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"Green architecture is an environmentally conscious approach to design, one that respects nature and its resources," says Douglas A. Spuler, AIA, LEED™ AP (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Accredited Professional). Spuler is a principal at RNL Design in Denver, and leads the firm's church and parachurch market. "One might argue that it can be a natural extension of the church's ministry to exercise their stewardship over God's earth."

Spuler adds that an environmentally active church can achieve a higher level of social responsibility, assume a leadership role in its community, create a healthier atmosphere for those who spend time in the church, and achieve considerable energy and other cost savings.

Although most people are aware of the concept of environmentally friendly design, which has been around since the 1970s, Spuler says many aren't aware of recent advances. The implementation of new technology is especially important today given the huge spike in energy costs over the past few years.

The first decision in any building project, and certainly one of the most important, is site selection. To minimize environmental impact, this decision requires careful consideration. For example, Spuler advises that you respect the natural topography. "If there are hills or slopes, incorporate these into the design, as opposed to bringing in bulldozers and graders to scrape the hills away. Native Americans have a phrase, 'living lightly on the earth,' and this should be the goal—to minimize disturbance and driving dust into the air."

The parking lot might seem one of the most mundane and least interesting aspects of church design, but Spuler says it is an area of prime concern. His philosophy incorporates the use of "bio-swales" as a design mechanism for dealing with storm water. He advocates a 24-foot driving aisle with 18-foot deep parking stalls on either side to generate a 60-foot wide parking "tray." These trays are separated with about five feet of green space that can be planted with water lilies and other plants that actually filter parking lot runoff water. By the time the water percolates into the soil it has been significantly cleaned.

Sustainable design became a unifying approach to the new High Desert Children's Ministry building in Victorville, California.

The design can channel this filtered water to other areas around the church for use in landscape irrigation. "I've seen some projects which use only this captured rain water for irrigation," says Spuler. "Why use pristine drinking water when it's not needed?"

Parking lots are typically paved with asphalt because it is seen as less expensive than other paving options. But asphalt paving presents a number of environmental concerns. First, asphalt is impervious to rain water, so runoff water needs to be captured. "This leads to a very expensive underground piping system," Spuler says. He recommends a pervious concrete product, which has a porous structure that allows water to slowly seep into the soil (visit concretenetwork.com/pervious). This will dramatically minimize the cost of underground piping, as well as the discharge that leaves the area and enters the city or county sewers. "These measures have a larger regional benefit and many local jurisdictions are now giving tax and design incentives to churches that proceed with a green orientation," says Spuler.

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