IOWA CITY – On Sunday, June 26, St. Patrick Parish will hold a ceremony recognizing the new church building’s achievement of LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold rating. The ceremony will occur during the 10 a.m. Mass at 4330 St. Patrick Drive with a reception following in the social hall.
LEED is an internationally recognized certification system that verifies a building was designed and built according to standards aimed at improving performance and reducing resource use.
Elements that helped St. Patrick Church achieve a gold rating include:
• Energy consumption is projected to be 60 percent below code requirements. A hybrid geothermal system will pay for itself in seven years. The system entails a geothermal well field that has the capacity to heat/cool the building entirely except during peak use. Rooftop units will supplement the system during peak times.
• Twenty percent of materials used contain significant recycled content, including concrete masonry units, steel, carpets, ceiling tiles, etc. In addition, 25 percent of all building materials were produced regionally, which reduces energy related to transport.
• Construction waste was reduced – 88 percent of all waste was diverted from landfills by routing it to recycling centers, using it as structural fill on other sites, or by parishioners making use of materials and products.
The church was completed in 2009 with the help of Neumann Monson Architects, BVH Architects (liturgical architect) and McComas-Lacina Construction.