Jewish Reconstructionist Community, Evanston, IL
CONGRATULATIONS TO JRC for receiving LEED Platinum Certification in October 2008 – giving them the status of the greenest synagogue on the planet!
[Compiled from Rabbi Brant Rosen’s Blog]
Rabbi Rosen: “Our decision to achieve a gold or platinum LEED rating required careful consideration of sustainable strategies and a comprehensive, holistic approach to the building design. The design of our synagogue included sustainable components such as reclaimed, recycled and rapidly renewable materials, wood from certified sustainable forests, and strategies such as light harvesting and water conservation. Our building maximizes the latest in technological and design advances to minimize the use of depletable resources, maximizes natural light and air, and reduces energy consumption by a careful system of insulation, heat reflection, and digitally controlled zones for heating and cooling.”
Sydney (JRC congregant)– “I had thought that we had sacrificed beauty for efficiency and environmental sustainability–a sacrifice I’d willingly make. Now I think that maybe I was wrong. I think I can see the beauty in our new building… I think I’m finally beginning to love it.” (Comment echoed by other congregants.)
The Jewish Reconstructionist Community (JRC), Evanston, IL (a suburb of Chicago) committed themselves to the long-held Jewish beliefs of environmental stewardship when it came time to reconstruct their old building into a new one. To begin, the new synagogue was built on the same site of their old building, avoiding breaking ground on virgin soil. When construction began October 2006, the community held services and other community activities at a temporary location until the construction was completed in February 2008. According to Rabbi Brant Rosen, their goal was to “create the first certified ‘Green Synagogue’ in the world” at the LEED* Gold Level, if not the highest Platinum Level, as determined by the US Green Building Council. The architectural firm who helped make this dream possible was Ross, Barney, and Jankowsky. 
(*LEED certification is granted based on six major levels: sustainability, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, indoor environmental quality and innovation and design process.)
JRC moved into temporary headquarters the summer of 2006, while the old synagogue was demolished in September. Despite the fact that the old synagogue had become too small, worn out, and non-functional to the congregation’s needs, it had still been their spiritual home for over twenty years. Watching the demolition and seeing the old structure torn apart proved traumatic for some congregants as this place of many sacred events and memories was destroyed. Relief was found once all the debris had been removed, and a clean slate appeared, providing for a groundbreaking ceremony at the end of the demolition process.
The concrete from the former synagogue’s front steps and façade was ground up on site and recycled into the new foundation. Rabbi Roden remarked, “If any JRC members ever feel homesick for the old building, I’ll just remind them that they‘re still standing on it…”
The plans called for a three-story building, which they found could not be supported solely on the soft, sandy soil of the site. Therefore 18 cement caissons, placed 55 feet into the earth were required to support the new structure. The congregation’s president, Alan Saposnik suggested that the congregation create eighteen spiritual pillars of their community to reflect the physical pillars that supported their synagogue. This idea resonated with Hebrew numerology, which calculates the number 18 as equaling “life”.
Rabbi Rosen brought this idea to the 4th and 7th grade religious school students. After recounting the story of Rabbi Shimon the Righteous saying, “the world stands on three things: study, worship, and acts of lovingkindness”, Rabbi Rosen asked the students what they considered to be the eighteen pillars upon which their congregation community stands. Together eighteen spiritual values were identified for the JRC community: God, Judaism, Joy, Prayer, Hope, Respect, Partnership, Song, Tikkun Olam, Community, Study, Freedom, Friendship, Spirit, Learning, Peace, Growth, and Love. Each of these values was printed on a piece of paper and each paper placed separately within the concrete mixed for the individual pillars that became a permanent part of JRC’s support structure. Even the construction crew and its supervisor joined the process by taking turns placing the papers into the cement mix. One of the construction workers dubbed the steel and concrete set of stairs that led from the ground to third floor sanctuary as “the stairway to heaven”.
Another opportunity for a community ritual presented itself when the steel support beams arrived and were readied for installation. The congregation held a “beam signing” where JRC members were invited to come and write their names, messages, blessings, etc. on the steel support beams, consecrating again the future hopes of the congregation.
The sanctuary is located on the third/top floor, providing a bird’s eye view of the neighborhood treetops. The tops of the perimeter walls (the clerestory) and almost its entire east wall are glass to utilize as much natural light as possible, thus reducing the amount of electricity needed to light the sanctuary during the day, and allowing for a visual connection to the natural world (watching the trees go from bare branches to buds to blossom to fall colors through the seasons). Rabbi Rosen remarked in the Blog he kept during the construction project, “Alan [the congregation’s president] and I both agreed that the third floor sanctuary is already a sacred space. It felt like we were perched on a mountaintop, with a sublime quality of natural light suffused throughout. It was so powerful to contemplate the countless sacred memories that will soon be created in this makom kadosh - this holy place.”
On the coldest day of the winter, (6 degrees, wind chill of -21) February 10, 2008, several hundred JRC members generated abundant warmth together as they moved into their newly reconstructed synagogue home. They first gathered in the cafeteria of Chute Middle School, (site of one of JRC’s earlier temporary locations in the 1970s) and took out their Torah scrolls with a brief service. Then, covered with many fleecy layers and carrying their four Torah scrolls under a huppah, they processed out into the frozen Evanston streets. (Earlier in the morning, several brave JRC souls actually carried two of the scrolls nearly four miles from their temporary location, Sha’arei Tikvah.) When they arrived at JRC, they found several hundred more congregants waiting for them outside of the building. At the entrance, they sang “Pitchu Li” (”Open for me the gates of righteousness…”), affixed a mezuzah with a blessing, and entered their new home for the first time. They ascended to the third floor, and sang and danced together for what seemed like an eternity to live music provided by JRC’s house klezmer band, Heavy Shtetl. They then placed the Torah scrolls into their new ark. After hearing heartfelt words from JRC president David Pinzur, Rabbi Rosen addressed the crowd, then they shared their first communal kiddush and motzi together in their new home (after which the cantor and rabbi dropped the challah and spilled the wine on the bimah…) The rest of the afternoon was spent sharing food, going on self-guided tours of the new green facility, and just spending great quality time together.
