Lone Cone Library - Green Building Initiative

Green Globes Sparks New Ideas & Strengthens Collaboration for Lone Cone Library

Norwood, CO • Anderson Hallas Architects

Libraries have connected people to the outside world since their inception, notes Monet Ragsdale, District Trustee of the new Lone Cone Library in Norwood, Colo. “They still function that way, but the method has changed,” Ragsdale says. “At the Lone Cone Library, we connect people to the community through programming like events, exercise classes and kids’ crafts.”

Property taxes, private foundations, and state money funded the new library’s construction. The percentage of state funds obligated the library to achieve environmental certification, and Green Globes® made sense. “The Green Globes process is less onerous and more accessible than other rating systems,” Ragsdale explains.

“We were able to have conversations about our values and vision for the project.”

The team carefully allocated funds and performed a cost-benefit analysis. “We sought credits with Green Globes items that best fit the project,” says Angela Schwab, project architect at Anderson Hallas Architects. One appropriate item was the City of Norwood’s Raw Water System Irrigation (RWIS), which allows developments to purchase a tap and route collected raw water to their sites for irrigation. “The Lone Cone Library had already purchased a tap, so Green Globes was a way to document and reward the project for it,” Schwab affirms.

The Green Globes online questionnaire sparked new ideas too, according to Lauren McNeill, Sustainable Design Consultant at Group14 Engineering, who led the library’s Green Globes’ process. Drawing on the best-suited project concepts, the Lone Cone Library earned Two Green Globes with:

Construction truck inspections and maintenance, and reduced idling during construction
Environmental management systems in place: one with risk assessments and another with inspection checklists.
An energy model that predicts a 29% savings in energy over a conventional building.
Commendable commissioning efforts.
The purchase of renewable energy credits with a contract to offset 40% of energy usage through solar for three years.

Values and Vision

McNeill says the team divided the Green Globes checklist by discipline. “We had each discipline review their items to narrow that focus first. Then they came back together as a team with regularly scheduled calls during the design phase to keep the project on track,” she says.

“It required collaboration from all members, which provided a more in-depth process,” Ragsdale recalls. “We were able to have conversations about our values and vision for the project.”

Because the drawings and specifications serve as Green Globes’ documentation, McNeill says it was quickly clear which items would or wouldn’t be accepted, and she appreciated the Assessor’s availability for questions. “Our Assessor was incredibly helpful and knowledgeable,” McNeill remarks. “He was involved in the coordination very early on, so we could ask questions and receive clarification on exactly what he needed in the documentation.”

In the final report detailing the certification’s Green Globes’ award, the Assessor always includes a list of future recommendations. “There were several items that the Lone Cone Library can look into as funds allow,” says Ragsdale. “Lighting controls in the daylit zones, developing a Building Service Life Plan, and re-evaluating possibility of installing a renewable energy options are all feasible for the future.”