Healing Ground at the Yale Divinity School
It was a perfect autumn day for the Yale Divinity School (YDS) Living Village Ground Healing Ceremony. IES team member Carlye Woodard was on hand for the well-attended event, which launched the construction phase of this much anticipated project with discussion and questions, prayer and recognition, as well as food and drinks to mark the celebration. YDS Dean Gregory E. Sterling suggested, with a playful nod to Joni Mitchell’s iconic lyrics, that the school is endeavoring to tear up a parking lot and build a paradise.
The panel included Deborah Berke, Dean of Yale School of Architecture; Lindsay Baker, president of the International Living Future Institute; Julie Beth Zimmerman, vice provost of Yale Planetary Solutions; Jason J. Jewhurst, partner and principal of Bruner/Cott Architects; and Dean Sterling, moderator. The group discussed the value of the Living Building Challenge as a philosophical tool as well as a sustainability standard that asks all of those involved, from architects, consultants and builders to future building visitors and inhabitants, to think more deeply about how we intend to live on this earth.The hoped-for result for YDS, said one panelist, is creating legions of graduates who will serve as “apostles of the environment.”
By creating regenerative systems for vital resources—water, energy, and food—and providing feedback loops to residents, the architects and planners of this transformative project hope to connect the Divinity School residents to nature and support a mindful, contemplative way of life. We’re honored to join our sustainability partners Bruner/Cott Architects, Shawmut Design and Construction, BioHabitats, Andropogon Associates, Nitsch Engineering, van Zelm Heywood & Shadford, Inc., Silman and others, as we work together to bring to fruition the sustainability goals for the Yale Divinity School Living Village.
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