Case Study - Towards an Eco-cathedral

The Roman Catholic Diocese of East Anglia, has been awarded up to £70,000 on successful development of a business plan, in the second and final round of the East of England Development Agency’s (EEDA’s) Cut your Carbon funding competition.

The Diocese had originally applied for £150,000 to take the first step towards making the Cathedral Church of St John the Baptist, Norwich into an Eco Cathedral.

Naomi Perowne, Cathedral Development Officer explained: “We are delighted to have been awarded some of the funding and will be working extra hard to raise the additional funds we need. Our responsibilities as citizens and members of the human race have implications for all aspects of our lives, not least of which is our impact on the planet we inhabit. The Diocesan theme for 2009 is Caring for God’s Creation with a strong focus on safeguarding the planet and its resources for this and future generations.  All parishes, schools and other diocesan groups are considering their environmental impact on the earth and looking carefully at ways this can be lessened.

“Specifically we want to reduce the current extremely high carbon emissions at the Cathedral by replacing the existing gas heaters with a sustainable heating solution for the Cathedral, the adjoining new community facility being built at the Cathedral (the Narthex) the sacristies, library and archive where important artefacts and vestments are stored. We want to enable a long-term, permanent background heating supply to both the Cathedral and the Narthex for the benefit of the general public, using sustainable energy and at the same time providing an appropriate ambient temperature to aid in the future conservation of the Cathedral fabric.”

The Cathedral is a Grade 1 listed building recognized as one of Norwich’s most iconic buildings.  It serves a thriving parish, a large diocese (Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough) and receives many national and international visitors, because of its architectural importance and the view from the top of the Cathedral tower. 

Naomi continued: “We hope the Cathedral’s experience in converting to a sustainable heating system and the impact this will have on its welcome ministry to the general public and on the conservation of the building will be helpful to other great historic buildings facing similar issues. “