The nearly finished sanctuary of Plano's Christ United Methodist Church boasts arrestingly beautiful stained glass windows, but also low-flow toilets and waterless urinals.

The new pipe organ will make a mighty sound, but the paints, adhesives and sealants were chosen because they don't emit much odor or otherwise compromise air quality.

Once the doors are open for worship, all are welcome, but those who come by energy-efficient car or bicycle get to park up close.

Lots of churches celebrate Earth Day, but Christ UMC has gone green – deep green – in hopes of making its new sanctuary the first in Texas to be LEED-certified, the official designation for environmentally friendly buildings.

"It's clear that creation itself is a gift from God," said the Rev. Don Underwood, in his 26th year as the church's pastor. "We think it's important to be good stewards of all the resources God has given us."

Christ UMC has more than 6,000 members, and its decision in 2007 to build a sanctuary was prompted by its growth. Plans for the 54,000-square-foot structure were under way when church member Shaunna Black started the push to make the building green.

She's an independent consultant now, but then was an executive at Texas Instruments who helped oversee its construction of buildings that the U.S. Green Building Council has given Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification.

Black was sure, based on her experience, that aiming for LEED would not break the budget. Others weren't.

"We had some concerns – at least I did – about what it would cost to bring it in as a LEED-certified building, and whether the long-term savings [on energy] would warrant the up-front cost," said Duncan Webb, the Plano lawyer who leads the building committee.

Black brought church leaders to TI for a presentation that helped change their thinking. And as the project progressed, Webb and his committee found that far more contractors than they expected had experience with LEED certification and were willing to work toward it at a reasonable price.

The $15 million, 1,200-seat sanctuary will cost less than 1 percent more than it would have without the environmental focus, and those extra expenses should be recouped with energy savings within two years, Webb said.

He and other laity have played a key role. Church leaders appointed member Mark Meaders as "sustainability champion" in charge of guiding the project toward LEED status.

"I said, 'What's LEED?' They said, 'We don't know. We want you to figure that out,' " Meaders recalled.

In one of the more interesting developments – church folk would call it a blessing – Meaders gained enough expertise from the sanctuary project to be hired by a local architectural firm as a sustainable design project manager.

The sanctuary's LEED features include low-flow toilets and sinks and waterless urinals, aimed at reducing water usage by 42 percent. Extra insulation, efficient lighting fixtures and state-of-the-art air-conditioning and heating should cut energy use by 18 percent.

The project uses regional materials in steel and limestone, as well as recycled materials. Outside water use has been minimized through drought-tolerant landscaping and high-efficiency sprinklers.

Seventy-five percent of construction waste is being diverted from landfills into recycling bins. The parking lot – concrete instead of asphalt to reduce the "heat island" effect – includes close-up spaces for fuel-efficient cars and a bike rack.

One aspect of the project has attracted everyone's attention.

"Everyone wants to know what the waterless urinals are like," said the Rev. Alexandra Robinson, associate pastor.

The U.S. Green Building Council reports that there are 11 LEED-certified religious buildings across the country, including Delaney Hall at Emerson Unitarian Universalist Church in Houston.

That building sometimes hosts worship services, but is primarily for education.

So Christ UMC seems poised – once the sanctuary opens, probably next month, and once paperwork is filed with the U.S. Green Building Council – to become Texas' first church to have a full-time, LEED-certified sanctuary.

"You watch," Black said. "Many, many churches will copy now because there's a leader who can teach them how to do it."