Trinity Lutheran Church

Trinity Lutheran Church recently participated in Focus on Energy’s Business Incentive Program. The financial incentives offered by Focus helped give the church’s building and properties supervisor, George Neubauer, the extra push to accomplish several energy savings projects. Those recent projects include an upgrade to two high efficiency modulating condensing boilers. In the past, the church has also applied for and received lighting incentives through Focus on Energy’s Small Business Program.

The Waupaca-based church was also recently recognized on a national level for their strides in energy efficiency, earning the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) ENERGY STAR^® certification, which signifies that the building performs in the top 25-percent of similar facilities nationwide for energy efficiency and meets strict performance levels set by the EPA.

Commercial buildings that earn EPA’s ENERGY STAR certification use an average of 35 percent less energy than typical buildings and also release 35 percent less carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Trinity Lutheran Church improved its energy performance by managing energy strategically across the entire organization and by making cost-effective improvements to its building.

"Trinity Lutheran Church is pleased to accept EPA’s ENERGY STAR certification in recognition of our energy efficiency efforts,” said George Neubauer, Trinity’s Building and Properties Supervisor. "Through this achievement, we have demonstrated our commitment to environmental stewardship while also lowering our energy costs. The Focus on Energy incentives we received helped us achieve this recognition.”

To earn the ENERGY STAR certification, Trinity Lutheran Church took the following actions:

• Employee/Congregation awareness, no/low cost items such as, de-lamping, light switch timers and motion detectors, LED exit signs, programmable thermostats, replacing over 550 32W fluorescent bulbs with 25W, implementing LED lighting in higher use areas. In October 2014, Trinity replaced 6 open flame boilers from the early 1980’s, (that served the original pre-addition building) to, two high efficiency, modulating, condensing boilers.