rail that will be approachable for all persons of every physical ability. The solar panel installation enables a larger-scale accessibility, but it is just as physically real.
We know that the world is burning, today. When the global community sets emissions targets for 2050, I have an existential hope that we reach them, because in 2050 I won't even quite have reached retirement age! Our continuing shared accessibility to all the good fruits of the earth requires physically real responses. And for Christians, this is part of our worship because we recognize that God desires for us to reconcile our relationship with the earth, not only with "hopes and prayers" of the heart, but as we pray weekly in 8am Rite I worship, "honoring thee with our substance, as faithful stewards of thy bounty".
(That prayer, which is used by the whole church, was written by a rector of St. Andrew's!)
16 tons of annual carbon eliminated from emissions is a substance-ial action honoring God. It is an of worship and contributes to the future accessibility of all people and all life to worship our God. According to the excellent work of Project Drawdown, distributed solar installations are one of the top ten most impactful ways to reverse climate change. Alleluia! Alleluia!
Now, I have to add that the Vestry also discerned their way through a host of other considerations. We explored financial sustainability and return on investment, aesthetic integration, service life and warranties, economies of scale, the government rebate, technology and timing, building materials, conserving leadership energies on building projects into the future. All seeking, as in all things, to represent the spirit and hopes of the parish.
With all these things voiced, responded to and sifted, the Vestry voted unanimously in favor of an installation that utilizes the roof over our offices and the front parish house roof, as well as the roof of the nave ("the church"). This installation maximizes our energy production and carbon offset, allows us to benefit from the 30% government rebate, and gives us a nave roof that is ready for the next 65 years. It also has a net benefit of hundreds of thousands of dollars to our parish budget over the service life of the solar panels. The aesthetic concerns are not minor, nor is the Vestry treating them as such. But they also see coherence between preserving the character of our buildings and what is possible with the installation.
While the Vestry has chosen a large-size installation, we will be finalizing some of the details at our June 25th meeting. Specifically, we will be voting on roofing materials, and whether to place panels on both sides of the nave roof or on the east (garden) side only. Please, as we prepare for that meeting, take the chance to talk to your Vestry members. Do celebrate. Do ask questions. Do add your insights and concerns (which are also hopes!) to the discernment so far. And as ever, all members of the congregation are welcome to, and have voice in, our Vestry meetings.
Finally, I am full of gratitude not only to the Vestry but to the committee of Martha Buttenheim, Tom Burack and Doug Crabtree who brought forward the solar presentation to the Vestry. And to Michael Summerlin, George Schell, and Junior Warden Clarke Kidder who led rigorous attic work that quite literally "supports" the solar work. By the time we install solar, we will practically be qualified to open our own consultancy. And it would be a consultancy competent not just for construction, but for lasting accessibility and substantial worship.
In Christ,
Reed
