1. PROGRAMMING
   • The Space Use Committee, staff, parishioners, and architect spent months designing a space that is adequate for our needs, but is not overbuilt.
2. BUILDING MATERIALS
   • Focus on locally manufactured materials
   • Durable long-life materials
   • Wood products from certified sustainable forests
   • Wood beams salvaged from Lake Superior
   • Cork flooring -- a sustainable product, made from the bark of oak trees
   • Linoleum flooring -- made from linseed oil and jute, all natural products
   • Office furniture and conference room tables made from wheat shaft, recycled newsprint, recycled tires, cardboard tubes
   • Overhead shelves in offices made from recycled milk cartons
   • Cabinets made from sunflower seeds
   • Office chairs made from recycled milk jugs (24 jugs per chair)
   • Reception area and library chairs made from oak and hemp
   • Counter tops made from soybeans
   • Windowsills made from soybeans, newsprint, and junk mail
   • Tile in bathrooms and kitchens made from recycled glass
   • Rubber stairways made from recycled tires
     (Note: costs for most of these materials is not substantially different than “non-green” products, and in some cases it is actually lower)
3. ENERGY
   • Exceed energy codes by 50 percent
   • Energy efficient windows
   • Operable windows
   • High daylight levels to decrease need for artificial lighting
   • Energy recovery ventilation to capture outgoing waste heat
   • High efficiency condensing unit, and high efficiency fan motor
   • Energy efficient lighting
   • Occupancy sensors -- lights go on and off automatically
4. REUSE OF OLD PARISH CENTER MATERIALS
   • 80 percent of existing parish center was reused and/or recycled.
   • All steel and metal components separated and recycled.
   • All concrete was removed and crushed for reuse.
   • All metal pipe was recycled.
   • Over 100 wood studs were reused.
   • All old wood joists were installed as headers or blocking in new building.
   • All paper products were separated and recycled.
   • Brick from demolished section was cleaned and reused.
   • All 52 doors and casings given away to members of the community.
   • All used light fixtures, desks, and filing cabinets were given away to the community.
   • All nine water closets given away for reuse.
   • All wood baseboards, and handrails were given away.
   • All cabinets and cupboards from old building were either reused or given away.
5. SITE
   • Native, low maintenance, drought-resistant plantings.
   • Plantings for wildlife.
   • Shading for west windows.
   • Salvaged and replanted trees.
   • Expanded green space.
6. MISCELLANEOUS
   • Low-flow faucets and toilets.
   • Low VOC (toxicity) paint and finishes.

We can all share in the joy and pride of the construction of this parish center. Working with the architect and the contractor we have completed a project that was very friendly to our environment. We greatly reduced waste by reusing and recycling everything we could. We used recycled and sustainable materials in the construction of the building and in the new furnishings. We have a state-or-the-art mechanical system that will give us heating and cooling at the most efficient rate possible.