The Petersburg Public Library announced today that it has been awarded LEED® Certification. The LEED rating system, developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), is the foremost program for buildings, homes and communities that are designed, constructed, maintained and operated for improved environmental and human health performance.
“From the outset of this project, we knew we wanted the new Petersburg Public Library to be the standard of new construction in our city. We are proud to have achieved LEED Certification, and we hope that this recognition can be used as a tool to help educate the citizens of Petersburg about the importance of sustainability,” said Wayne Crocker, Petersburg Public Library Director.
Project Architect, Gil Entzminger, President of Enteros Design, said, “we believe that sustainable design is good design. By using sustainable, durable and efficient design elements, we were not only able to help the library achieve LEED certification, but also help them save on long term life-cycle costs.”
“At the earliest conception of the new library, we knew we wanted to give the city a building to be proud of. But we also wanted to ensure that the Petersburg Public Library would be affordable to operate and maintain,” said Bob Walker, Chairman of the Petersburg Library Foundation. “The LEED Certification designation of the new library is a testament to the entire team’s dedication to designing and constructing an affordable and efficient building.”
The 42,000 square foot, two-story building is located in the heart of downtown Petersburg, on the corner of Market and Washington Streets. Sustainable design practices include 28% energy reduction, natural daylight, 40% water reduction and use of low emitting and sustainable materials. Natural materials such as wood, brick and stone, while sustainable, also complement the rich building fabric of Petersburg. The landscaping and irrigation systems have been designed to reduce irrigation water consumption by at least 50%.
The new Petersburg Public Library achieved LEED certification by implementing practical and measurable strategies and solutions aimed at achieving high performance in: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality. The new Petersburg Public Library is proud to be the first building in Petersburg and one of more than 29,000 commercial and institutional projects currently participating in LEED, comprising more than 3.6 billion square feet of construction space in all 50 states and more than 150 countries. For more information on City of Petersburg services and programs, please visit www.petersburgva.gov.