If your congregation has taken steps to reduce your energy use and carbon emissions, apply to be a Certified Cool Congregation today!

Eco-friendly bamboo plaque is available for each level of certification
With this certification you will demonstrate your leadership in your community by showing that it is possible to reduce emissions, care for our common home, and often save money in the process
How to Apply
First download the application questions and record your answers offline. This is helpful because you have to complete the online application in one sitting, it is not possible to save a draft and complete it later. The application questions includes the updated 2021 certification policy.
Download the Application Questions
Use the Cool Congregations calculator for congregational facilities to take a “before” snapshot of your congregation’s carbon footprint, then make the changes to reduce your footprint, and come back to the calculator again to take an “after” snapshot. If you have reduced by 10% or more, you qualify for certification. Apply above.
You will receive a certificate suitable for framing and you can purchase a classy eco-friendly wooden plaque to show your leadership and inspire your congregants to make changes at home. You can apply for 10, 20, 30, or 40% reduction certification. Due to many congregations achieving higher levels of reduction, in 2020 IPL added new categories of 60, 80 and 100% reductions that a congregation can apply for. The average certified congregation has reduced 42%!
The Certified Cool Congregations listed here are jointly preventing over 1,000 metric tons of greenhouse gases from entering the atmosphere every year. This is the equivalent of not burning one million pounds of coal every year. Read their inspiring stories and apply for certification!
Use the start up kit for congregations: “5 Steps to Becoming a Cool Congregation” to get started on a project to reduce your congregation’s carbon footprint.
100% CO2 Reduction – Platinum Medallion

First Universalist Church of Denver

Good Shepherd Lutheran Church

Loomis Basin Congregational United Church of Christ

Lutheran Church of Honolulu

St. Martin’s Episcopal Church

Crosslake Presbyterian

St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church
80% and above CO2 Reduction – Gold Medallion

St. John’s Lutheran Church

Mt. Auburn Presbyterian Church – All Hands on Deck!

Grace St. Paul’s Episcopal Church

Temple Beth El in Stamford
60% and above CO2 Reduction – Silver Medallion

Congregation Kol Shalom

Emmaus Cut the Carbon by 60%!

Temple Sinai of Glendale
50% and above CO2 Reduction
La Mesa First United Methodist Church

Woods Memorial Presbyterian Church Cut Energy Use in Half!

40% and above CO2 Reduction – Bronze Medallion
St. John’s Episcopal Church

Central Baptist Church

Mountain View United Methodist Church

Nativity Catholic Church

Taftsville Chapel Mennonite Fellowship

Shalom Mennonite Church

Church of the Brethren Modesto

Flagstaff Federated Community Church

St. Dunstan’s Episcopal Church

30% CO2 Reduction – Green Medallion
Habitat for Humanity of Central Arkansas

Niles Discovery Church

St. Thomas ELCA Lutheran Church

Central Union Church, Honolulu, HI

Emmanuel United Methodist Church

First Unitarian Church of Cleveland

Salvisa Christian Church

Westminster Presbyterian Church

20% CO2 Reduction – Blue Medallion
Aldersgate United Methodist Church

People’s Church of Kalamazoo

St. John’s United Church of Christ

Bethany Lutheran Church

Genesis of Ann Arbor

Brackett Memorial United Methodist Church

Durham Community Church

Thomas Jefferson Unitarian Church

St. John Neumann Catholic Community

10% CO2 Reduction – Red Medallion
First Presbyterian Church

Bethany Christian Church

Woodmont Christian Church

Hillside, a Baptist Fellowship

Covenant Christian Church keeps the covenant for the Earth

St. Teresa of Avila Parish

First Unitarian Church

Lutheran Church of the Resurrection
