sustainABILITY
Temple of Green
Sustainable design is deeper than bricks and mortar

by Michael J. Crosbie, PhD, AIA

How do you . . . blend the concepts of sustainability and religious faith.

Summary: It’s not surprising that many clients might shy away from going for what many in sustainability circles consider the “Full Monty”—a LEED® Platinum rating—due to the perception that achieving such a certification will require high-cost systems and materials. But it’s possible to get Platinum without advanced technology. A case in point is a recently completed synagogue for the Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation in Evanston, Ill. The architect, Carol Ross Barney, FAIA, of Ross Barney Architects in Chicago worked closely with her client to make sound, reasonable decisions that ultimately led to Platinum.

First, Ross Barney had a client who wanted to make the journey. In fact, the congregation saw the design and construction of a sustainable building not only as a smart ecological and life-cycle-cost-cutting move. Conservation and stewardship are part of the congregation’s faith. According to the congregation’s rabbi, Brant Rosen: “The Torah teaches us that the earth does not belong to us—that we are but stewards of God’s creation. Building the most sustainable facility possible was for us a religious act. In the end, we have learned that how we construct our building is actually more important than the building itself. Of course we are proud of the attention our construction project has attracted—but the true honor for us will be when other houses of worship opt for LEED certification as well.”

The new synagogue replaces an older facility of 21,000 square feet that once stood on the same spot. The congregation wanted a new building twice that size—a request that would tax the budget, as well as the new building’s green nature. The architects conducted a careful analysis of the spaces requested, their sizes, how they would be used, and when they would be used. By developing a design that would maximize shared spaces through flexibility it was possible to shrink the program by 10,400 square feet—a nearly 25 percent reduction in space—while still accommodating all of the uses desired. With the use of moveable walls, the third-floor sanctuary and social hall can be combined on those rare occasions when more worship space is required. Next to the reception room, the top landing of the dramatic, open staircase can accommodate larger gatherings as overflow space. The congregation learned the first lesson of green architecture: with careful planning, you can probably get by with less.

Another aspect of this project is its inventive use of recycled materials. What to do with the original building? The architects proposed that all of the concrete and masonry of the older building could be recycled as walls for the new building. A less ambitious strategy was adopted: recycle the masonry materials to infill the basement of the older structure (which would be capped with a new slab of fly-ash concrete) while the original foundation would be “recycled” as the foundation for the new synagogue. Leftover masonry materials were then used as gabion walls (steel wire containers filled with recycled concrete and brick, which you can see surrounding some of the outdoor spaces of the new synagogue). Between the basement infill and the site walls, the architects estimate that 95 percent of the former synagogue’s masonry was recycled.

The synagogue’s exterior wood siding is recycled from razed agricultural buildings in Canada, while the front doors of the temple are clad with wood obtained from memorial trees that once stood on the site. Walnut trees that were victims of a windstorm in a nearby park were used to construct furniture in the sanctuary. Other materials chosen were regionally available.

Lighting and ventilation are among the other strategies used to achieve the Platinum rating. The building is planned so that nearly all of the spaces have natural light—core spaces are devoted to restrooms, storage, and other uses that do not require daylight. Lighting controls include light-level sensors that dim the lights when natural illumination is high. The HVAC system helps to reduce energy consumption and improve indoor environmental quality. According to the architect, the sanctuary was designed with displacement ventilation. Each space has a dedicated variable air volume (VAV) box controlled by occupancy and CO2 sensors, responsive to the daily variations in the building’s operation. There are operable windows in all perimeter spaces. All of this not only helps to cut energy costs; it results in an environment well tempered to its occupants and their activities.