Public Employee Press

Glen Oaks, Queens
Green library saves energy

By JANE LaTOUR

This autumn, the Glen Oaks Library in Queens will open to the public, providing a beautiful building to enhance the community and a library built to conserve energy.

The planning and design of the project were managed by Senior Design Project Manager Mariana Lishnevski, an Architect for the Dept. of Design and Construction and a member of Civil Service Technical Guild Local 375. She led the team of consultants and coordinated with DDC departments and external agencies to ensure that the project meets DDC, Queens Library and New York City goals.

Energy savers

They aimed for LEED Silver certification to comply with Local Law 86, which requires LEED Silver for many public projects. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, the building rating system created by the U.S. Green Building Council.

Deputy Program Director Winston Sealey, who managed the construction of the project from its start in September 2008, was recently promoted to management after 24 years as a Local 375 member. A tour of the facility recently let the proud builders show off the library's special features.

"There are many 'green' features which contribute to the overall betterment of the community and the occupants' health," said Lishnevski. "The public plaza acts as a green roof for the underground adult library, and the reading courtyard encourages outdoor use," she said. "Gray" water collected in a storm water retention tank irrigates the plaza plantings and cuts water use.

Community benefits
Sealey points to the cellar roof covered with vegetation, which reduces storm runoff, decreases cooling costs and lowers urban air temperatures. The materials used in construction, such as the paints and the flooring, contain little or no volatile organic compounds, and the refrigerant is environmentally friendly R-410, which has no chlorine and does not deplete the ozone layer.

As Lishnevski points out, "More than 75 percent of the interior spaces have natural light, and special types of glass minimize night time light pollution in the neighborhood and control the quality of interior light." The installation includes radiant floor heating, she said, and overall it cuts energy use by 30 percent.

The heavily used Glen Oaks branch library is centrally located in its service area. "We are proud of our work and our contribution to this growing, multi-ethnic community," Sealey said. The $14 million project is now 80 percent completed.

Green initiative

Lishnevski is particularly proud of the library's "elegant shape" and "the low scale of the building that blends with the surrounding residential neighborhood." The ingenious solution of bringing natural light to the underground adult library with open stairs and skylights" also stands out for her.

Local 375 DDC Chapter Chair Muhammad Sheth said, "This is just one green project DDC is involved in. We are very keen on participating in green initiatives, which our members excel at."