Tulsa City-County Library’s new Central Library is not only a beautiful, state-of-the-art facility, it’s also environmentally responsible.
The U.S. Green Building Council has approved a LEED Gold certification for the downtown Tulsa library, the result of a three-year, $55 million renovation. Central Library is only the 35th building in all of Oklahoma to receive LEED Gold status and is the first downtown Tulsa location to receive such a designation.
LEED, which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is an internationally recognized certification process for “green buildings,” developed by the U.S. Green Building Council. The LEED process is designed to inspire project teams to seek innovative solutions that are better for the environment and communities.
Projects pursuing LEED certification earn points across several areas that address sustainability issues. Based on the number of points achieved, projects receive one of four LEED rating levels: Certified, Silver, Gold or Platinum. LEED-certified buildings are resource efficient. They use less water and energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. As an added bonus, they save money.
“Sustainability and environmental friendliness were identified early on as priorities for this project. Tulsa county residents conveyed that these items were of the utmost importance for a 21st century library during many of our community listening sessions,” said Kimberly Johnson, TCCL Chief Executive Officer. “It is also another way to demonstrate our commitment to ensuring tax dollars are spent wisely.”
Central Library Renewed was a three-year, $55 million project where the 50-year-old library was completely gutted to the original architectural bones and redesigned to benefit people and the planet. During the construction project, nearly 98% of the on-site generated construction waste was diverted from landfills. A local facility sorted the waste and sent it to different facilities for recycling, reuse and repurposing. And almost 11% of the total building materials content was manufactured using recycled materials.
Among other features contributing to the gold LEED rating, the Green Building Council recognized the library’s use of rooftop solar panels, high-efficiency lighting, the chilled beam heating and air conditioning system, high-efficiency boilers and chillers and rainwater collection system.
For more information on the library’s LEED Gold Certification and Central Library Renewed, call the AskUs Hotline, 918-549-7323, or visit the library’s website, www.tulsalibrary.org.
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