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May 21, 2000: Building Our Home (by Joel Luper)[NOTE: These words were shared by Joel Luper at the "3rd Sunday Conversations" luncheon on May 21.]
When I first attended NRUC with Suzanne, I was excited when I read the above phrase in the welcome statement. I felt that any church proclaiming an activist role in environmental concerns was worth checking out. Now that we have passed our first anniversary, we can start planning our future church home. My business partner is a founding member of Wake Forest Presbyterian Church. That church is nearly ten years old, and I have had the privilege of observing the early stages of their growth through the construction of their church facilities. If we are successful in our growth and giving, we are between three and five years of occupying a new building. Considering that the design and construction process will take at least fifteen months, we are between 21 and 45 months from starting that process. The program visions we will be discussing over the next few months will help determine what services we wish to provide in our new home. However, as an architect I would like to address the physical aspects of the facility. I have come to realize that the construction process is inherently destructive. Not only is the micro environment of the construction area completely destroyed, a significant amount of additional destruction is caused in the cutting of forests for wood, to the burning of fossil fuels for transportation, to the mining of ore and coal for metal production. Even the burning of fuel to produce the electrical power to run our air conditioning, purify our water and treat our waste contributes to environmental degradation. If we wish to stand by our covenant and our welcome, I propose that we address environmental issues in all aspects of the building process. In the building design, I propose that we specify materials which are, to the greatest extent practicable, renewable, local and have a high recycled content. Renewable so that their use does the least permanent damage to their growth areas, local so that their cost in shipping and fuel use is minimum and recycled content so that the energy cost of their production is minimized. I also propose to use materials which are permanent and low maintenance. During construction, I propose that we establish guidelines requiring all materials to be recycled to the fullest extent possible. I recently visited a project under construction in Cary where the dumpster was full of waste steel, lumber and wood scrap, foam insulation scrap, cardboard and plastic packaging and concrete block waste. Each of these materials is easily recyclable, but instead are headed to a landfill. We can also design our facility such that the amount of waste generated by the construction is kept to a minimum. We have committed fifty-one percent of our collections to missions outside our church. The remaining budget will not easily support a building program. To keep costs, I propose that we incorporate into our design materials and low-tech construction for which we can provide a majority of the labor. By doing this work, we will not only show fiscal responsibility, but will develop a greater sense of accomplishment and pride of place. To keep our building environmentally friendly during its use, I propose that we incorporate a design which is as self sufficient as possible. By being independent from public utilities, we would not contribute to the fossil fuel or atomic fuel consumption, along with their associated waste products, needed to provide power, water and sewer services. Photovoltaic technology has advanced to a point where the cost per watt is competitive with local utilities. This solar electric supply migh be augmented by wind generators. Water can be provided with a rain collection and filtration system which uses very little power in its operation. Our sewer can be handled by a constructed wetland system which uses less than one-fourth of the area of a standard septic system and actually uses plant growth to process the waste. Gray water from sinks and non-toilet uses can be recycled as irrigation water, reducing the size of the sewer requirements. I know of no public project where such an extensive commitment to environmental concerns has been incorporated. I believe that church is one place where the community should learn about its stewardship of this sacred earth. This is my vision for North Raleigh United Church. If the congregation shares this vision, I will contribute time researching materials, construction systems, costs, and approvals with public authorities over the next year so that our knowledge base is ready when we are ready to start designing. I am also available as a resource to the congregation to help understand the planning process and how to create physical space which can house our mission and program goals. April 30, 2000: Broccoli - Cole Slaw SaladAt the Congregational Meeting on April 30, this salad was very popular and several people requested the recipe. Here it is...
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