In the Spring of 2007, the congregation was the recipient of the first ever award given by the Network for Evanston’s Future in recognition of their green building effort – even before the construction was complete! And their new building was featured on local ABC and Fox News Network TV stations.
Rabbi Brant: “Countless devoted JRC members have worked tirelessly to prepare our new synagogue building for this long-awaited day. Just as the ancient Israelites constructing the tabernacle in the wilderness, we have learned that it is not the building, but the process of building that creates sacred community. During the course of this process, we have truly discovered what it means to have God dwell in our midst.”
As a result of all of the “green” features, their engineers calculated that their building will consume 45% less energy than a conventional building they demolished. Highlights of the building’s green construction include:
- The old building’s rubble was used to fill the old basement and bring the site to grade. An amazing 96% of the old building (approximately 2,700 tons) was recycled - only 4% went into a landfill. Metals were removed for scrap, while the concrete and brick were ground up to fill in the old basement and support the new foundation.
- The concrete floors contain fly ash from steel mills. The steel beams that hold the building up have significant recycled steel content, mainly from automobiles. The thick insulation in the walls and roof contain recycled glass. The carpeting, the rubber baseboards, the rubber play ground mulch and other furnishings also have recycled content.
- A HVAC system is a key component of energy efficiency and the LEED process. However, windows can be opened and closed to allow for fresh air and natural temperature regulation in the spring and fall. A Displacement Ventilation System is used to cool and heat the sanctuary, and works by locating air diffusers at the bottom of the walls and circulating the air so that only the bottom 6ft of the room is warmed or cooled. Each and every room in the building has a separate thermostat and variable air velocity box to deliver warm or cool air. They are designed so that air is only delivered as needed when the room is in use. Integrated with this system are CO2 sensors, which assure enough fresh air will be brought in to each area for a healthy oxygen level. The fresh air brought in through the system is filtered.
- Fifty percent of the cypress wood exterior siding (14,000 board feet) and interior panels was 100% reclaimed wood from old barns/mushroom houses in upstate New York. The ceremonial entrance door was made from reclaimed maple trees harvested from the site that were cut down for construction. The cabinetry and shelving was made from Dakota Burl, which is a wood-like material made from recycled sunflower husks. The floor of the bimah is made of black walnut from storm-felled trees reclaimed from the Chicago Park district.
- The transparent gabion walls surrounding the building were made from pieces of other locally demolished buildings (which otherwise would have gone into a landfill) and reclaimed cypress wood and Jerusalem stone scrap from this building project.
- The synagogue has a white reflective roof, which allows the air conditioning to use a fifth of the power used before and work 20% less than a dark roof.
- The bathrooms were equipped with a “dual flush” toilet system – pull the handle up for liquid waste (requires less water), push the handle down for solid waste (requires more water). This necessitated a new consciousness for bathroom usage. Showers (also low-flow) have been installed to encourage bicycling, especially among the staff. The combination of water efficient features is projected to save 40% on water consumption through the life of our building.
- Landscaping was designed to require no irrigation, and was filled with native and drought tolerant plant species. There is no lawn except on the parkway as required by the city.
- Lighting: Features include a solar powered Ner Tamid (Eternal Light) in both the chapel and sanctuary. The parking lot is lit by photo-voltaic (solar electrically powered) lights. Occupancy sensors turn lights on or off when rooms, stairs and hallways are in use or vacant. Fluorescent T-5 bulbs are used throughout the facility and are controlled with dual switches, allowing for half the lighting use when daylight permits, this offers a 50% savings over lighting usage in a standard system. Small domes were installed on the roof to allow for Solartube skylights to let natural light into the kitchen facility, hallways, and reception areas.
The windows are made of high efficiency, insulated, gas filled, Low-E glass, which allows for sunlight but minimal heat collection inside of the building.
Indoor air quality concerns dictated the use of low-toxic, non-formaldehyde emitting construction materials and furnishings as well as the use of Low-VOC paints. The floors on all three levels are made of polished concrete designed to look like terrazzo. Besides being less expensive than real stone or commercial flooring products, they eliminate the need for any adhesives that would be used to glue them in place. The one exception is the carpet in the offices on the first and second floors. There the carpet is made with non-VOC (Volatile Organic Compound), non-formaldehyde fibers that include both recycled content and rapidly renewable corn content.
A recently passed congregational green policy requires JRC to recycle paper, glass, plastic and metal.
The kitchen utilizes Energy Star appliances, including a highly efficient quick-cycling commercial dishwasher. The washer/dryer will also be high efficiency Energy Star model with a special sanitizing feature. The goal of having a dishwasher and washer/dryer unit is to decrease the use of single use kitchen products such as paper or plastic plates and flatware and paper tablecloths and towels. There is recycled content in the stainless steel surfaces, and the pressboard in the wood bases contain no formaldehyde.
To view images of the construction project and read Rabbi Rosen’s Blog go to the JRC website, http://www.jrc-evanston.org
Contact: Rabbi Brant Rosen, Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation
Address: 303 Dodge Avenue, Evanston, IL 60202-3252
Phone: 847-328-7678
Website: www.jrc-evanston.org