Projects In Progress
Our First LEED Church
First Baptist Church in Greenville, SC, represents our first LEED Certified ecclesiastical project. Additionally, this project is just the second LEED church project in the Southeast. For those unfamiliar with the term, LEED is the acronym for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. LEED is the national sustainable design standard developed by the U.S. Green Building Council. For more info, click here.
Here are some photos of the project so far:
We are pursuing LEED Silver Certification for this project. Components of the project include high-efficiency HVAC system, Low-E glass, maximum natural daylight and recycled or natural materials. Also, there is specialized parking for high-efficiency vehicles, bike racks and showers.
All of the above elements contribute to LEED Certification because they reduce the building’s carbon footprint and use materials that are highly recyclable (in the future) or composed of already-recycled materials.
“The design encourages you to ride your bike there, work out and enjoy the space,” says Chris Stone, AIA, lead architect on the project.
The Church saw LEED Certification as an imperative initiative when it comes to being a good steward within the community.
“This building backs right up to the Reedy River and a baseball field, which is a flood-plain area,” says Stone. “The church thought a sustainable approach toward development would be the right thing to do. At the end of the day, they want to be good stewards of what they’ve been given and to be an example for others regarding how development can be sustainable, yet highly functional and architecturally innovative.”