I hope everyone has taken time to cast their eyes skyward and take in the freshly refurbished church steeple.
I have received quite a bit of positive feedback on the apperance of the steeple. Staining of the exterior wood around the main entry and the soffit areas under the eaves of the sanctuary has been delayed by weather, including high temperatures. I anticipate completion of this work in July if weather cooperates.
With the current high temperatures operational limitations of the skylight windows in the sanctuary have become more noticeable, leading to questions about these windows. I have reported on this problem before, but it is worth doing it again. Let me start with how the windows should operate normally. Each window is opened partially or fully with an electric motor on each window. Each window motor is powered and operated manually through a control unit and manual switch located in the Sound System closet in the back of the sanctuary. The control unit can also close the windows automatically in the event rain is detected by a moisture sensor mounted on the exterior roof.
Starting a couple of years ago, this normal operation began to malfunction in the sense that when the windows were opened, either partially or fully, they would remain in that position for a few seconds and then close again. I discussed this operational issue with the customer service representatives of the window manufacturer as well as two local companies that service this kind of window. Each of these contacts claimed to be unaware of this type of operational problem for these windows. The manufacturers representative suggested there could be an issue with the motor on the windows or the mechanical components on the windows. They also suggested that the windows were probably beyond their normal useful life given their age. Both of the local service companies stated that they were not interested in looking at our windows for repair because of the age and the likelihood that parts would not be available.
More recently, one of the two window units no longer responds to the manual switch commands, so we are unable to open it. We are able to work around the operational limitations on the remaining operational window by selectively powering the control unit only when we wish to partially or fully open the window and then immediately removing power from the controller before it can close the window. Clearly this is not a desirable situation because we no longer know with any certainty how long the window will remain operational. Furthermore, we no longer have any viable automatic protection to close the window in the event of rain.
I will be pursuing a couple of options to attempt to resolve this problem. First, I will be attempting to locate a replacement control unit because I believe there is a very high likelihood that the source of the problem is the control unit and not a mechanical problem in the window. Even if I can find a replacement control unit, we may find that the manufacturer's opinion is correct and the problem is a mechanical issue with the window itself. It is even possible that we could find ourselves in a situation with a window partially or fully open and no way to close it to prevent entry of insects, birds, or water. Therefore, I believe the prudent thing to do is to seek some cost estimates for replacement of these windows. I anticipate that replacement of these windows will be complex and costly. If that is the case, we may logically want to ask ourselves whether or not we really need the skylight windows, and if so, whether or not we need to have the capability to open and close them. One option may be to retain the existing windows in a closed position just as we would do if we had fixed windows that could not be opened.
The discussion of the skylight windows logically leads to some additional questions. With the increasingly warmer summers, are the open skylights really effective in providing a comfortable environment in the sanctuary? With that question in mind we recently began an initiative seeking cost estimates to provide an air conditioned environment in the sanctuary and possibly in the office areas using modern heat pump technology. We may also seek estimates for air conditioning for the Gathering Area.
Even with modern, energy efficient heat pump technology for air conditioning or to supplement heating, energy use is still an important consideration. With that in mind we have also initiated some effort to explore cost estimates for installing solar panels, either in the field by Spaulding Turnpike or on the roof of the church building to supplement our electricity usage and offset some of the cost for electricity. We will be providing more information on these initiatives as it becomes available. We have no specific plans to present at this point, but we feel the time is right to explore some options for future consideration.
David Mercer, Property Team Leader, Pro Tempore