We arrived Friday afternoon to cold and rain. In order to fortify ourselves for the upcoming rigors, we opted to seek out a little something to tide us over. We would need to be at the Cathedral at about 5:00pm and were not sure when we would have another opportunity to eat. When feeding times are not certain, the only logical thing to do is eat big when the opportunity presents itself. We sat down to a fantastic lunch at the Old Ebbitts Grill. After cups of seafood gumbo and a crab cake, we again considered the uncertainty of supper and decided it would only be prudent to have some pie and ice cream. In these uncertain times, one cannot be too careful. Having satiated our unruly dietary instincts, we continued our
adventure by paying a visit to the Friends Committee on National Legislation. FCNL is the largest peace lobby in Washington. It was established in 1943. We have been supporters for some time and enjoyed meeting the staff and seeing the operation in person. That's Jerry posing in the lobby.
Shortly after our arrival, Jay O'Hara was dispatched to show us around. We were given a tour of the remarkable building and met the staff.
The building itself is a Civil War era structure that has been renovated and is now a "green" building, utilizing a number of innovative features that conserve energy and decrease the energy impact on the environment. There is a roof garden, a "light scoop," bamboo floors, low-emissivity windows and geothermal heating, to name some of the features designed to have a lighter ecological impact.
Jerry and Jay are standing on the glass plates that transmit light across several stories via the light scoop.
Here is a look at the geothermal heating/cooling system. There is a 350 foot deep well beneath the parking lot. Fluid is circulated into the well and these units transfer heat/cold for building climate control.
We were told that the only two of the "green" features added to the cost of the project: the roof garden ($20,000) and the solar shading devices ($8,000). FCNL expects to recoup the extra expense in five years.
The FCNL staff were most gracious in taking time to greet us and speak with us, in spite of the fact it was Friday afternoon and they were all busy. It might be that they experienced some slight sense of relief when we finally left and they were able to get back to their jobs.
Having succesfully impeded the important work of the biggest peace lobby in Washington, we returned to our hotel to prepare for services at the National Cathedral that evening.
More about that later...
