green building

Building and remodeling projects usually bring with them both challenges and opportunities. The challenges are often related to finances and design issues. Among the exciting opportunities, these projects can help members to demonstrate their commitment to care for God’s creation: through their choice of sites for new projects, building contractors, construction materials, and design features, and through recycling and proper disposal of used materials. For congregational organizers, knowing how to make “greener” suggestions to the project/design committee can be daunting. Many such committees have no idea that more environmentally benign, cost-effective alternatives exist. By providing a committee with a couple of good resources for greener building, organizers can help them broaden their awareness of options. The resources below can be helpful in beginning to learn how to conserve water, energy, and materials, to control solid waste, and to encourage more sustainable communities.

On congregation’s experience …
“Witnessing to the Building & Grounds Committee”

Pat Duke was an Earth Ministry Colleague at Our Savior Lutheran Church in Issaquah (WA). At one point the church’s Building & Grounds Committee considered expanding their facility and paving their gravel parking area. Pat was concerned about the church contributing to the growing number of impervious surfaces in her area. She learned that such surfaces “lead to flooding, quick runoff of pollutants into waterways, unhealthy water, and the killing-off of beneficial micro-organisms in the soil.” She set up a time to speak at a committee meeting and discussed three main issues: “Why is creation-care particularly an issue for the church?”, “How would our efforts benefit the church and the community?”, and “alternatives to pavement.”

In addressing the first question, Pat gave a brief presentation on why “environmental degradation is immediately an issue of social justice” – knowing that many in her church already cared about issues of social justice. She said that “the poor live in the most environmentally degraded areas” and “cannot afford the impacts of flood mitigation,” including rate increases in their utility bills. She also said, “what we do to God’s creation is an intimate part of our relationship with God. What we do with the gifts of creation is our response to the Giver. Our willingness to forego personal luxury for the sake of those with whom we share creation is the living embodiment of our love.”

In terms of how their creation-care efforts might benefit the church and community, Pat said that the church would be able to “establish a model for … businesses, other churches, and the larger community can see, study, and borrow. We could be a part of positive change for the sake of ourselves and our children.” She also described how alternatives to paving could be cost-efficient.

In addition to this heart-felt discussion, Pat gave the committee a useful variety of resources on alternatives to paving that she researched through the City of Issaquah Office of Resources Conservation. She also provided the committee with information on landscaping that would further mitigate water run-off problems. In particular, she discovered that her city offered free landscape consultations for this purpose.

Educational Resources

· The Guide to Resource Efficient Church Buildings, by Tracy Mumma, was produced by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and The Center for Resourceful Building Technology. This guide helps readers to understand the need for “green” building and remodeling and provides plenty of resources for doing so. It will be useful to both building professionals and do-it-yourselfers working on their congregational buildings, homes, and offices. To order, call (406) 549-7678.

· A Primer on Sustainable Building, by Dianna Lopez Barnett & William D. Browning, is written for architects, developers, general contractors, landscapers, and home owners. This book looks at holistic approaches to building and includes topics such as site and habitat restoration, transportation integration, energy-efficient design, materials selection, indoor air quality, cost implications, and more. It also contains an extensive bibliography and source lists. To order, visit the Rocky Mountain Institute's web site.

Practical Resources

· The Web of Creation’s Buildings and Grounds page lists tools to better understand the basic concepts of ecologically responsible building and an extensive listing of user-friendly, on-line resources with everything from finding energy efficient windows, to general product directories, etc.

· The Sustainable Buildings Industry Council (SBIC) is an independent, nonprofit organization whose mission is to “advance the design, affordability, energy performance, and environmental soundness of America’s buildings.” SBIC serves as a national resource clearinghouse for whole building design, product information, professional training, consumer education, and analytic tools.

· Co-op America’s National Green Pages lists a wide-variety of building resources such as: “Construction-Builders,” “Construction-Materials,” paints, lumber and wood products, etc.

· Habitat for Humanity’s Environmental Initiative, “embraces the concept of sustainable building: meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. … [It] provides education and training to volunteers working with Habitat’s many local affiliates. Emphasizing resource efficiency, construction materials conservation, energy efficiency and environmental sensitivity, the initiative helps affiliates achieve higher levels of sustainable building practices.”

Your Congregation | Greening Resources | Institutional Life | Green Building

Educational Resources

Practical Resources