Building heroes

Austin Central Library | Texas, USA

This inspiring hub of knowledge showcases what the sustainable library of the future looks like 🧠

Overlooking Shoal Creek and Lady Bird Lake is the impressive Austin Central Library, located in downtown Austin, Texas. This iconic 23,226 sqm concrete landmark features a 6-storey public atrium, including a skylight feature aptly nicknamed “The Cowboy Hat.” Austin’s Central Library provides shares knowledge openly via various innovative technologies, extensive print and digital collections along with dynamic and enriching programming for the local community. The building serves as the western portal to downtown, an innovative community hub which establishes a culturally-sensitive, major civic presence and community gathering space in the heart of the city.

 

With more than a dozen awards, the LEED Platinum Austin Central Library is shaped by light and was designed to adapt to the context of its environment. Two primary sustainability goals for the library were set: that ACL would be the most daylit library in the whole country, and that it would serve as a water conservation model for other buildings in the region. Forward-thinking strategies were implemented, such as demand controlled ventilation, variable air and water flow, day lighting control, extensive use of LEDs as well as on-site energy production 🌿

What else has ACL achieved to help protect our environment? Let’s take a look at just a handful of its many eco-features:

  • A rooftop 150-kilowatt photovoltaic array to generate electrical power for the building
  • 373,000-gallon rainwater harvesting system to provide power for landscape irrigation
  • A vegetative roof
  • Charging stations for electric cars

“This is a library that went and studied libraries across the world, to come up with a template for it. This is something that this part of the world has never seen before. We hope people really enjoy it. It’s just as technology rich as you can imagine” – Josh Gillum, Facilities Planning Manager at City of Austin.

An incredible inspiration for all those looking to make change in real estate! Great work, #buildingheroes Lake|Flato Architects Shepley Bulfinch City of Austin HENSEL PHELPS Datum Engineers The American Institute of Architects (AIA) Jeff Courtney PE Jeremy Klahorst Kelly Thibodeaux Luke Nelson Michael Brack Stephen Price Thomas Taylor P.E. Structural Consultants, a Hardesty & Hanover company Sidney Bowen David Lake Heather Holdridge Steve Raike Adrianna Swindle, AIA, LEED AP John Taylor Schaffhauser, AIA Mark Finneral Lynn Petermann Jose I. Guerra, Inc. – Civil | Structural | MEP/FP Encotech Engineering Consultants, Inc. 

📸 : The American Institute of Architects (AIA)

#sustainability #greenbuildings #climatechange #sustainablerealestate #netzerocarbon

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