Clear the Air - A Fundraiser to Improve Ventilation in the Church

We made it! Thanks to generous support from our St. Mary’s community, we can begin the project of updating our church ventilation system. The new system will bring in more fresh air. This increased exchange of air will help remove airborne contaminants, like cold and flu viruses. The new system will also add cooling, making our space more hospitable in the summer, particularly during heat waves. Better temperature control in the church will also protect our pianos and organ. The new system will be more energy efficient and electric, reducing our use of fossil fuels. Thank you to everyone who helped us reach our goal!

Background

During the COVID-19 pandemic we discovered that our church and chapel do not have adequate ventilation.  This is a particular danger during COVID-19, but is also relevant during cold and flu season in normal years and to our general comfort year-round.

Thanks to the help of John Solvason of the Building Committee, the Vestry has found a good solution for us. We are ready to move forward with installing a new heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system for our church. The system has an energy efficient heat pump and an energy recovery ventilator, which will help us reduce the long-term financial and environmental costs of the new system. Along with dramatically improving the exchange of air in the church and chapel, it will also add air conditioning.

The total cost of the new system is estimated at about $210,000. Thanks to generous donors at St. Mary’s we reached that goal within two weeks of the official launch of this fundraiser!

If you haven't read it already, this letter from the Rev. Bingham Powell was mailed out to parishioners on our mailing list.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do we need this new system? What is meant by inadequate ventilation? What are the environmental benefits of this system? For answers to these and other questions, check out our Frequently Asked Questions page.

If you wanted to give to this fundraiser, but didn’t get your gift in before we made our goal, you can always give a gift to the building fund to help us maintain our building and prepare for future building projects. Find out more about how to give to St. Mary’s on our give page.