| To quote a famous frog, “It’s not that easy being green.” Here at the Bozeman Public Library, we know how Kermit feels, with one nuanced difference: being green has been relatively easy, becoming green was the hard part.
Genetically speaking, frogs have a history and propensity of being green. Buildings, on the other hand, generally become green by committee. “Green” has become the buzz-word for the conscious decision to lessen environmental impacts when constructing and operating a building. Frogs don’t have to make color choices. Only people get that kind of authority and power.
In Montana, the decision to “go green” hasn’t happened very often; even less frequently has a building passed a set of rigorous guidelines to earn official Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification. Under the wing of the U.S. Green Building Council, “ LEED is the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction, and operation of high performance green buildings.” The certification process is a third-party verification system that proves a building project meets the “highest green building and performance measures,” as USGBC’s web site indicates.
There are only four LEED certified buildings in the state, according to Dr. Kath Williams , past president of the World Green Building Council and principal of her own firm, Kath Williams + Associates, specializing in sustainability education and LEED projects. To date, they are: Xanterra/National Park Service housing in Gardiner, Sweet Grass Border/Entry Station, Bozeman Public Library, and Home on the Range (Northern Plains Resource Council and Western Organization of Resource Councils headquarters) in Billings . And that’s it.
The Bozeman Public Library is currently the only public building in the state to have earned a silver LEED certification, under the guidance of Williams. But it didn’t come easy.
A decade of green decisions
Back in 1995, momentum for a larger library began to take hold. Another three years passed before the Building Committee formed under the leadership of J.B. Bancroft, then-Library Trustee and Dean of the College of Arts and Architecture, Montana State University—Bozeman.
Over the next eight years and countless meetings, a state-of-the-art, energy efficient, environmentally sensitive library slowly emerged. The process was painful enough for Library Director Alice Meister to later declare “Never again!” Now, however, it was admittedly worth the frustrations just knowing the Library resides on the east end of Main Street as a shining green example not just for Bozeman, but for all of Montana and the Rocky Mountain West.
“Many libraries these days are following green practices when building, but haven’t gone for the LEED certification,” said Meister. “I still feel it was important for us to get that ‘stamp of approval’ for immediate authentication and credibility. We are now the vanguard exemplar of being green for others across the country who are thinking about going through the process.”
But it took the dedication and doggedness of the building committee, Williams, Meister, architect Mark Headley, and Martel Construction—all of whom were committed to the greening of the project from moment they joined the team. Their support was crucial to the theory and implementation of a green project.
“One of the keys to the project’s success,” Bancroft said, “was the diversity of community representation on the committee and the evolving composition as the focus of the committee shifted from concepts to construction.” Members included library users, supporters, staff, city personnel, design and construction professionals, library technical folks, and other interested stakeholders.
It took all that and a generous $500,000 anonymous donation to reach the goal of silver certification. Proudly displayed are the nationally recognized LEED plaques at both Library entrances.
What it means to be green
According to the USGBC, “ LEED promotes a whole-building approach to sustainability by recognizing performance in five key areas of human and environmental health: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection; and indoor environmental quality.”
What does that mean in a practical sense for the Bozeman Public Library? While there are many finer details such as a 16kW photovoltaic energy-saving system that earned required points for silver certification, many library users would recognize at least a few immediate components.
Tangible things such as low-flush toilets, no-water urinals, sensor-controlled lights and blinds, plenty of natural indoor daylight, and “hybrid preferred” parking spaces can be seen just by looking around.
Other more behind-the-scene aspects include an employee shower to encourage walking/biking to work, recycled carpet squares for replacement ease, low-voltage lights, predominant use of recycled/reused materials, an active recycling program, and water efficient landscaping with drought-resistant and native plants.
As with most things in life, though, this all came with a dollar sign.
The cost of green
There are definite financial implications to greening a building. LEED registration was $350, certification fee was $1200, construction details ran $36,374—and those were the least of the costs. When all was said and done, the total LEED investment came to $431,285. Truly, the silver certification received by the library project was only made possible with the assistance of the anonymous donation.
