Episcopal Cathedral Hosts Green Church Conference

EARTHKEEPING NEWS
A NEWSLETTER OF THE NORTH AMERICAN COALITION FOR CHRISTIANITY AND ECOLOGY

Volume Fifteen, Number Three
May / June 2006

St. John the Divine Episcopal Cathedral Hosts Green Church Conference

On April 23, The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine hosted Greening the Religious Community, From Theory to Practice. Rabbi Larry Troster, Rabbinic Fellow for the Coalition on Environment and Jewish Life, began the event with a rousing call to action. "The House of the Lord, the House where we all — past and present generations — reside, the House built by the Creator in the Fullness of Time, is on fire. Who will better manage the house built by Creator for His creation?"

So began an unprecedented cooperation between the Faith Community of NYC and the NYC Sierra Club.

After Rabbi Troster’s introduction, six experts led breakout sessions for the 80 plus attendees. Each breakout session covered an aspect of improved management of the faith community's built infrastructure. Andrew Rudin’s of the Interfaith Coalition on Energy (ICE) spoke about his organization's goal of using energy efficiency to create money for community service while practicing environmental stewardship. Steve Sloane of Cool Sun is currently developing a solar energy collective for nonprofit groups. CoolSun builds solar energy generators on roofs and sells the electricity to the customers at rates below their current rates while freezing the cost for 10 years. Cool Sun is looking for nonprofit groups with roofs and conservative investors interested in 4.5% dividends. Building Shell Analyst Jim Wickham performs over 100 energy audits per year, and spoke about energy efficiency audits and faith-based facilities.

Jeff Perlman spoke of a project to make an entire city block of existing buildings more energy efficient. He has designed, installed and obtained financing for numerous projects in the New York area. Rabbi Lawrence Troster spoke about his work with COEJL and their Greening Synagogues program in New Jersey. Lastly, Ben Abrams of NYSERDA spoke about NY State funding for energy projects in the NYC area.

After the breakout sessions, a catered buffet was enjoyed by all. The event was funded by a grant from Sierra Club’s Campaign for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

Contact NYC Sierra Club membership chair and Greening the Religious Community lead organizer Frank Morris or telephone (516) 410-8461 for additional information.