The Energy Footprint Tool (EFT) is open for churches to submit their 2024 energy bill data via the Parish Returns website until the tool closes on the 30 June 2025.
The EFT is an user-friendly tool that calculates your churches carbon footprint and provides vital baseline information for work towards Net Zero Carbon.
Why the tool is important
With 2024 being the hottest year on record, our work towards safeguarding creation and cutting our carbon emissions is more urgent than ever. The EFT helps you understand your own energy usage better, and is our main source of data for building both a Diocesan and national picture.
Completing the tool will also mean you may also be eligible for grants to kickstart your net zero projects. It should take less than an hour and can be done by Treasurers, Churchwardens, Office Managers, or anyone who has access to the bills.
What do you need to get started?
Simply gather your utility bills for 2024 for all your church or Parish buildings and input these into the online survey – this includes your electricity, gas, oil or whatever other fuel you may use. If you have solar panels, find information on their generation over the preceding year.
Before you start collecting energy use data for your buildings, you need to determine whether a building is ‘in scope’. This online building scope checker tool will help you work this out. But essentially, if a building is not owned by the Church of England then you do not need to report on the building.
You can watch a walk-through video of how to fill in the tool here:
Results
Once you have entered all the data, you will immediately receive a report and results on your computer or smartphone. This includes the church’s carbon footprint in CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent) and how this has changed in recent years. Be sure to still press ‘submit’ for your entry to be finalised and submitted!
Energy Footprint Tool Drop in Sessions
If you would like more support in filling out the Energy Footprint Tool, our friends at London Diocese have invited us to join their weekly drop in sessions. These are a great chance to ask questions, and will take place weekly on Wednesdays at 12:00-13:30 until 26 June.
Dates:
- 25th June, 12:00-13:30
To be sent the Zoom link, email [email protected].
Where should I go for support?
If you have questions or would like support with filling in the tool or accessing Parish Returns, please contact our Diocesan Environmental Officer, Sophie Roberts, who will be happy to help: [email protected].
Cutting Carbon at St Mark’s Reigate – How the Energy Footprint Tool helped
Watch this short video of Revd Martin Colton, Vicar of St Mark’s in Reigate, as he shares how the Energy Footprint Tool helped their church reduce carbon emissions and reflect on how they care for God’s creation. By highlighting their energy usage, the tool encouraged them to take practical steps – particularly through the Give to Go Green match funding project, which supported the replacement of old, expensive halogen lighting with energy-efficient LEDs.
If your church hasn’t yet completed the Energy Footprint Tool, please submit your data by Monday 30 June using your 2024 energy bills on Parish Returns. For support, contact [email protected] or join a Wednesday lunchtime drop-in session
