Canada’s First LEED-Certified Church
Not too long ago I wrote a post about the first ‘green’ synagogue in the U.S. (Green Synagogue - First In The US). Well I just caught wind of another new religious institution - this time north of the border - focusing on green design.
On Friday (Nov. 17/06) St. Gabriel of the Sorrowful Virgin Parish was consecrated by Toronto’s Arch Bishop, Aloysius Cardinal Ambrozic. The $10.5 million (CAD $$ I assume) Roman Catholic Church, built in North York Ontario, replaces the original St. Gabriel, which was located at the same site.
The church is registered for Silver LEED certification (the synagogue is aiming for Gold), with notable features including:
- A large south-facing glass wall overlooking a rainwater-irrigated perrenial garden (essentially acting as a green-roof over an underground parking garage)
- An indoor ‘living-wall’ of plants, also irrigated with recycled rainwater
- Reuse of many items from original church (pews, altar etc)
I’m pretty passionate about the idea of connecting people with nature so I’m happy to see that this was a major consideration in the design of this building.
Here is a link to the original article: Canada’s first environmentally sustainable church
Technorati Tags: church, st. gabriel, north york, green building, green construction, LEED, living wall, rain water recycling
Written by Bentley on November 20th, 2006 with
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