After heavy rains in northeast Iowa, streams rose up and the fields felt soggy. At Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Decorah, Iowa, the pergola racked with rooftop solar stayed dry.  Permeable pavers and a French drain under the pergola funneled water away from the church’s foundation. 

The pergola is the last piece in a complex puzzle assembled by Jim and Liz Fritz, the congregation, and their partners to make Good Shepherd a pioneer net-zero church. It may be the first net-zero church in Iowa. All of the church’s energy, heating, and cooling are produced on-site, using a combination of geothermal, air-source heat pumps, solar, and more.

 Congregation member Jim Fritz inspects the Good Shepherd Church renewable energy pump system.

To finance net-zero, Liz and Jim formed Mission Green, LLC, “a mission with a company.” The Fritzes financed the solar and air-source heat pumps at the church using a Purchase Power Agreement for the solar and a six-year lease to own for the heat pumps.

After the six-year lease-to-own is complete, the church will pay their local power company an estimated $23 a month for all energy needs for the entire building — which comes from only the cost of the meter. Saving on energy allows the church to pursue more mission work.

“Roughly 35% of all the money that comes into the church goes out in benevolence,” said Fritz. “So they don’t like spending money on themselves.” The church supports a mission in Nigeria, partnerships with churches in Hungary and Namibia, immigration legal services, youth, seminarians, and other missions.

Mission Green used national incentives through the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which has since allowed nonprofits to also regain a 30% tax credit on solar installation. The project built on a local movement with technical know-how and community will for clean energy.

Decorah is a leader in rural energy transformation. The first energy district in the country, Winneshiek Energy District (WED), started in Decorah in 2010. This model has expanded to become the Clean Energy Districts of Iowa, with districts in 14 counties across the state.

Not only was the congregation on board with the project, voting 99-4 in favor, but also, almost all of the contracting and technical assistance came at the local level.

The Fritzes stand beneath the church’s pergola, which provides energy for the church and shade for members.

The church has pursued energy efficiency for many years with WED’s assistance. Before the pandemic, the sprawling church replaced its gas furnaces with geothermal. In 2023, it installed air-exchange heat pumps and solar to move the energy needle all the way to net-zero. Howard County Energy District also worked with Good Shepherd on financial planning for the improvements. 

Local bankers Greenpenny provide another piece of the puzzle. This outgrowth of Decorah Bank & Trust is entirely focused on green energy and only invests in renewable energy projects.

For the Fritzes and many in the church, renewable energy is about caring for future generations. “I just go to the older people in the congregation and ask them about their grandkids,” said Fritz. “How would you like your children and grandchildren to have a planet like this?”

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), passed by the 117th Congress and signed by President Joe Biden, is a piece of federal legislation that aims to reduce inflation by lowering the cost of prescription medications, investing in domestic energy production, and promoting clean energy, among other objectives.