Santa Clarita, CA, October, 2010—When Real Life Church moved into its new building last spring, the congregation had Green Convergence to thank. Green Convergence, a solar contractor headquartered in Santa Clarita, wired the church for solar power. Green Convergence co-owners Mark Figearo and DJ Schramm also served on the church’s construction team.

The Real Life Church building is LEED certified with a gold rating. The building’s unique underground design adds to its energy efficiency. With over 60 years combined experience in roofing, electrical and general construction, Green Convergence has provided over thirty customers—residential and commercial—with solar power. Figearo and Schramm’s expertise and experience were critical to Real Life’s construction. Recently they discussed the church project.

What makes the building unique?

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is an internationally recognized green building certification system, and Real Life is the first Gold LEED certified church in the nation. The building’s basic design, plumbing, electric, air conditioning…all of it is green. Another unique aspect is the church’s functionality. Real Life sees their building as a ministry tool—a way to help others. The utilitarian design is functional, not frilly. The speaker on stage can make eye-contact with every person in the 1,000-seat auditorium. It’s a functional yet intimate design.

Who else was involved? Any other businesses besides Green Convergence?

It took the effort of an entire team. Vision Builders, Shawn Caldwell, and Dario Pascarelli. Also, Urban Reinforcing Development’s Colin Beal, Neil Eberhard, architect Jo Um, and more. I (Figearo) have worked on other church building teams in the past, but this was the first church project I’ve done where the team consisted of actual construction professionals. As a result, we were able to save the church thousands of dollars, and offer wisdom from our trades.

Why did you decide to go on-board with a non-profit organization?

We wanted to give back. We believe we’ve been “blessed to be a blessing”.

What challenges were unique to working with a church?

The church had a very limited budget. Also, initially it was a challenge getting the church to spend the dollars to go for the Gold LEED Certification, but we estimate the utility costs are half of what a non-gold LEED building would be.

Does the building have solar?

Green Convergence wired the church for solar power, to be used once the building’s energy usage is determined. We ran the conduit under the parking lot to what will be the solar site in the future. We need to establish a six-month history and get a few months’ worth of electric bills before we can size the solar array properly.

Is it unique for a church to go green? Why did this church want to have a green building?

As far as we know, this is the first Gold LEED certified church of its size in the country. The church leaders believe that we need to be good stewards of God’s creation. They wanted to set an example for the community. In the long run, going green makes sense…and dollars and cents! Energy efficiency saves the church money, which translates into more ministry dollars for Real Life’s work in Uganda, the Dominican Republic, and right here in Santa Clarita.

The church building is located in a high-profile area of the city of Valencia. How does that affect the building?

Now that Newhall Ranch Road connects the entire valley, there are approximately 10,000 vehicles going by the church every day. This obviously gives them a high profile which will hopefully bring more people to church. We also hope that the green, environmentally-friendly aspects will attract people who may not have walked into a conventional church.

What do you see on the horizon for buildings and businesses in the SCV?

Our hope is that this will become the standard, not a rarity. We hope to encourage other churches to be wise stewards of God’s resources. The Real Life Church building is a great example of what going green looks like.

Real Life Church is located at 23841 Newhall Ranch Road in Valencia, CA. Visit www.reallifechurch.org for more.