The environment and sustainability

The Synodal Council, the executive branch of our church, supports climate protection measures and measures to improve sustainability. The church congregations, the church’s specialist departments, and the Cantonal Church are all called upon to act in a sustainable manner, with the aim of enabling our church to become a “climate-neutral” church. Pope Francis has urged the faithful to live life in a sustainable manner; the Catholic Church in the Canton of Zurich is trying to put the pope’s vision of an environmentally friendly church into practice.

7 church congregations

currently hold a “Grüner Güggel” (green cock) environmental certificate, or are well on their way to being awarded one. This environmental management system obliges church congregations that hold a certificate, i.e. Pfungen, Dübendorf, Bülach, Uster, Embrachertal and Wallisellen/Dietlikon, to make a deliberate effort to do the following: save energy and water; establish a consistent system for waste sorting; make sure of purchasing environmentally sound products; and promote biodiversity in landscaping. The Cantonal Church provides financial support to church congregations seeking to be certified.

“Oeku” Association for Churches and the Environment (Oeku – Kirche und Umwelt) (German-language)

13,000,000 Swiss francs

will be invested over the coming years by the 23 church congregations of the City of Zurich in order to realize refurbishment and construction projects that aim to improve the congregations’ environmental balance. Coaching sessions on energy-related subjects enable them to find weak spots in building shells, ventilation, and heating systems and to eliminate such weaknesses. The church congregations also use income from church tax to pay for the additional costs incurred by switching from fossil fuels to renewable sources of energy.
Before any modernization project is tackled, the Catholic Association for the City of Zurich (Katholisch Stadt Zürich) will support any church congregation with in-depth coaching on energy-related subjects.

21,000 kWh/a

is the amount of energy the photovoltaic system on the roof of the Heilig Geist church center in Zürich-Höngg, built in 1973, produces. This is equivalent to the annual power supply for around six average Swiss households (3,500 kWh/a each). When the church center was completely reconstructed between 2018 and 2021, a solar thermal system was installed on the roof of the clergy house, and then, in 2021, a photovoltaic power system was erected on the church square. Additional exterior insulation measures led to a large reduction in energy consumption of 66 percent. The system has received a Swiss Solar Award.