Mormon Church Turning Towards Green Building Standards
The Mormon Church is building new churches frequently. In a nod to environmental and energy issues, the Church is now incorporating green building standards into its church designs.
The Mormon Church is expanding in great leaps and bounds across both the United States and world. In doing so, it is constantly building new churches as its numbers rise. The Church is now giving more thought to the type of buildings it designs and constructs. The administration is now focusing on designs that make it both "a good and responsible neighbor" in the communities it builds in. Practically speaking, this means going green.
The Church is looking at the metrics of the projects it is constructing. This means incorporating alternative energy and design processes that both are green and also lower the total cost of the buildings in the long run. Specific examples include using solar panels to generate electricity, tankless water heaters, high tech insulation and motion light detectors. The designs also incorporate low water landscaping and sprinkler systems that monitor the weather and turn off during wet periods.
The Church is just getting into the green building movement, but has already started building facilities that are much greener than facilities previously built. This includes no less than five facilities in Farmington and Eagle Mountain, Utah, Logandale and Pahrump, Nevada and Apache Junction, Arizona that already meat the Silver Certification of the U.S. Green Building Council. This is not the top certification, but it is a start and move in the right direction.
There is something more important going on here, however. The Mormon Church should be given kudos not just for incorporating green building theories into its building efforts, but should also be given kudos for setting an example. Religions provide guidelines for conduct for their followers. The fact the Church is "going green" as a moral matter should entice its followers to do the same. This turns the issue into a moral one instead of an economic or environmental issue, a modification that usually leads to greater rates of change in society.
For that, the Mormon Church should be congratulated.