August 29, 2008

STPEHEN DAFOE

Workmen ascend towards the roof of the Lois Hole Library in Edmonton to put finishing touches on the exterior canopy. The $7.7 million library is set to open in September.

Municipal Infrastructure

The Hole library in Edmonton is aiming for LEED silver

Stephen Dafoe

correspondent

After more than two years of planning and construction, Edmonton’s west end will soon have a new LEED certified library to replace the city’s existing Lessard Branch.

The $7.7 million project, posthumously named after Alberta’s fifteenth lieutenant governor, Lois Hole, was designed by Barr Ryder Architects and Planners of Edmonton, who have incorporated Hole’s love of the outdoors into the design.

Pentagon Structures Ltd. was awarded the contract to build the 25,000 square foot library and broke ground in July of 2006.

However, the ground breaking was not merely on some vacant lot, a fact that makes the project unique in design and implementation.

“The original site was a storm water retention pond,” said Shaun Visser, senior associate with Barr Ryder Architects and Planners.

“We had to bring it up five feet – and that also allowed us the opportunity to incorporate the landscaping and use the retention pond characteristics.”

Visser explained that a holding pond was created on the west side of the building. It drains along the side of the building through a landscaped drainage swale.

The landscaping was not merely a matter of logistics, but one of aesthetics as well.

“We capitalized on that (landscape swale) by having an outdoor access from the inside that’s protected by a handrail,” Visser said, adding that patrons will be able to sit on the deck and read, surrounded by nature.

“One of the whole concepts behind the building and the Lois Hole memorial was to have the inside and the outside blurred a bit,” he said.

But while the re-modification of existing storm water facilities may serve as a pleasingly pleasant backdrop to book lovers, other uses of rainwater will serve more pressing needs.

Visser explained that roof top storm water will be collected in a 7,000 gallon chlorine-treated tank, buried beneath the building, to be used for flushing toilets and external hose bibs.

“The system will be augmented with potable water,” Visser said, adding that a low-level alarm will allow the substitution of potable water until the system can be augmented with rain water.

While the building will make use of its rooftop for LEED points, a green roof will not be among them, as the shape of the structure did not allow for one.

“I think over 50 per cent of the roof is sloped, so we didn’t have enough area to make it feasible,” Visser said.

The buildings elevations are quite broken up.

Although height and angles prevented one popular LEED feature, the building’s glass-plated front – its highest elevation – allowed for others.

Visser explained that the project is using sunscreens and light shelves manufactured by Conair to control light and heat within the building.

The sunshade consists of a set of louvers that shade the windows during the summer, but maximizes light penetration in winter, when the sun is lower in the sky.

Another component of the window system is the light shelf, which is a horizontal plane bolted into the window frame.

Visser explained that because the light shelf is located at the same level as the sunshade, it bounces sunlight off the shelf onto the ceiling, allowing the light to penetrate deeper into the interior of the building.

Additionally, the library will be using an operable window system connected to the buildings air conditioning system that will turn off whenever a window is opened, reducing the load on the cooling system.

More than four kilometres of piping will provide heat to the facility’s radiant flooring system.

Visser said that one of the reasons the architectural firm went with radiant heating was to assist in air quality.

“We can dedicate the ventilation system for just air quality,” he said. “We have some reheat coils in areas that we thought might get cold corners, but the majority of the heating of the building is done by the radiant flow. It’s a more efficient heating because it heats all the surfaces up and all the books and they start to emit heat, rather than just heating air.”

Combined, the design features help create an overall energy efficiency picture.

Visser said that although final model figures have not been determined, the last figures showed they were achieving 40 per cent energy savings – a substantial increase from the 29 per cent minimum required under LEED certification.

“We’ve pushed hard to get as many points as possible, and fingers crossed, we’re close to the Gold,” he said.

“Our best scenario would be that we went for LEED Silver and got LEED Gold.”

Although the library opens in September, it will be several months before the final certification level is determined.

The Lois Hole Library will also be fostering a better understanding of LEED by having a small area inside the library to explain LEED concepts to library patrons.

Print | Email | Comment