https://news.yahoo.com/plastic-junk-spawns-desert-island-disaster-pacific-063617712.html
 

Pope Francis has released his encyclical on the Environment, and our stewardship of the environment, that has been entrusted to our care. Fr. Jim McDougall recently introduced our parish to an interfaith ministry that helps to create models, and educational models, that assist houses of worship and their congregants to incorporate sustainability measures into their facilities and daily lives at home.
 
Michigan Interfaith Power and Light’s mission reads as follows: “To involve faith communities as stewards of the Earth by promoting and implementing energy efficiency, renewable energy, and other related sustainable practices through education, advocacy, and action.”
 
We invite anyone who has an interest in this area to join our “Green Team” here at St. Andrew. With the help of Fr. Jim McDougall, this team will help us in planning and action, outreach and education, along with working with the congregation, clergy, and staff in ways in which we might begin to be better stewards of God’s creation and better stewards of our funds. If you share these interests, please contact the office with your name and number.

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Solar Panel Initiative for St. Andrew

As noted in previous Parish Bulletins, serious consideration is being given to having a solar panel system (SPS) installed on our Parish campus. This SPS would be interfaced to the DTE grid in such a way that electrical power from the solar panels would be used ahead of power from the DTE grid.

This will result in:
• Reduced electrical energy cost to the Parish;
• Reduced fossil fuel consumption;
• Better stewardship of the planet’s resources by all.

Analysis by our consultant shows that if the Parish uses the maximum allowable SPS size permitted under Michigan regulation, 150 kW, the power consumed from DTE by the Parish would be reduced by 50% to 55%.

How can such an SPS be financed?
The Parish CANNOT DO IT given the debt load it already has.

There is another way that is being used successfully in other places.

That is for a group of investors to step up, form a small company, buy the SPS and contract with the Parish to sell it the electricity generated by the SPS at a lower rate than that charged by DTE per kilo-watt hour.

How would this work?
Suppose a 150 kW SPS costs $300,000...

• If a small company were formed and shares in this company were sold for $10,000 each, then the company would need to sell a little more than 30 shares to cover the capital cost of the project plus the startup costs for the company.
• Monies generated by the sale of power to the parish will be returned to the shareholders in the form of dividends.
• The length of the contract between the company and the Parish will be determined by negotiation, but should be at least 10 to 12 years.

• For the tax year 2019, there is a 30% energy investment tax credit that can be applied to reduce the taxes the investor would have to pay in 2020. 
• In terms of the above example, purchase of a $10,000 share would automatically give the investor a credit of $3,000 to be subtracted from taxes owed for 2019. 
• If the credit cannot be used up in one year, then the remainder can be carried forward to future years.

• This tax credit effectively reduces a $10,000 investment to $7,000.
• An added return of 2.0% to 4.0% would seem reasonable for this type of investment.

If you are interested in learning more about being an investor,
please contact one of the Green Team members listed below:

• Steve Cortese at (734) 755-2299 or email scortese22@yahoo.com
• Bob Bykowski at (734) 646-4550 or email rojoby@aol.com
• Roy Castel at (734) 834-8321 or email rcastel956@aol.com
• Ed Fadden at (734) 434-9174 or email dianedfadden@comcast.net

Please check on vulnerable friends, family & neighbors.

Green Team Status Update

“Care for the environment represents a challenge for all of humanity. It is a matter of a common and universal duty, that of respecting a common good, destined for all” (No. 466).

- Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, The Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church

Green Team members wish to provide you with an update of the beneficial effects of significant past and present energy efficient initiatives, such as: changing several standard light bulbs to LED bulbs, modifying thermostat settings specifically during unoccupied times, and converting parking lot lights to LED.

The graphs below compare cost and usage data for years 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017.  Cost is denoted with a “C” preceding each year, while Usage is denoted with a “U.”

Note:  Gas is measured in centum cubic feet or ‘ccf’; it equals the volume of 100 cubic feet (cf) of natural gas. Electricity is measured in kilowatt hours or ‘kWh’; it equals the product of kW [or, 1,000 watts] multiplied by time in hours [h] used.

Our natural gas consumption ‘usage’ between 2014 – 2017 decreased overall by 32.28% and resulted in a ‘cost’ savings of 37.97% or a savings of $7,447 over the last three years:  $3,280 in 2015, $3,954 in 2016, and $213 in 2017.

Our electrical consumption ‘usage’ between 2014 – 2017 decreased overall by 26.30% and resulted in a ‘cost’ savings of 25.68% or a savings of $12,825 over the last three years:  $9,823 in 2015, $486 in 2016, and $2,615 in 2017.
 

Please consider that increases/decreases in usage ‘may’ be contributed to changes in weather conditions.

All Parishioners of St Andrew have played a role in the conservation of both gas & electric resources by enduring both warmer and colder temperatures throughout the seasons and we thank you! 
Our commitment to align our St Andrew Parish with our Pope’s encyclical (https://laudatosi.com/watch) to conserve energy and natural resources has saved our Parish over $20,000 in gas and electricity alone and primarily due to the mindful steps taken over the past four years.   
In the future, we hope to promote additional conservation measures in the following areas:

• Continue to improve Recycling efforts throughout the Complex
• Work with Fr Francis and team on planning and implementation of Parish Hall lighting needs
• Review of Worship Space lighting

Green Team members wish to thank all of you for your Prayers & Support!

Our parish is saving dollars on utility costs… dollars that can be used in concert with our mission to evangelize and to provide support to those in need.  It is also a means to conserve the many gifts God has provided for us and to use those resources in a prudent way.
If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions; or, would like to attend a Green Team meeting, please feel free to contact Green Team member, Steve Cortese, at scortese22@yahoo.com.

We are working to find this balance. If you find a room is much too hot or much too cold, please contact your Staff Liaison. If you are running an event, please be sure to let the office know of any special temperatures your event may need.  The changes we have made thus far, are saving the church money and the earth coal. Thank you for helping us with this transition.