Bring Light: University Church: Lowering Carbon Emissions in Palo Alto

PROJECT

University Church: Lowering Carbon Emissions in Palo Alto

Stanford University Church - Home of Episcopal Lutheran Campus Ministry

University Church in College Terrace (Home of Episcopal Lutheran Campus Ministry) is upgrading its furnace to save 208 therms of natural gas per year, for a total carbon reduction of 2400 pounds per year!

Number of Donations: 1 | Posted 2 months ago


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Target: $9,950.00
Raised so far: $50.00

The Charity

Stanford University Church - Home of Episcopal Lutheran Campus Ministry

College Terrace's Progressive Protestant Community - You Are Welcome Here.

Bring Light Activity

1 Donor

1 Project since June, 2008

1 Active Project since June, 2008

Charity Info

Based in: Palo Alto, California

Year founded: 1963

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Project Info

This project will save
2,434 pounds
of Carbon Dioxide annually.

The project at University Church on 1611 Stanford Ave. consists of replacing the 1960s era natural gas furnace in the church sanctuary with a new, high-efficiency furnace and replacing the louvered single pane glass windows on outward-facing surfaces of the building with insulating double pane windows. The expected reduction in gas usage is estimated at 208 therms/year, which results in a total reduction of 2434 pounds of CO2 per year. (Please refer to APPENDIX I below for energy calculations.)

Of all buildings on our property, the Sanctuary is least used but has the oldest and least efficient furnace and ventilation system. This project will focus on reducing the energy used by replacing the current Sanctuary ITT HAYES DUCT FURNACE with a new BRYANT Plus 95s Model 355CAV Deluxe 4-WAY MULTIPURPOSE VARIABLE-SPEED MULTI-STAGE CONDENSING GAS FURNACE plus replacing all operable louvered single glazed windows on the site.

The Hayes Furnace delivers hot air through the slab floor into a narrow hall surrounding an inner sanctuary open to a steeple peaking forty feet above the floor (See Photo). The heat is transferred through louvered windows from the exterior corridor into the inner large open area. The furnace draws all of its air for circulation from the exterior.

The new Bryant furnace would still deliver the hot air through the floor ducts and louvered windows, BUT has the additional benefit of drawing return air for re-heating through a large overhead return air duct to the furnace room. Greater efficiencies would be obtained from the modern furnace design and the re-heating of the return air. Additionally the replacement of the exterior single-glazed louvered windows with double hung/double-glazed windows would add additional benefit.

COST: Quotes for installation of the new double glazed windows, furnace and return air duct amounts to $9,950.00

Appendix I. Energy Calculations

The proposed project will take three steps to improve energy efficiency in the sanctuary: 1) Replace the 1960s era furnace with a new, high-efficiency furnace. 2) Switch from an outside air intake to an inside air intake, thereby using warmer air as a starting point to the heating process and flushing less warm air out of the building during furnace operation. 3) Replace the louvered, single pane windows on the outside surfaces of the building with insulating double pane windows.

The energy calculation below will estimate the carbon savings from steps 1 and 2 above. Thus the overall estimate is expected to be conservative, since significant additional savings will be achieved through step 3.

The heater output and gas input are found in the specification booklets for both furnaces. A recirculation efficiency is determined from the difference in heat necessary to raise the temperature of a given mass of air from the outside temperature to the furnace output temperature and the heat necessary to raise the same mass of air from a recirculated indoor air temperature to the furnace output temperature. Assuming an average outside temperature in Palo Alto in the winter of 50 F, a recirculated indoor air temperature of 60 F, and a furnace output temperature of 80 F, the recirculation efficiency is: n=.67.

Next, these efficiencies are used to calculate the average yearly natural gas savings by determining the expected natural gas input to the new furnace based on the known natural gas input to the old furnace. The gas input to the old furnace is determined by totaling the natural gas usage for the church property in the year 2007, deducting the known usage for water heaters (determined from summer month bills when heaters are off) and dividing by 3 to account for the other buildings on the church property which are more heavily used, but have high-efficiency furnaces. The gas inputs are thus 491 for the old furnace and 283 for the new one.

The gas savings per year is the difference between these values: 208 therms per year.

The pounds of CO2 produced from burning a therm of gas is well known. A value of 11.7 pounds/ therm is calculated from the EPA Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory, table A-204 (converting from carbon to CO2 and changing units) (http://epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/downloads06/06_Annex_Chapter4.pdf). Thus the overall pounds of CO2 saved through steps 1 and 2 alone is expected to be 2434 pounds per year!