Kindred Quaker Groups
Friends of Philadelphia

Day of Discernment guides Friends Center's green renovation project

by Louis Cox, BeFriending Creation editor

FRIENDS CENTER'S proposal to significantly "green up" their facilities in downtown Philadelphia was reported in the September-October 2005 issue of BeFriending Creation. But integrating such innovations as solar electricity, geothermal heating, vegetated roof, closed-loop water system, and natural lighting into the plan considerably boosts the amount of money to be raised.

Many who like the idea of evolving from "Quaker gray to Quaker green" might have reservations about paying for extra features that sound experimental and don't have a clear payback, in terms of lowered utility bills, etc. Wouldn't those funds be more appropriately directed for disaster relief, peace and justice work, and other traditional Quaker programs?

That's why Friends Center invited me and more than 100 others representing the spectrum of Quaker organizations in the Northeast to participate in a "Day of Discernment" in early October.

The options were laid out on a long chart: At one end it read, "Maintain the status quo," leaving environmental work to other organizations. The middle ground option was, "Stretch our limited resources" to be faithful to the call to be good stewards of Creation. At the other end it read, "Become a beacon of hope" as a distinct ecological witness to the Religious Society of Friends and beyond.

Returning from initial small-group discussions, each participant was asked to stick a blue dot at the spot along the continuum where they initially felt most comfortable. It was interesting to see that almost everyone placed their dot in the zone between "Stretch our resources" and "Become a beacon."

Sandy Wiggins, a "green architect" who helped develop the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standards, linked today's environmental crisis to the lack of attention to energy efficiency, natural lighting, and natural ventilation in most modern buildings.

Twentieth-century planning tended to put cost per square foot over human health and comfort and seldom considered how much longer society would have access to cheap fossil fuels. It favored generic designs that ignored local landscape, climate, and cultural factors, said Wiggins, who had decided in mid-career to abandon this dysfunctional model.

Attention is now swinging back to conservation, and interest is growing in technologies that use renewables. But this alone won't avert us from the "doomed trajectory" we're on, Wiggins warned. We must quickly ascend a "ladder of awareness" to a new mind-set that uses "whole systems" approaches. We must learn that we are part of a human family, that we are part of nature, and that the human economy is a subset of the Earth economy. What does this have to do with Friends Center? "Everything," Wiggins said.

A COMPARABLE EXPERIENCE was shared by Joe Volk, Executive Secretary of Friends Committee on National Legislation, which just finished a similar "green" renovation of its headquarters in Washington, D.C. Meeting LEED standards was a daunting prospect, but FCNL can't separate its physical presence from the values it represents or the messages it sends to lawmakers. So the way FCNL manages energy and other resources becomes a potent witness to this country's dangerous dependence on fossil fuels.

Joe said we need to be taking steps now to prevent the next war, as focus shifts to the Caspian Sea region, where China will be our biggest oil competitor.

Raising $5 million to renovate the FCNL headquarters as a LEED-certified building was viewed at first as a huge problem, in light of FCNL's $1 million annual budget. But at some point people began talking about this as an opportunity not a problem. Money began to flow in as potential donors realized how important it was for Friends to witness and practice their values, Joe said.

Reaction from Congressional staff who have toured the renovated building has been very encouraging. One highly impressed legislator has already introduced a bill increasing the number of federal buildings that have to meet LEED standards. The project has clearly reinforced Quakers' reputation of always being "ahead of the curve." We were not just making a good investment," Joe said. "We were making history." •

Contact:

Friends Center in Philadelphia
<www.friendscentercorp.org/contact.php>
1501 Cherry St.
Philadelphia PA 19102
Telephone: 215/241-7000
E-Mail : <info@friendscentercorp.org>