Austin Central Library Green Building Tour

5th Floor Look at the walls and step onto the carpeted portion of the floor. The walls are covered in low-VOC primers and paints. The carpets are environmentally friendly and low-VOC adhesives are used. Low volatile organic compound (VOC) materials help to reduce the emission of smog-forming compounds when used in construction and remodeling projects. They also help maintain indoor air quality providing healthy air for library customers and staff.

Did you know? Cradle-to-cradle materials demonstrate product responsibility from manufacturing and production all the way through to future recycling. The Central Library’s carpets earned innovation credits toward LEED Platinum certification.

Flexible design allows the Library to adapt to future needs. A raised-floor system for electrical wiring and other cables allows for easier access as technology changes and systems need to be upgraded.

Visit the bank of windows in the Media section on the building’s north side and notice the lack of solar shades on the windows. Each building façade maximizes its orientation to save energy.

AUSTIN CENTRAL LIBRARY

GREEN BUILDING TOUR

6th Floor Step outdoors to the Roof Garden. Can you see the solar panels? These are just a few in a larger group of three arrays with 567 solar panels totaling 182 kW-dc. This photovoltaic array is capable of providing up to one-third of the building’s energy needs, or the equivalent of enough energy to power 21 homes in Austin. Stand under the solar panels and notice not only the shade provided, but the pattern on the ground. On a sunny day you’ll see a dappled pattern not unlike that of an oak tree.

This is the largest rooftop solar installation in downtown Austin.

Check out the native landscaping including a Texas Live Oak tree.

Fun Fact: Each 4-inch square is its own photo electric cell.

Look toward Lady Bird Lake and the expansive views of Austin. The Library’s location is crucial to its high sustainability rating. It is part of the Seaholm EcoDistrict, a leading example of urban mixed-use and green development with large public plazas and advanced sustainable features. The Seaholm EcoDistrict takes its name from the historic Seaholm Powerplant just West of the Library building. Designed in the 1950s, it served as Austin’s sole source of electricity for many years.

Green building resources Citywide Sustainability Sustainability is a core value of the City of Austin, demonstrated by the variety of sustainability programs and initiatives being implemented by numerous departments. View sustainability efforts: austintexas.gov/department/citywide-sustainability Seaholm Eco-district Walking Tour bit.ly/SeaholmTour U.S. Green Building Council usgbc.org Design Lake | Flato + Shepley Bulfinch, a Joint Venture

710 W. César Chávez St., Austin, TX 78701 library.austintexas.gov | 512-974-7400

Designed as a library for the future, and “the front porch for the city,” Austin Central Library is a dynamic green building that can adapt to new technology and the needs of future generations.

Austin Central Library is a LEED® Platinum-rated building. LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, provides a framework to create healthy, environmentally-friendly, and highly efficient green buildings. All new major construction projects pursued by the City of Austin must attain a minimum LEED Silver rating and this project surpassed this goal by becoming the first LEED Platinum certified project in the City’s portfolio.

Take a self-guided tour and explore some of the Central Library’s green features.

1st Floor

3rd Floor

Explore the stadium-seating demonstration area that can be used for a variety of events. Step outside to see the outdoor amphitheater that connects the Library to the city’s many urban trails along Lady Bird Lake and the restored Shoal Creek. Originally built in the early 1960s, the Shoal Creek Trail is one of the oldest trail systems in the City of Austin. Some native plants you’ll find here include buttonbush, milkweed, and roughleaf dogwood which provide habitat, slow flooding and stabilize the soil.

The heart of the Central Library is the 6-story atrium which provides daylight to 80 percent of regularly occupied spaces in the Library and is a key in energy savings. The building is designed to operate 30 percent more efficiently than Austin’s already progressive energy code, resulting in energy savings equivalent to the energy needs of 130 households per year.

Fun fact: Native Texas limestone from Lueders, Texas can be found on the building exterior.

On your way to the Butterfly Bridge across Shoal Creek, take a look at the large Bicycle Corral that can hold around 200 bikes and encourages alternative modes of transportation to the Central Library. The underground parking garage contains preferred parking and charging stations for electric and hybrid vehicles.

Success Metrics LEED Platinum 43%

93%

80%

net energy reduction (over ASHRAE 90.1)

indoor potable water reduction

public spaces daylit

23%

100%

21%

local building materials

potable water reduction for irrigation

materials recycled

2nd Floor The Gallery provides a space for a regular rotation of art and special events. Notice the Mesquite wood parquet flooring. Each piece of this durable native Texas material was individually placed, with end-cut wood revealing the beauty of the grain.

Twelve shared learning rooms can be reserved throughout the Central Library. These spaces were designed to encourage lifelong learning and exploration.

The Cookbook Bar & Café incorporates farm-to-table ingredients whenever possible into its menus, and pulls from recipes from the pages of cookbooks found in the Library. Cookbook also showcases a special collection of over 500 cookbooks, formerly belonging to the late Austin Chronicle food editor, Virginia B. Wood.

4th Floor Notice the glass bridge on the east side of the building. This was specifically designed to let more light flow into the atrium and prevents a shadow or dark area under this walkway.

Look above the large clock-like CAW sculpture to the large skylights letting in light even on cloudy days. To the left, just past the shared learning room, are clerestories, vertical glass that allows direct rays of sunlight to enter the building on clear days.

The angled atrium roof overhead reflects and beams light to maximize daylight and minimize heat gain. The indoor lights automatically dim, conserving energy.

The Children’s Area features an enclosed outdoor porch.

Colorful metal wheels on the wall were salvaged from the old Seaholm Power Plant building.

Fun fact: The building was designed to be the best day-lit library in the world.

Wind your way through the Fiction section on the south side of the building and through the doors onto an enclosed outdoor Reading Porch. These low energy spaces extend the footprint of this building through a combination of shading devices and ceiling fans. The ceiling fans provide thermal comfort on a humid day. Without lights or air conditioning, the porches remain comfortable spaces even in the Texas heat.

Need a restroom break? The Library uses non-potable water for all of its toilet flushing.

A 373,000-gallon cistern captures roof rainwater and HVAC condensate, provides water in the restrooms to flush the toilets and urinals, as well as irrigation water for the landscaped areas and vegetated roof. The system itself is a repurposed Austin Energy underground vault.