Charlotte Church Solves Chronic Energy and Comfort Problems

Feb. 10, 2011 - PRLog -- CHARLOTTE, NC - After more than seven years, the offices at Sardis Presbyterian Church are finally free of expensive humidity and temperature-control problems all year round.  Church officials first noticed something was wrong in 2003, and had several companies try to diagnose the cause, with no success.  Over that period, the four ministers nearly lost irreplaceable books due to mold, and the church's utility bills were unreasonably high.  In the summer of 2010, Sardis officials reached out to North Carolina-based Southern Energy Management (SEM), a company that specializes in high performance buildings and solar power.

"We had been through this before, and were not optimistic that there was anything to be done," director of administration Dianne Hull said. "After all these years, we presumed it was a flaw with the building's design, and something we would just have to deal with."

The church had been using an inefficient system which used the air conditioner to over-cool the building in order to dehumidify it while simultaneously reheating that same air to get it back to a comfortable temperature.  This became a nonstop cycle all year long, resulting in excessive utility bills.  When church officials contacted Southern Energy Management, Sardis' original goal was to install solar thermal collectors on the roof to offset the rising cost of running the boiler year-round. Even though SEM does solar installations, they convinced Sardis to try one last time to fix the problem instead of opting for the solar route, which would have been a more expensive solution.

Building performance experts from SEM quickly determined that the building had virtually no air barrier in the ceiling; essentially the outdoor air was constantly replacing the indoor air due to major openings in the attic space.

"The only thing keeping people inside from literally feeling the wind blow was the drop-down ceiling," said Meghan McDermott, a building science engineer at Southern Energy Management.  "We were confident that repairing the air barrier would rectify almost all of the issues that Sardis was dealing with."

SEM made repair specifications and supervised crews from Energy One of the Carolinas who established an air barrier using spray foam to encapsulate the attic.  Within a few days, Sardis employees noticed a difference in the humidity levels.

"We were willing to give it one last shot, and are absolutely thrilled that it has worked," Hull said. "The offices finally feel like normal."

While it is too early to compare utility bills, SEM is already expecting the church to see significant savings.  Sardis had been spending roughly $3,000 per month to keep the boiler running year-round, so just by installing the proper controls to shut that down during the summer months, they should save at least $12,000 a year.  The air sealing will save the church a moderate amount of money as well, with less than a three-year estimated payback.  Most importantly, though, fixing the humidity and temperature problems has helped Sardis create a more comfortable working environment while meeting its sustainability goals and helping the church to be good stewards of the earth.

MEDIA CONTACT: Chris Cowperthwaite (919) 836-0330, ext. 129 or chris@southern-energy.com

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Southern Energy Management is a North Carolina-based sustainable energy company offering energy efficiency, green building and turn-key solar services for homeowners, builders, companies, government and military clients across the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic. A certified B Corp, SEM's mission is to have a measurable impact on reducing greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change, and to build a sustainable triple-bottom-line company. SEM was founded in a living room in Raleigh in 2001, and now employs a team of more than 90 sustainable energy professionals. SEM is consistently recognized as an industry leader both locally and nationally, and is among a small handful of companies in the U.S. to earn the National Energy Star Partner of the Year award four times (in 2007, 2008, 2009 & 2010). SEM also received the 2010 Green Jobs Award from SJF Institute & Green For All and the 2009 City of Raleigh Market Transformation Award. For more information: www.southern-energy.com.