Case Study: Saving energy with Sri Guru Singh Sabha Gurdwara
We used our connections with the city’s various faith networks, to team up with Sri Guru Singh Sabha Gurdwara in central Manchester to help them reduce energy use from the gurdwara and support their community to save energy at home too.
Saving energy at Sri Guru Singh Sabha Gurdwara
We connected Sri Guru Singh Sabha Gurdwara to Green Economy to facilitate an environmental audit of the site and create an accompanying action plan.
Three members of the Sri Guru Singh Sabha Gurdwara Committee also joined the audit to learn more about how to assess the energy use of their building.
Did you know, working with Green Economy we’ve developed an Environmental Audit and Action Plan that you can use in your faith building too! Take a look.
The audit identified a number of actions to improve their energy efficiency:
“They gave us quite a number of clear simple ideas that we should consider.”
And, with In Our Nature’s support, Sri Guru Singh Sabha Gurdwara were able to implement the shorter-term actions (like installing motion sensors and switching to LED) almost straight away, saving 6 tonnes CO2e.
They’re are now looking into longer-term actions and have successfully raised £70,000 with the support of their community to insulate their roof!
“Because [by saving energy] not only are you going to save money, but you're also going to become part of the family of people in the world who care for the environment and care for the energy consumption of the world.”
Supporting the wider community to save energy
As part of our work with them, Sri Guru Singh Sabha Gurdwara hosted an energy saving event to share the message of climate responsibility with their community.
The event included practical information delivered by Groundwork Greater Manchester’s Energyworks Team about how to save energy at home and hands-on activities for children and families to enjoy, including designing their own eco-gurdwara.
21 members of the community attended, with 63% of those surveyed telling us they learnt something about saving energy at home and 77% saying they learnt tips that could save them money.
“If you look at it from your religious point of view, it must be a religious responsibility to say that my fellow beings deserve a better world if it is at all possible.”
Since the completion of the project, project lead Bhagwant has built on the partnership with Groundwork’s Energyworks Team. The team has returned to the gurdwara to help identify ways to save water. They carried out checks for leaky taps and provided practical advice on water-saving habits, further supporting the gurdwara’s commitment to sustainability.