Library Buildings Will Be Green

At a special work session on Friday, April 17th, the Library Board took another step toward making the new and renovated Smithtown Library Buildings green. There are many thoughts about just what makes a building green, but the Smithtown Library is committed to pursuing LEED Certification (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) from the U.S. Green Building Council. Present at Friday's meeting were LEED accredited green building experts from the Library's architectural firm BBS, the Library's construction consultants, a LIPA green building expert, Library Board members and administrative staff.

LEED Green Building certification is based on meeting certain criteria from a list of elements developed by the Green Building Council (USGBC) http://www.usgbc.org/ . Each item on the list has a point value. To qualify as green, the building must incorporate enough green elements to attain the point threshold established by the USGBC. One of the most interesting aspects of LEED certification is that it is an open and transparent process which results in environmentally friendly buildings. We will keep you up to date on our progress as things move forward.

At Friday’s meeting each item on the USGBC list was reviewed and evaluated in terms of cost, desirability and feasibility. The end result was that LEED certification may be possible in all buildings. Many of the items on the list qualify for cost reimbursement and others will result in long term energy efficiency.

LEED certification has been a goal of Board President Eric Johansson from the start, but added costs were always perceived as the gorilla in the room. Surprisingly, a good number of green elements do not add to construction costs, but are just good sound enhancements to the construction process and the operation of the buildings. Some elements do add costs but were seen as desirable goals. Everyone at the work session was pleased to be able to add the prospect of delivering green Libraries to our residents