Energy Footprint Tool

The Church of England’s Energy Footprint Tool is now open for churches to enter fuel and power use from 2024.  The data collected from the tool will help your church understand its carbon footprint and will mean you may be eligible for grants to help kickstart your net zero projects. 

Katy Purvis, Net Zero Carbon Project Officer with the Diocese of Chester says; "The energy footprint tool (EFT) is crucial to the Church of England commitment to Net Zero by 2030. The data you provide helps the national church understand the scale of the current energy usage of all our buildings. The national route map for Net Zero Carbon required all diocese to have a 95% completion rate for EFT. We managed to reach 88%, so let’s build on that together”

The EFT helps Chester Diocese assess which churches need the most help with decarbonisation and assists in estimating the financial cost of carrying out the work needed to take the diocese to Net Zero by 2030. 

Most of all, it helps parishes, who need to this information to plan their own net zero action plan, to access advice on heating and lighting via the DAC, and increasingly, to access national funding for Net Zero, completion of the EFT is a mandatory requirement for applications to some funds. 

We recognise that parishes have many responsibilities, and that volunteers are often over burdened by form filling. We really do value your time and effort in this exercise, we are caring for God’s creation together, your contribution is much appreciated. 

This work is an essential part of caring for God’s Creation, by helping to combat global heating and climate change. The easy-to-use online tool will tell your church what your carbon footprint is, based on the energy you use to heat and light your buildings. 

• Take your first steps as a church on your eco journey 

• Your help will  inform carbon-reducing projects 

• You will be helping the Church of England towards becoming net zero carbon by 2030 

• This work is an essential part of caring for God’s creation 

What do I have to do? 

Simply enter your church’s energy figures from the year before. 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)  

• A simple assessment of your buildings’ efficiency, in graphical form 

What do I need to get started? You will need your utility bills for the year before: electricity, gas, oil, or whichever other fuel you use. For example, if you are completing it in 2025, you need your 2024 bills.  If you have solar panels, find information on their generation over the preceding year.  

If you have a separate church hall you will need to add this building, and enter the bills for this too.  If you want to exclude an area which is permanently rented out to tenants and sub-metered, you will want this information to hand.  

The national church already knows the floor area of most churches. If we don't already hold this information, you will need a sensible estimate of the m2 floor area of the church, and any other associated buildings you are inputting, such as the church hall.  

You will also need a sensible estimate of the number of person-hours that the church is used throughout the year.  Please remember when entering this data that a good estimate is fine – these numbers do not need to be 100% accurate, and long as they are in a relevant ballpark.  

The system is open until 30 June 2025 and you can find it on the online Parish Returns system

More information is available on the Church of England Energy Footprint Tool page