Stephen Collette, Faithful Footprints program's Building Grant Manager, and Building Expert, delivered a compelling presentation titled 'Faithful Footprints – A National Decarbonizing Strategy for the United Church of Canada.' as part of the The National Trust Conference 2023: Transforming Heritage. Stephen offers a thoughtful retrospective of his conference experience, detailing the reactions and responses elicited during the event.

Now more than ever, collective effort is urgently needed to build on strong foundations which are rooted in creation care across our ministries. United Churches are setting an example of the importance of earth stewardship by putting their own homes in order.

When we think about the year 2050 and our climate goals of being carbon neutral in all of our activities, including operating our buildings, we often have this utopian vision of space age buildings. That vision is not what 2050 will look like; not even close.

As Canadians, when it comes to actions we can take to protect the climate, we automatically think about energy conservation. We head over to the local hardware store for some caulking, insulation, a new Energy Star window etc., to fix up our buildings that will in turn, help lower maintenance costs, save energy, and save the planet.

The more you learn about your building, the more you can save energy, minimize maintenance costs, and maximize the usage of your amazing faith community building.