Green From the Ground Up: Young Israel of Toco Hills
This year's GIPPY awards will be held at Young Israel on March 19 at 7:00 p.m. Come see this beautiful new synagogue in person and find inspiration for greening your own faith community.
Young Israel of Toco Hills wears their green on their sleeve. Pull in to the parking lot of their newly constructed Modern Orthodox synagogue on Lavista Road in north Atlanta, and one of the first things you'll see is an electric car charging station and two parking spots reserved for those who need to recharge their car's battery while recharging themselves inside the synagogue walls.
Ten years ago, the thriving congregation was rapidly outgrowing the reconverted house they had been using since their founding in 1994. And with the decision to build a new home for their faith community came a unique opportunity: creating a sustainable space from scratch."We did a lot of thinking about what our strong values were, and what it meant to be stewards of the earth," says Executive Director Eliana Leader. "We surveyed the congregation, asking if building environmentally was something they would consider going for. Ninety-five percent of the congregation said that not only did they want to go environmental, but that they thought it was worth going above and beyond to pay more for."And go above and beyond they did. After the building's completion in November of last year, Young Israel became one of the first EarthCraft-certified houses of worship in the country. "We thought through everything, down to the toilet paper," says Leader. Because of Shabbat laws, members of Young Israel can't tear paper on the Sabbath. The solution for that in the past, Leader said, had been single-use sheets in the stalls. But those were often thin and came out ten at a time, which wasted lots of paper. "We were able to find high quality, single-use sheets made from post-consumer recycled paper from Kimberley-Clark," she says. "Now, we never find paper strewn on the bathroom floor."It's that kind of inspired, out-of-the-box thinking that helped Young Israel achieve a sustainable space that met the needs of their Orthodox Jewish faith. Some other Orthodox-specific sustainability features they focused on:• Lights in the synagogue are motion-detecting, so that when rooms are not in use, energy is not being wasted. The trick, says Leader, was figuring out how to use this technology the rest of the week, while maintaining the "no creating" (of flame or light) rule on the Sabbath. The answer was simple. "We were able to put in an 'override' mode for the Sabbath," says Leader.• As is custom for Orthodox Jews, the congregation of Young Israel walks to synagogue, giving them the advantage of saving green space that would normally be required for parking. Leader says they made a special appeal to the county to have the parking lot reduced in size, meaning more land and less asphalt on their property.The building also boasts innovative design:• The windows in the sanctuary are designed so that sun never hits directly into the room, meaning the HVAC system doens't have to work to cool off extra warmth.• Their HVAC system is also high efficiency, and located on the roof. It has six zones (two of which are dedicated to opposite sides of the sanctuary—where women and men sit on separate sides of the room) and can be controlled via smartphone.• Clearly labeled recycling bins throughout the building, and movable walls that allow space to be reconfigured according to need—which means lighting and heating according to need, too.Though they haven't been able to install solar panels yet, Leader says the roof is "solar ready," and the congregation is already looking into irrigation systems to water their landscaping and future gardens on the grounds. Young Israel's board also includes a VP of Environmental Sustainability, so that a responsibility to the earth is woven into every decision they make for the congregation.YITH was a GIPL grant recipient in 2014 for energy efficient projects in the new construction. But beyond the energy-saving capabilities of the physical facility, Leader says the hope is to instill Creation care into the very life of the congregation. "The next step is education," says Leader. "It's not enough just to have a sustainable building. We need more signage, more classes. People's hearts can be in the right place, but they aren't knowledgeable enough to follow through."As YITH continues to grow in its new location, GIPL celebrates their efforts to be intentional in all aspects of this congregation's faithful life together. Join GIPL at YITH on March 19, 7-8:30pm for the Ninth Annual GIPPY Awards & Celebration and tour this new synagogue!
Young Israel of Toco Hills wears their green on their sleeve. Pull in to the parking lot of their newly constructed Modern Orthodox synagogue on Lavista Road in north Atlanta, and one of the first things you'll see is an electric car charging station and two parking spots reserved for those who need to recharge their car's battery while recharging themselves inside the synagogue walls.
Ten years ago, the thriving congregation was rapidly outgrowing the reconverted house they had been using since their founding in 1994. And with the decision to build a new home for their faith community came a unique opportunity: creating a sustainable space from scratch."We did a lot of thinking about what our strong values were, and what it meant to be stewards of the earth," says Executive Director Eliana Leader. "We surveyed the congregation, asking if building environmentally was something they would consider going for. Ninety-five percent of the congregation said that not only did they want to go environmental, but that they thought it was worth going above and beyond to pay more for."And go above and beyond they did. After the building's completion in November of last year, Young Israel became one of the first EarthCraft-certified houses of worship in the country. "We thought through everything, down to the toilet paper," says Leader. Because of Shabbat laws, members of Young Israel can't tear paper on the Sabbath. The solution for that in the past, Leader said, had been single-use sheets in the stalls. But those were often thin and came out ten at a time, which wasted lots of paper. "We were able to find high quality, single-use sheets made from post-consumer recycled paper from Kimberley-Clark," she says. "Now, we never find paper strewn on the bathroom floor."It's that kind of inspired, out-of-the-box thinking that helped Young Israel achieve a sustainable space that met the needs of their Orthodox Jewish faith. Some other Orthodox-specific sustainability features they focused on:• Lights in the synagogue are motion-detecting, so that when rooms are not in use, energy is not being wasted. The trick, says Leader, was figuring out how to use this technology the rest of the week, while maintaining the "no creating" (of flame or light) rule on the Sabbath. The answer was simple. "We were able to put in an 'override' mode for the Sabbath," says Leader.• As is custom for Orthodox Jews, the congregation of Young Israel walks to synagogue, giving them the advantage of saving green space that would normally be required for parking. Leader says they made a special appeal to the county to have the parking lot reduced in size, meaning more land and less asphalt on their property.The building also boasts innovative design:• The windows in the sanctuary are designed so that sun never hits directly into the room, meaning the HVAC system doens't have to work to cool off extra warmth.• Their HVAC system is also high efficiency, and located on the roof. It has six zones (two of which are dedicated to opposite sides of the sanctuary—where women and men sit on separate sides of the room) and can be controlled via smartphone.• Clearly labeled recycling bins throughout the building, and movable walls that allow space to be reconfigured according to need—which means lighting and heating according to need, too.Though they haven't been able to install solar panels yet, Leader says the roof is "solar ready," and the congregation is already looking into irrigation systems to water their landscaping and future gardens on the grounds. Young Israel's board also includes a VP of Environmental Sustainability, so that a responsibility to the earth is woven into every decision they make for the congregation.YITH was a GIPL grant recipient in 2014 for energy efficient projects in the new construction. But beyond the energy-saving capabilities of the physical facility, Leader says the hope is to instill Creation care into the very life of the congregation. "The next step is education," says Leader. "It's not enough just to have a sustainable building. We need more signage, more classes. People's hearts can be in the right place, but they aren't knowledgeable enough to follow through."As YITH continues to grow in its new location, GIPL celebrates their efforts to be intentional in all aspects of this congregation's faithful life together. Join GIPL at YITH on March 19, 7-8:30pm for the Ninth Annual GIPPY Awards & Celebration and tour this new synagogue!