The environmental saga actually started well before ground was broken. Or more accurately, as the ground was broken. The 14-acre new library site in downtown Bozeman was a contaminated mess. Formerly the old railroad depot, the soil was literally full of asbestos and lead poisoning. Clean-up alone added to well-over a million dollars. That bill was eventually paid by the Montana Department of Environmental Quality’s CALA Orphan Share Fund. Not technically part of the LEED certification process, it nonetheless had to be dealt with by wearing kid gloves, or in this case, hazardous safe astronaut-like suits.
Once the land was deemed nontoxic, the real work began. The expectation from the get-go was to more than double the size of the new library without increasing the operational cost. The installed photovoltaic panels, which produce electricity directly from sunlight, came with a predicted annual savings of $2440 and a cost of $267,193. Once again, generosity helped the effort with a grant from Northwestern Energy paying for a large share of the system.
From choosing high-end, high-tech products to types of paint, building the green library came down to a simple monetary equation. Was it feasible?
“The major push-back we received to greening came when the bids were opened on the initial design, coming in well over budget,” remembered Bancroft. “Suggestions came from various quarters to scrap the green features as one of many cost cutting measures. The building committee, the design team, and the Board of Trustees disagreed with this notion.”
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The Bozeman Public Library offers patrons plenty of natural light.
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Photo by George Baskins
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Through an emotionally charged process, it was decided instead to build the right building for the community. With this renewed commitment came a second fundraising push, which resulted in the city’s financial support, additional individual donations, and the critical the half-million dollar unknown “green angel.”
But perhaps just as important as dollars and savings, this project was destined to make a defining statement by the tacit agreement to design, build, and maintain a green city library.
“Every municipal building that is to be owned and occupied by the community should be green. These facilities inherently are long-term investments,” said Bancroft. “We shoot ourselves in the foot, perhaps both feet, when we view new municipal buildings as short term, non-green investments.”
Going green
Building a new public facility “green” was a stretch. Would the community respond favorably? Would it be worth it?
“There are two aspects to these questions: conceptual and pragmatic. Conceptually, it was very easy,” said Bancroft, who is an architect by training. “Virtually everyone—starting with those attending our initial community meetings to those controlling the purse stings at City Hall—agreed that ‘greening’ was the right thing to do. On the other hand—pragmatically speaking—the green aspects were often questioned and regarded as non-essential, therefore expendable when budget cuts were required.”
The building committee forged ahead, taking the long-term, comprehensive approach that is necessary for a green undertaking. Some immediate gains such as reduced air pollution, runoff control, and enhanced support of local providers were easy to quantify. The long-term gains—all the things people expect of a green building—were easy to enumerate, but much harder to verify up-front.
The community still holds the lofty goals of reduced operation and maintenance costs, with ensuing reduced local and global environmental impact. This was demonstrated just recently when the Bozeman City Commissioners voted to remodel the old library building into a new LEED certified City Hall.
“From the very beginning, the Library Trustees were committed to building a livable, sustainable, inspiring, family-centered learning environment,” said Meister. “To their credit, the Trustees created a set of guidelines to follow, which was wonderful to actually put in writing and to use as guiding principles when choosing the architectural and construction firms.”
A green community
By getting the community behind the green project, the Trustees and city leaders had a firm leg to stand on. People attending the many public meetings and charrettes all came to the same conclusion and recommendation: Build green. Some were even bolder, declaring that they wanted an environmentally friendly building with elements that were more than just “fluff” or “window dressing.”
One resident summed up the general community sentiment. “While I am no expert on ‘green’ architecture, I am aware that adherence to its principles can drastically reduce energy needs and impact on the environment. I think the new Library would be a wonderful showcase.”
I’m sure that puppeteer Jim Henson was once thought of as being “out there,” but what an institution he created in Sesame Street. Henson took a leap of faith developing a grumpy monster in a garbage can, a large talking bird, and yes, a green frog lamenting his color lot in life. What a wonderful educational showcase he created for early childhood development. What a wonderful educational showcase we created for many, now celebrating one year as a proud, green library.
For more information about the Bozeman Public Library project and LEED certification, go to www.bozemanlibrary.org and www.usgbc.org/LEED.
Paula K. Beswick became Foundation Director in July after spending a decade volunteering for the Bozeman Library and seeing the new building come to fruition. She is thrilled to go to work every morning in a beautiful green building. Paula can be reached at director@bozemanlibraryfoundation.org. |
