The suggested process for the audit is as follows:

1) Investigation

The first step is to investigate the present status of your institution, as well as the source and cost of various possible solutions. The "Audit Checklist" below covers most of the important questions you will need to answer, although, at an early meeting of the committee, you may want to brainstorm to see if you can come up with any additions. The Checklist also provides resources for finding out about solutions. It is very important to find accurate figures for the costs of the changes you propose, as well as any long-term savings that might result from these changes.

2) Ranking Proposed Changes

Once you have collected the relevant data about your institution?s present situation and the costs and benefits of proposed changes, it is important to prioritize these changes. If your institution is typical, you will have come up with many changes, and it is unlikely that all of them will be immediately feasible. It is clear that one, though not the only, criterion for selecting your priorities should be the long-term savings that might result from them. Even when considering cost vs. savings, instead of taking on only those changes that pay for themselves immediately, your institution may want to consider, as have many universities undergoing such changes, that it invest in conservation-oriented changes that have an expected rate of return on investment greater than the current borrowing rate. It should also take into account the cost of an item over its lifetime, because many resource-conservative products, such as compact fluorescent bulbs and energy-efficient computers, are more expensive initially but yield great savings over time.

Ideally, in addition to cost vs. savings, other criteria for assessing priorities should include the importance of the environmental benefits likely to result from the change, and how the change might help the institution serve as a "role model" for its members.

3) Implementation, Evaluation, and Outreach

Once you have set priorities, the audit committee will, of course, need to get approval to make the proposals become realities. But the committee?s job does not stop once the first set of changes is in place. Indeed, it is critical for the continued success of these changes that their effect be evaluated, both in terms of environmental benefit and in terms of cost vs. savings. If the audit committee can document concrete savings, it may find that it?s easier to win support for future changes, even those that are not as economically compelling.

Part of the evaluation process should be publicizing the changes and their effects to your entire membership. Again, this helps with future institutional change. In addition, it will encourage your members to use your institution as a role model, and make these changes in their homes. Finally, your committee should work to see that the kind of environmentally-conscious thinking that went into the audit becomes a natural part of your institution?s decision-making, so that future programs and purchases, such as new appliances, etc., will keep to the same high environmental standard. This is often the easiest way to save a great deal of energy and money.

Audit Checklist

This audit can be copied and distributed to members of the synagogue and to business and other institutions. Many of the actions in this checklist can be carried out with the help of a local utility company.

(Note: Mention of businesses and nonprofit organizations below is not intended as an endorsement but only as an indication that these businesses have been helpful in the past in providing accurate information about products and possible solutions to achieve desired environmental changes.)

Energy Conservation

• Are the buildings well-insulated and weather-stripped?
• Are there cracked or broken windows?
• Are your lights and appliances energy-efficient?
• Are lights and all electrical equipment turned off and/or unplugged when not in use?
• Are electrical appliances used for jobs that could easily be done by hand?
• Are thermostats set at the most efficient levels?
• Are you using automatic thermostats that change settings when buildings are unoccupied?
• Have you recently cleaned and tuned up your heating and cooling systems?
• Have you considered installing renewable energy systems such as solar water heating?

Energy Conservation Resources

Putting Energy Into Stewardship
Energy Star for Congregations Guide
An excellent, 86 page PDF covering all aspects of your congregation?s energy use.

Energy Stewardship Guide For Congregations
Published by the Eco-Justice Working Group of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. This guide is designed to help congregations of any faith use less energy in their facilities for worship, fellowship and education.

Heating and Cooling Your Home: A Conservation Guide
Ontario Ministry of Energy, 2004
A PDF or HTML booklet which focuses on conservation in homes, but can be adapted to your synagogue.

"Energy Efficiency in Religious Institutions," U.S. Department of Energy, Office of State and Local Assistance Programs, 1984. 89 pp. Available from the National Technical Information Service, Email: info@ntis.gov. NTIS Order No. DE85005163.
This manual is filled with detailed technical information.

Energy Savers
U.S. Department of Energy
Web section on tips on saving energy and money at home.


Most gas and electric utilities will conduct free energy audits for you, and they may even give free or greatly discounted samples of energy saving light bulbs and appliances. For more information on energy-efficient lights and appliances, contact the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy.

For more information on solar energy products, contact the U.S. DOE's Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy website.

Waste Reduction