Ask your librarian about the benefits of building green

Several public libraries in Westchester County are taking the "LEED" on going green and the lessons that their management, architecture and design teams are learning are applicable to developers of commercial buildings, too. Building green was the hot topic of the NYS Association of Library Boards conference that I attended in Saratoga Springs. The event included a tour of Cliffton Park-Halfmoon Public Library. Designed by Woodward, Connor, Gillies, Seleman Architects, the LEED-certified $13 million, two-story, 55,000 s/f building is triple the size of the building that it replaced. It cost $189 per s/f to build, the least expensive of 2006 NYS libraries as reported by Library Journal. This figure requires some qualification. It's a bit like comparing apples to oranges because building a public library in Saratoga County is likely to cost less than building in Westchester County, or in one of the five N.Y.C. boroughs. More informative for building planners would have been a comparison between conventional and green building techniques. Although the architects did make a case to the public library trustees to build green -- who originally said "no" on account of the anticipated higher cost -- showing them that they could still build green and stay within the original budget. In Westchester, three public libraries have or are in the process of building green. All are reducing their HVAC costs by using geothermal heating and cooling systems which recycles through the building water that it draws from deeply dug wells, reducing the use of natural gas, oil or electricity. Due to the building's close proximity to a water course and flood plain, the Mt. Kisco Public Library, now under construction, cannot qualify for LEED certification although it will still be a green building in many ways. "LEED certification is beneficial in that you address all of those issues but that doesn't make the building any more energy-efficient," said project architect, Jim Lothrop, AIA FASID. Beatty Harvey & Associates is overseeing the construction of its second LEED or green public library in Westchester County. Back in 2002 when plans were being laid in Ossining for a new public library, and before green was the new black, "there was some indication at the outset that it would be a green building," said Sal Coco, partner, AIA and LEED accredited. The firm has designed about 75 libraries in N.Y. area. "We have found the cost of going green is not as overwhelming as one would think. There is an administrative cost if you go LEED. It's nominal if you consider that you spend several million dollars to build. We analyze with building owners (each LEED point) on a point-by-point basis. "Some LEED points don't cost anything at all, such as location from a bus or train station, or by specifying products or building materials from within 500 miles," said Coco, whose firm also designed the green but not LEED-certified Greenburgh Public Library. He said that there are so many planning, building and even furnishing specifications meeting LEED criteria that it's becoming less of a financial burden upfront. The cost of building a geothermal system comparable to the one that is under construction in Greenburgh is about $150,000 more than a traditional HVAC system. When first planned it was projected that it would cost about $7,000 a year in heating and cooling costs vs. $28,000 without the system in place. Choosing a public building to go green or LEED sends a powerful message to not only the voting public but also to the next generation of builders, realtors and public officials that "this is the way it should be." "Different clients have different expectations of buildings. Municipalities take a long view, they are going to own their buildings for a long time. (Conversely) a retail developer is going to view the initial building costs differently," said Lothrop. Energy-efficient building and tax incentives may change all of this, a topic that I will address next month. Rob Seitz is an agent with Goldschmidt & Associates, New Rochelle, N.Y.