Last time we compared the difference in church energy savings achieved if your church switched to CFLs or LEDs. Today we take a look at another simple example: Replacing incandescent bulbs in recessed pot lights with LED bulbs. Continue Reading →
Why Energy Inefficient Churches Are Losing Their Power
Energy inefficient churches are plagued by skyrocketing power bills. Let’s face it, church production takes a lot of power. Not just “Holy Ghost Power”, but power company power. While a lot of energy is used during production, inevitably a percentage of that energy is wasted. I’m willing to bet a lot of church buildings have terribly inefficient systems. It’s possible most church leaders are unsure of where their power is even going. I’m concerned that churches have come to accept the notion that high energy bills are simply the cost of doing ministry. The truth is, it’s not out of your hands. You can take responsibility for your church’s energy usage.
The first step: Understand where you energy is going.
“If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.” – Lord Kelvin
The two most important numbers on your church’s energy bill are usage (kW/month) and payment due ($$$). This tells you the overall amount of energy used, and how much it’s going to cost you. What the bill doesn’t tell you is the breakdown of usage in your building. It’s critical to know where your energy is going so that you can identify potential places of improvement. Don’t worry. This guide will get you pointed in the right direction.
Four common culprits of energy waste found in churches:
1. HVAC:
Church heating and cooling systems are by far the biggest offender of energy waste. It takes a lot of energy to heat/cool large venue spaces. Church sanctuaries are no different. Some HVAC systems need to run for hours prior to service to get the room to a comfortable temperature for attendees. You’d be surprised at how inefficiently some of these systems are running. The first place to look for a quick solution here is at the HVAC management system. Commercial grade smart thermostats from the best in the industry are becoming widely available and resemble features seen in intelligent thermostats for the smart home market. Changing out an archaic HVAC regulator with smart products will give you the fastest reduction of energy waste for minimal investment. Talk about bang for your buck. In the next post I will go more in-depth about addressing larger HVAC waste issues.
2. Lighting:
Another large contributor to energy waste at your church may be your lighting systems. If your church has yet to convert from the old school gym flood lights and fluorescent tubes, you are missing out on significant energy savings. There are tons of new energy efficient options on the market right now including CFL, LED and Induction fixtures. Upgrading your lighting is another fast way to reduce energy usage throughout your church buildings. Another benefit of switching is the increased life of the new technologies. These new fixtures will require far less maintenance and bulb replacements than ever before. Doing the whole building in one go may not be cheap. Consider doing it in phases. The good news is that prices are dropping.
Next consider smart zone control. Many churches are now benefitting from using smart motion censoring technology to control lighting in classrooms, meeting spaces, and auxiliary areas. Scheduling and way finding software can be integrated into smart lighting systems to ensure that you have light only where you need it. These technologies are especially effective in energy reduction during non-peak hours.
Lastly, consider LED stage lighting fixtures for production. LED’s fixtures offer lower wattage, multi-color, multi-pattern options to lighting designers and don’t require power sucking dimmer packs.
3. Phantom devices:
Phantom devices are anything that stays on 24/7. Do you know how many devices in your church are NEVER turned off? These are most likely computers, AV, IT, emergency, and security devices that may or may not go into “sleep mode” and never fully turn off or unplug. While the sleep mode feature does add the convenience of short wake up times, certain devices need not be on 24/7. Identifying the devices that can be completely shut off and connecting them to smart power strips that will decouple the device from the outlet when off is a great first step. Some smart power strips can be connected to scheduling software so that they are on when you need them and completely off when you are gone.
4. AV:
Audio visual manufactures have been producing more energy efficient devices over the last 5 years. The advent of class D MOSFET amp has significantly improved the efficiency, output, and reliability of modern audio amplifiers. A lot of those devices have integrated control features allowing users to remotely monitor energy usage. Old-school workhorse amplifiers, CRT tube TV production monitors, and large projectors not only require a lot of energy, they also produce tons of heat. In each upgrade, consider the energy rating to maximize efficiency in your AV systems.
Next Steps:
If your church has been discussing upgrading any of these four systems sometime in the next 5 years, make energy usage and waste apart of the discussion. If you really want to get a handle on your church’s energy (and energy bill), I’d highly recommend getting a commercial grade energy audit. Next time we’ll break down what you can expect to learn from a church energy audit.
Christmas Production 2013 Takeaways
2013 was different for me around Christmas time. I had just landed in Chicago only 3 months prior and God hooked me up with a new gig at a great church. Turns out, the media team (creative/tech) including myself were all mostly new to the church as well and we were tasked with quickly piecing together a Christmas production for the church unlike anything they had ever seen. Needless to say, we jumped in head first. Now that we have emerged from the craziness of Christmas production world, I have three takeaways to share that will save us all a few headaches during Easter/Christmas 2014 productions. Without further ado, here are the takeaways:
1. Go Big, Be Flexible
Anytime to you sit down with creative people, once they get inspired, ideas flow like water. Our pin boards were stuffed with ideas. Luckily for me, our creative director is actually very technical and he understands exactly what it takes to pull off each idea. Some of these ideas looked completely impossible. Tech gurus like … and … have written about the tendency for tech team members to say no by default to these ideas. While we would love to see these crazy ideas come to life, in the back of our head, we calculate the amount time, money, and crew it will take to actually pull them off. In those program meetings, you do not want to be Donny or Debby Downer. Instead of shooting down ideas left and right like target practice, try visualizing alternative methods to accomplish the heart of the original idea. This Christmas I found myself shooting down a doable idea that turned out to be the hit of the event. I’m so glad I was out voted on that one.
