NASHVILLE, TN – Implementing simple, inexpensive energy efficiency measures in their church facilities can enable African Methodist Episcopal congregations across America to redirect significant amounts of money from utility payments to fulfilling their missions in communities, an official from the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies told delegates attending an AME convention here today.

Danielle Deane, Director of the Joint Center’s Energy and Environment Program, used the occasion to report on her organization’s joint energy-saving project with the AME church. She noted that more than a dozen churches have been evaluated in its initial phase, and some of them have already completed low- and no-cost retrofits and upgrades that they expect to maximize their energy efficiency and save them money that can be applied to other church priorities.

“This project offers us an unparalleled opportunity to share environmental best practices in a way that can positively affect hundreds of churches and thousands of churchgoers,” she said at the 49th Quadrennial Session of the AME Church General Conference, which was expected to draw about 30,000 people to Nashville.  “Our goal is to put energy efficiency on the minds of more Americans as we all work toward making a better world.”