New Monastery Achieves
LEED Silver Certification July 2009

Sisters are Going Green with their New LEED Silver Monastery:
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a certification system developed by the US Green building Council (USGBC) and is recognized internationally. LEED is a point based system which determines how environmentally friendly a building is by evaluation energy savings, water efficiency, CO2 emission reduction as well as indoor environmental quality.

As members of the larger Franciscan Order, Poor Clares share a tradition of valuing environmentally responsible stewardship and sustainable living. The modern issues of climate warming, reducing one's carbon footprint, recycling and reusing resonate with Francis' and Clare's reverence for Mother Earth. St Francis is the patron saint of the environment; he saw all creation as a 'first bible', the revelation of God's goodness; thus he felt it should be treated with utmost reverence and respect.

So when we began plans to build a new monastery, LEED certification was simply a vehicle to "put our money where our mouth is" to use a popular vernacular. We saw this as an opportunity to make a public value statement as well as a guidepost toward our goal of living as simply as possible so that others may simply live.

We were delighted that our original goal was surpassed when we received the Silver LEED Certification. We know that this is only one small step in a lifelong journey toward achieving sustainable living, for ourselves as well as for the world community, but all big journeys begin with a single step.

Sisters of St. Clare

click here to view detailed LEED report