2. Tweak it Until It’s Right
I don’t buy into this idea that every showing of the production has to be exactly identical. If your Christmas production is shown several times, making small changes is crucial in my opinion. Especially if something is just wrong for the production. Why repeat bad? If something can be done better, why not make slight improvements along the way. We all try to get to the issues before hand in tech and dress rehearsals, but realistically, at curtain call, things are different. There is an audience out there. They may respond differently to things in ways you didn’t anticipate. Don’t be afraid to jump in there and make the small tweaks or the large deviations. Don’t live with bad. Eliminate dead space. Build in better cues. Sacrifice good for great.
3. Keep Your Family First
Long hours at the church does not just take a hefty toll on you, but on your loved ones as well. Do not give away all of your capacity to the church and leave your family with leftover exhaustion and frustration. Anticipate the amount of hours you will be away from your family, communicate it to them but also plan to have an incredible Christmas at your house as well. If you have services on Christmas Eve or Christmas day, move up Christmas dinner, gift exchange, and family gatherings. Push yourself to be intentional about thinking through and communicating what Christmas at you house will look like. You can still keep your family first even through the craziness that is church Christmas production.
PORTABLE CHURCH TECH TIPS: THE TIMELY SETUP (PART 2)
In my last post I discussed the challenges portable churches can face in getting consistency in setup. These challenges can lead to delays in the services or distractions throughout services. In this post, I will break down how I implemented the 5 tips for getting consistent stage setups that got us back on track.
(Photo Courtesy of Spencers Magic)
Some background:
Last year I started volunteering as a tech at a portable church that was entering it’s third year. As a young church, it wasn’t a surprise that the previous AV tech on staff was kind of a one man show. When “Joe Solo” left the church, there was a huge void.
The leadership decided it would be best to build a larger volunteer setup team, rather than rely on another solo sound guy. Smart move. The new setup crew was a mix of musicians, singers, and other inexperienced volunteers. Mixing duties were left to a handful of techies with limited experience. Despite having an eager and energetic crew, the setup suffered weekly delays, distractions, disturbances. Service start time fluctuated, and distractions during service were prevalent. I observed how things functioned for a few weeks and when I got the opportunity to implement some changes here is exactly what I did.
1: Allot more time than you need
The volunteers spent most of the setup time in the morning trying to decode the old solo tech’s setup procedure. The stage was flooded with people scratching their heads. By the time the band came in, the stage wiring was usually a complete mess. The most obvious problem was that the more experienced FOH techs came in later with the band. The techs would often spend valuable time looking for misplaced equipment, re-patching, troubleshooting, and then setting up the FOH station. Not to mention, the worship team still had to do a run through/rehearsal, and the pastor/speaker needed to soundcheck. Despite having 3 hours to get it all done, service started late almost every week. The first change was a simple one. We required the on duty sound tech to come in one hour early with the setup crew. That extra hour for the sound tech ensured a timely and efficient setup from the start and the opportunity for the next tip:
2. Work in pairs
From a volunteer perspective, loading cases on and off the stage is the easy part. When those cases on stage are opened things can get pretty overwhelming very fast. Breaking down the elements of the setup into manageable sizes reduces things into sections that the crew can handle. Instead of each individual focusing on the whole setup ad getting overwhelmed, they can now focus in on doing their part. We determined that our stage could be properly set and wired in 45 mins with 4 people. With the sound tech coming in early with the setup crew of four, we split the setup crew into two pairs. We choose pairs because most of our setup required two people lift and set. The sound tech worked along side both teams. Each pair got a short task list and they performed these tasks every time they came in. Repetition really helped each pair remember each step of what they were assigned. They could check each others work. Hold each other accountable for showing up. Some even carpooled. We tried to always schedule in pairs as much as we could and the result was a streamlined setup.
3. Teach best practices as you go
My biggest fear in my early observations of the inexperienced crew was safety. Fear that the messy stage would result in an injury of a crew member, musician, or pastor. Something had to give. Having the setup crew in pairs allowed the sound tech on duty to float from team to team during setup guiding them with best practices along the way. With a little coaching and a lot of gaft tape, before long, the crews became superstars and could do most tasks unsupervised. Some offered ideas on how we could become even more efficient and safe in our setup. Once more of the crew became more comfortable with the setup, they got more and more interested in other areas like mixing FOH. Giving your team the tools they need to succeed is often the fuel needed to lite the spark that has been squashed by frustration.
4. Listen to your crew
When I first landed at the portable church, and as I got to know different folks on the crew, I asked them what they thought were causing the issues and also what they would do to fix it. While I did get a range of answers, it served more as an opportunity to get into the mind of the volunteers who were growing more and more frustrated. Gathering and implementing some of the ideas that were shared was a strategic team building exercise. Including the team members gave them a voice and an opportunity to own the solution. Later on the team could see the progress that they originally envisioned.
5. Have those tough conversations
The toughest part of transforming the setup was addressing the worship team and church leaders. Because they were not usually present during setup, they often came to varied conclusions as to what was contributing to the difficulties. I observed a lot of mistrust and misplaced blame in my first couple of weeks. When we hit a turning point, I felt that it would be important to gather all the setup crews, sound techs, worship teams, and leaders. The result of the gathering was an opening in communication between the teams. We’ll talk about restoring community and confidence between different teams in the next post.