Looscan Library LEED Tour Recap

I managed to make it over to the Looscan Library on Tuesday for the LEED Building Tour, and I wanted to distribute some of information about the building. They gave a pretty good overview of the LEED credits that the building received to become certified, but I couldn’t find a copy of the text online. I’ll try to get the good details from it here:

This City of Houston neighborhood library is a dynamic community gathering space for all ages. The program includes Community Meeting Rooms, a Garden Club/Meeting Room, and an Internet Cafe with wireless technology. Upon entry through a vestibule, the open Lobby, with monumental stairs to the second level, welcomes the visitor and provides a clear sense of organization. The Circulation and Reference Counter is centrally located promoting convenience as well as visual control. Within the large unified reading room there are distinct areas serving the needs of adults, children, and young adult readers. Exterior walls contain large expanses of glass not only to bring in natural light but also to expose the interior to people walking by. The new Looscan Library houses approximately 100,000 items in 21,175 gross square feet and achieved LEED Certification for sustainable , environmentally conscious design.

Building Info

• Owner: City of Houston General Services Department, Houston Public Library
• Architect: Jackson and Ryan Architects
• Engineer: Walter P. Moore & Associates
• MEP Engineer: I.A. Naman and Associates
• Structural Engineer: Ingenium, Inc.
• Interiors: Bennett Design Group
• Contractor: Gilbane Construction Company
• Project Size: 21,175 sq ft.
• Total Project Cost: $5,576,500
• Cost PSF: $263
• Completion: March 2007

Here is an overview of the LEED credits the building received (26 total points out of 69 possible). For more information about the LEED point system, click here:

Sustainable Sites (6/14 points)

• The project is located within a 1/4 mile of two bus lines
• A bike rack and staff restroom with shower and changing area help promote biking and alternative forms of commuting to work
• To reduce the heat island effect, a roofing system meeting the Energy Star and high emissivity requirements has been installed
• For the site, high cut off and downward directional lighting has reduced light pollution

Water Efficiency (2/5 points):

• A high efficiency agent irrigation system has been specified to achieve greater water efficiency for the site
• The use of low-flow fixtures, automatic flush sensors, automatic faucets, and trap guards in the floor drain pipes are used throughout the building, minimizing waste and better controlling water consumption

Energy and Atmosphere (7/17):

• A commissioning agent was retained during design development through construction to complete the fundamental building systems design
• The project follows ASHRAE 90.1 requirements
• There is zero use of CFC-based refrigerants in the building and non-HCFC refrigerants in the mechanical systems were installed
• The owner has agreed to a minimum two year contract with a renewable energy company which is anticipated to be further extended

Materials and Resources (3/13):

• A recycling area is provided on site
• Rubber flooring counts toward the recycled content credit which stipulates that at least 10% of the total value of materials in the project must be post-consumer recycled content plus half post-industrial recycled content
• At least 20% of building materials and products are manufactured regionally within a 500 mile radius
• Of this 20% of building materials documented, a minimum of 50% of them have been extracted, harvested, or recovered (as well as manufactured) within 500 miles of the site

Indoor Environmental Quality (7/15):

• The HVAC system is designed to comply with the latest ASHRAE 62 standards
• Smoking is prohibited in the building
• The building is outfitted with CO2 sensors in the air return spaces to control the outside air supply to the building at the minimal level to comply with ASHRAE and LEED requirements
• The building ventilation effectiveness has been increased to meet ASHRAE and LEED’s standards
• Low emitting materials, adhesives, and sealants were installed to meet requirements
• PPG Pure Performance Interior Latex Paint with zero VOC emissions was used
• An energy management system capable of permanently monitoring the building’s mechanical and electrical systems to the extent necessary for LEED compliance was installed
• And ultimately, a Daylight Factor of 2% over 75% of all space occupied for critical visual tasks has been achieved

Innovation in Design (1/5):

• To reduce electrical billings, automatic, power-factor correcting capacitors on the electrical systems have been put in place to maximize energy efficiency
• GSD‘s Energy Management group has assigned a Green Power provider to the Looscan Library site
• The building management is involved in sustainable education to the public it serves

The building earned 26 points, which is four points shy of a LEED Silver rating. It seems to me that they could have easily earned a few more credits in terms of storm water management around the edges of the site, reducing non-roof heat island effects (covered parking?), on-site renewable energy (one solar panel?), and possibly indoor thermal comfort. Here is a breakdown of the point structure for LEED v2 (It will be different in version 3, which I believe will consist of 100 points):

• Certified – 26-32 points
• Silver – 33-38 points
• Gold – 39-51 points
• Platinum – 52-69 points

The innovation in design points are definitely harder to earn, and in general, a lot of the points are a little out of reach or cost prohibitive for a public building like this. Overall, I’m glad they went for LEED certification at all, and I hope the city continues to invest in this kind of development in the future. That said, the more I look into the LEED system, and how expensive and proprietary the documentation is, the more it starts to sound like a racket. For example, the latest version has 9 different rating systems:

The tour guide did mention that the City is doing a lot in the way of building renovations and historic preservation, and that earning a LEED certification status will be significantly easier in many of the existing libraries and other public buildings in the future. Go Houston!

My favorite thing about the building overall was either the employee shower (mainly because I’m jealous that my office doesn’t have one), or the pod chairs in the young adult / teenager section. The chairs were somehow connected to a series of computers on the back wall that allow people to listen to music through the built in speakers, but it “wasn’t working” yesterday, so I didn’t get a chance to try it out. My least favorite part about the building was the so-called “internet cafe.” I assume they were talking about the set of tables and chairs to the left of the entrance, but beyond that, it felt like an awkward afterthought, and didn’t really fit in with the rest of the building (It could have used an espresso machine, or at least a Keurig). It didn’t even have any computers in it, which is one of the defining features of an internet cafe.

The community meeting room upstairs was quite large as well, and it’s free and open for use by anyone as long as you make a reservation in advance. It wouldn’t be a bad place to hold BarCamp style conference to learn more about LEED (LEEDCamp?). Now that LEED version 3 is almost ready for prime time, and the v2 exam is obsolete, I’m sure a lot of us need a refresher course and an introduction to the new credits.