Church project keeps environment in mind

Faith Lutheran’s green designs improve building’s efficiency

By Audrey Levine
   Members of Faith Lutheran Church, on South Branch Road, are readying plans to expand the church in an environmentally friendly way.
   ”It’s a rule of thumb that when you reach 80 percent capacity at services, it’s time to start adding space,” said Phil Ludvigsen, building committee chairman for the church, which boasts about 540 confirmed members. “It was time to do something.”
   Mr. Ludvigsen said the church is looking to break ground in May or June of 2008 on the $2 million project that includes building a new sanctuary and a multipurpose room, and restructuring the old sanctuary for new Sunday school classrooms.
   He said the project should take about a year to complete.
   Mr. Ludvigsen said the church is getting LEED certification, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, which will certify the building as being “green.”
   ”This is something I had suggested,” said Mr. Ludvigsen, who is a director with the consulting firm Jacques Whitford, which investigates environmental policies and ways to protect the Earth. “The best way to reduce greenhouse gases is to be more energy efficient.”
   To qualify to be LEED-certified, builders must show evidence of promoting sustainability in the project through five areas of health, namely sustainable size development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality.
   Mr. Ludvigsen said the church has looked into all these requirements and is proud that the building will be certified when it is completed.
   ”We are hoping to be the first LEED-certified church in New Jersey,” he said. “This is a good showcase to show other builders, and we are hoping to lead by example.”
   Mr. Ludvigsen said the first task for protecting the environment around the church is to improve the detention basin – which collects water runoff from storms and melting snow piles – on the property, that is currently filled with grass and is expensive to maintain.
   He said they are looking to naturalize it by planting native species, including red maple and black gum trees, and switchgrass, among other plants.
   ”This will improve filtration of the water and purify it,” he said.
   In expanding the parking lot and adding 42 more parking spaces, Mr. Ludvigsen said the church is going to use a more porous concrete, which will soak up water and make for less runoff on the ground.
   Many of the changes for LEED certification will occur inside the building itself, Mr. Ludvigsen said, with the church building a new roof that has more straight lines, rather than being a complex cathedral one.
   He said that, with the new roof, they will be able to add extra windows to allow for better circulation and, therefore, a less powerful heating and air conditioning system than they currently use.
   In addition, he said, they are looking to add solar panels to increase the use of renewable energy.
   ”Being energy efficient is part of our stewardship,” he said.
   Finally, in order to earn the LEED certification, Mr. Ludvigsen said, the church is going use LED lighting and wood, rather than steel, in its building to increase the use of renewable materials. He also said that if they need stones or bricks, they will order them from local companies, rather than bringing them in from a farther distance.
   ”We will use the local sources so we don’t have to ship the bricks,” he said, citing that this way they don’t have to use extra gas to transport materials long distances.
   The project itself will allow the church to better accommodate its members. Mr. Ludvigsen said the multipurpose room will be used to house the church’s youth group and provide a space for the bell choir to hold practices.
   ”We would also like to do outreach with the community,” Mr. Ludvigsen said, citing that the church is already used for Boy and Girl Scout meetings, among other events. “Plus we will be able to hold more large ceremonies, like weddings, than we could accommodate in the old sanctuary.”
   The entire addition – which is being engineered by Van Cleef Engineering Associates and designed by Martin DeSapio, of Flemington – will total about 5,700 square feet, according to Mr. Ludvigsen.
   The church itself was established in 1965, with the location on South Branch Road officially opening on Dec. 14, 1969. It has undergone several additions, the first in 1986, and the second in 1993, when members decided to add more classrooms and parking spaces.
   These newest additions, which are expected to be completed in 2009, were first conceived in response to the growing congregation in 2006.
   Overall, Mr. Ludvigsen said, that, with the expansion and changes, the church is hoping to provide many opportunities for its members to get involved.
   ”We’re trying to be proactive and we’re very excited about what’s to come,” he said. “We are hoping people will come out.”