Monies will be used to conduct an energy audit
November 1, 2023 – St. Paul Lutheran Church has been awarded a $9,000 grant from West Penn Power Sustainable Energy Fund (WPPSEF). The grant will be used to support an American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) Level 1 Energy Audit at the church located in Pine Grove Mills, Pennsylvania.
This audit is the basic starting place for creating an energy optimization plan. The goals of an ASHRAE Level I Energy Audit are to:
✓ Identify primarily low-cost energy efficiency measures (EEMs) available on site.
✓ Include rough energy savings calculations for EEMs.
✓ Provide rough order of magnitude cost estimates for EEMs.
✓ Calculate rough paybacks for EEMs.
St. Paul Lutheran Church intends to use the results of this audit to implement EEMs at the church in preparation for a possible future transition to solar energy. All heating and cooling needs are currently provided by electric power. St. Paul Lutheran Church is contracting with Envinity, a local State College firm, to conduct the audit.
St. Paul continues to be a local leader in Ferguson Township and the Pine Grove Mills community. For instance, the church hosts the Ferguson Township Farmer’s Market every Thursday from June through September. It is believed that this is the only farmer’s market in Centre County that provides Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits to be used at the market. St. Paul hopes to exhibit similar leadership for the community in the eventual transition to solar power, starting first with the energy audit.
Pastor Paul Tomkiel, the church’s pastor of eight years, said “I’m excited for St Paul to be part of this program. It is our expectation that through this we will soon be managing the resources we have charge over better in addition to performing better stewardship of Creation. Personally, I hope our participation in this program serves as inspiration for other community organizations to undertake similar actions.”
About
St. Paul Lutheran Church was organized in 1831, providing over 190 years of service to the Pine Grove Mills community. The church is recognized as the host for the weekly Pine Grove Mills Farmers Market from June through September. The church provides space for numerous community clubs and organizations to meet, including the Dyslexia Reading Center, community theatre groups, puppetry camps, scout troops, and American Red Cross blood drives. The church manages and operates the St. Paul Lutheran Church Cemetery, offering burial plots and columbarium niches at steep discounts to other local cemeteries. Visit www.stpaulpgm.org for more information.
The West Penn Power Sustainable Energy Fund (WPPSEF) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that invests in the deployment of sustainable energy technologies that benefit West Penn Power ratepayers in Pennsylvania. WPPSEF investments are focused in three broad categories:
Deployment of sustainable and clean energy technologies;
Deployment of energy efficiency and conservation technologies; and
Facilitating economic development, environmental betterment, and public education as they relate to sustainable energy deployment in the WPP service region.
Visit http://www.wppsef.org for further information. YouTube – Listen to what our project partners have to say about us.
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Jeff Muthler, St. Paul Lutheran Church, 814-237-2081 JeffMuthler@stpaulpgm.org
Barbara Robuck, West Penn Power Sustainable Energy Fund, 814-865-7380 WPPSEF@ems.psu.edu