Architecture goes green: sisters' renovated retreat center in California is a model for ecological design

Straw bale walls, photovoltaic roofs and charging stations for electric cars--the retreat center of the Sisters of the Presentation in Los Gatos, Calif., has become a national example of innovative ecological architecture. Five years ago the Sisters of the Presentation began raising money to expand and make "eco-friendly" their Presentation Center, an idyllic retreat and conference center nestled in the Santa Cruz mountains, about 20 minutes from the bustling Silicon Valley.

Their grand vision was a leap of faith given that the alternative at that time was closure. After years of declining revenues and facing high costs of retrofitting the center's buildings that had been damaged by the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, the sisters in 1999 called upon Sr. Patricia Marie Mulpeters--herself the former two-time superior general of the sisters and chancellor of the San Jose diocese--to visit the Presentation Center to determine whether to shut it down.

"I just knew there was something we needed to do. We in the community felt that we couldn't let this place go. It was too much of a gift from God not to be used for people in need spiritually, educationally or psychologically," Sr. Mulpeters told me as we walked through the renovated retreat property.

Since 1956 when it originally opened as Presentation College, the site had been a center for spiritual and educational formation of young Presentation Sisters, including Sr. Mulpeters herself. By the 1970s, with a declining number of novices, it was converted to a retreat and conference center.

Rather than recommend its closure, Sr. Mulpeters assumed the office of executive director. During her seven-year tenure, she transformed the Presentation Center's 67 rolling, forested acres into one of the most cutting-edge, environmentally friendly complexes in the country.

The center earned the coveted gold Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, gaining more than 50 points for measures from recycled plastic countertops to a "living" roof garden.

Raising $6 million, mostly through foundations and private donors, the sisters indeed got what they prayed for. They opened their new building in 2005, featuring a modern and elegant 10,000-square foot welcoming center and dining facility and a bookstore selling organic chocolate, fair-trade coffee beans and books on topics ranging from spirituality to environmental justice. The sisters also unveiled an organic garden and two all-electric sports utility vehicles donated by Toyota, complete with charging stations.

Their efforts paid off. They did well by doing good. The gold LEED certification attracted a $250,000 bonus donation from the Kresge Foundation. Presentation Center is now booked solid most weekends. Every Catholic high school in nearby San Jose uses it for retreats, as do couples, interfaith organizations, local police officers and rug weavers, among others. A priest spent four months there this year writing a book.

"When we started, I never dreamed of something like this," Sr. Mulpeters told me. She looked above us, smiling toward the architecturally integrated solar panels and temperature-adaptive automatic windows.

She told me about the rooftop garden meant to "reclaim the land below covered by the building's footprint." She spoke of eco-theology, saying that the earth is a sign of God's love, then quickly pointed to the courtyard beneath us. "It's decompressed granite"--she tapped her foot to draw my attention--"less toxic than traditional asphalt, which is petroleum-based."

Some of the real innovation of the complex lies in what can't be seen. Insulating materials are composed of recycled blue jeans, newspapers and cardboard. A high-efficiency water boiling unit pumps radiant heat through the floor during the winter, and air flows in from underground in the summer to keep the building naturally cooled. Built-in solar tubes heat water for dish washing. Thick bales of hay lie behind the southwestern-style plaster walls. These straw bales are compressed so tightly, a staff member told me, that there is little oxygen left to fuel a fire, creating a natural flame retardant.

Maintenance manager Antonio Duran lives on site at Presentation Center. "This is like running a small city," he said, speaking of the sewage plant, septic tanks and reservoir pumps. His vocabulary has gone green. "We use a gravity-fed spring for the pond," he told me, while "pumps pipe underground water up to irrigate the living roof."

Presentation Center is part of a growing eco-friendly trend among religious communities--particularly women's communities--to pioneer sustainable development.

Although the Presentation Sisters' dream project has been completed, Sr. Mulpeters sees her job as just beginning. "This place has a mission in addition to being a building that we needed."