It Aint Easy Bein Green (But Its Worth It)
Good Stewards of God’s Resources Show Care for Future Generations in Their Churches’ Design

By Douglas A. Spuler, AIA

Green,” or sustainable, design approaches offer a number of benefits:

Energy cost savings. Green design allows dollars typically spent on energy costs and maintenance to be spent where they can have more impact: your ministry. Green building systems commonly use half as much energy as conventional building systems.

In addition, many sustainable design strategies lower peak energy demand.

Many states and municipalities now offer tax credits or other financial incentives for green buildings as well. California’s “Savings by Design” program encourages energy-efficient building design and construction through a number of services and incentives — up to $150,000 per project — to help compensate for the investment in energy-efficient building and design.

It’s a “quiet hero.” Specific sustainable design approaches in both building and landscape can effectively reduce storm water collection, utility demands and overall infrastructure demands. Green concepts might even help keep community taxes lower for everyone.

Happier, more productive occupants. A 2005 study by Bayer Consulting for the Turner Corp., found that more K-12 school districts and higher education institutions are realizing that green facilities are more effective learning environments. Improved air quality and increased natural lighting were named as two of the most important factors.

Design approaches such as day-lighting — essentially, bouncing natural light to interior spaces — help occupants feel more connected to the outdoors and the environment, and they even increase rates of learning.

Although sustainable design isn’t a new concept, the continued development of certification standards by the U.S. Green Building Council has increased visibility and interest in it. These standards — called Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED — help define levels of green design.

New options are becoming available very quickly as the continued interest in LEED and green design is encouraging the development of new sustainable materials and equipment. Options include:

Site strategies. Siting, solar orientation, design features and material selections should accommodate geographic location, topography, site conditions, building function and actual seasonal/daily uses. Incorporating a landscaped roof might help storm-water-management processes while reducing heat island effect.

Incorporating elevated parking decks can minimize site impacts and possibly provide revenue. Parking decks can also provide added real estate value by creating a larger buffer zone value, or even freeing up land for other developments such as assisted living or daycare facilities.

Building and building systems. Including a campus-wide central chilled water plant might be an appropriate solution that allows for flexibility as a church campus grows. A terrifically performing system that helps sustainability is a chilled water plant consisting of centrifugal liquid chillers, ice thermal storage units and a water side economizer. This allows the building systems to make ice during off-peak hours when energy is less expensive. The ice can then be used during the day for cooling.

Centrifugal liquid chillers also minimize the need for interior equipment space while maximizing ease of maintenance.

Additionally, building system operating costs can be managed by including occupancy sensors for automated control of HVAC and lighting systems, which optimize energy use during unoccupied periods.

Daylighting. A design team can model a daylighting design using state-of-the-art software to ensure optimum performance. Daylighting can provide 100 percent of the lighting required during the daytime and greatly reduce energy use.

Other lighting alternatives include large solar tubes equipped with variable light dimmers that can be closed when needed. Direct/indirect luminaires with T5 lamping use advanced reflector technology for cost-effective artificial lighting. Daylight sensors allow automated on/off control of luminaires in daylight spaces to optimize energy use while manual override switches allow an override of the automated lighting system if necessary.

Sustainable design respects our natural surroundings and enhances a congregation’s learning experience in a faith community. Many church leaders are thinking about adopting green design strategies to help ensure a better world for our communities and those of future generations.

Maybe yours should, too.

Douglas A. Spuler, AIA, is a principal of RNL Design, an integrated full-service architectural firm with offices in Denver, Phoenix and Los Angeles. Spuler, who joined the firm in 1994, leads the church/parachurch market. Reach him by calling 303.295.1717 or by e-mail at doug.spuler@rnldesign.com.