Our first shipment of cypress wood has arrived at the construction site – about half of the material that will serve as our exterior siding. The cypress is 100% reclaimed wood from barns in upstate New York (actually “mushroom houses,” to be completely specific.) After treating the wood with a clear sealer, they will start installing the siding hopefully by the end of the week.

The crew also expects to install the glass in the third floor clerestory on Monday, then proceed to the windows on the rest of the building. During the next few weeks, we should make significant progress on the building’s exterior and have a good sense of what it will eventually look like on the outside.

Oh no! During a recent windstorm our neighbor’s tree was partially blown down, somewhat compromising the great leafy view from our sanctuary’s east window. We’re hoping against hope that the rest of the tree won’t have to be cut down.  In the meantime (as the pic below indicates) there’s still plenty of green to be seen as we look east…

Here are a few photos from this week – nothing too dramatically different. The leaves are really getting thick on the treetops and the view from the sanctuary’s east window opening is incredibly green (above).

The main supply air duct (next pic down) has been installed from the roof down to the second floor, where we have our main fan system. It is going behind the opening that is being saved for a second elevator which we hope to install sometime in the future.

Our electric transformer from Commonwealth Edison was delivered this week (see bottom pic). Getting service from a utility can often be a challenge but they have been very cooperative with us and we are pleased to have the service on schedule.

They have begun to install steel studs on the exterior walls, so our building is starting to look even more like a building now. This process should continue for a few more weeks, so in the meantime, enjoy the latest photo gallery:

The picture below shows the framing for the clerestory in the third floor sanctuary (note the treetops as they blossom into spring – this will be our view during services at this time of year!) The second picture from the bottom shows the first level – the workers plan to pour the concrete for the ground floor this Friday or early next week, depending as usual on the vagaries of the schedule and the cooperation of the weather. The picture on the bottom shows the duct work for the HVAC system, a key part of the energy efficiency component of the LEED process.

Speaking of which, our green building project continues to garner attention. I am proud to report that this Sunday, JRC’s will be the recipient of the first ever award given by the Network for Evanston’s Future in recognition of our green building efforts!