Texas' 1st LEED certified church

[Chuck]

...waterless urinals reduce water usage by 42 percent. Extra insulation, efficient lighting fixtures and state-of-the-art air-conditioning and heating should cut energy use by 18 percent. The "LEED premium" was one percent.

Sam Hodges - DENTONRC - Apr 22, 2010

For God's green Earth --Ed.

The nearly finished sanctuary of Plano's Christ United Methodist Church boasts arrestingly beautiful stained glass windows, but also low-flow toilets and waterless urinals.

The new pipe organ will make a mighty sound, but the paints, adhesives and sealants were chosen because they don't emit much odor or otherwise compromise air quality.

Once the doors are open for worship, all are welcome, but those who come by energy-efficient car or bicycle get to park up close.... [Read More]

[WriConsult]

Awesome! Churches have the potential to play a huge role when it comes to environmental concerns, and I'm glad to see it happening more and more

[Nevyn]

I think that *SOME* of the things that are part of LEED certification are a complete and utter joke. We have our first/only LEED certified building in my home town. One of the ways they "scored points" in order to get certification was by putting up TWO SIGNS: "Hybrid Parking Only" on one spot, and "Carpool Parking Only" on another.
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.....The whole parking lot is only NINE spaces. Even if you parked in the lot as far as possible from the door, your walking distance would be about 60 feet.

[fixedintime]

These things need more work.

We have the low flush toilets. Frequently after use they are still dirty - the clean them you have to flush several times. And it the paper lands in the wrong place in the thing it is almost impossible to get it to go down the toilet - even with multiple flushes.

We also have the waterless urinals - they are constantly getting clogged.

While I am all for efficiency in these thing I don't think they make the grade yet in doing the job they are supposed to do.

[WriConsult]

It may not be fair to generalize about low-flush toilets. Some of them are awful. Some are great. Gotta do your consumer research before buying.

I have a low-flush/dual-flush toilet (0.6gal/1.2gal) in my main floor bathroom, and it's one of the best toilets I've owned in terms of not getting clogged. Even #2 usually flushes down completely if you hit the #1 (0.6g) button. Of course it's a Toto and we paid more than a lot of other low flush toilets, but money well spent IMO.

[chilimac02]

@WriConsult - good point about the toilets. My 1.2gal/flushers always get the job done.

I'm all for this sort of thing, and glad that Texas finally has some people agreeing with me!! I'm hoping that more church buildings will be built to these specifications - even if the goal is just to save money in the long run, so that they can use more money to help people.

[PaleMelanesian]

I always wonder, though, about spending $15 million in the first place. Is that really necessary?

[xcel]

Hi All:

___Like many, some of the LEED requirements are simply window dressing. And an 85% of a similar building or structure? A programmable thermostat with 2 to 3 degree higher in the summer and 2 to 3 degree lower in the winter would easily take care of that. When will it come to $ and cents because it makes sense???

___Regarding the low gallon toilets, I have a 1.0 gallon in the finished basement and it is the best toilet in the house! Home Depot has had flush ratings for a while now and I purchased a tall-oval in white with a 10 out of 10. It actually works super too!

___Good Luck

___Wayne