On Wednesday, sixteen community members gathered to discuss ways in which the library might be a role model and demonstration project for sustainable construction. Major themes that emerged in the conversation include embodied energy, the value and use of evaluation metrics, energy efficiency, life cycle analysis, and the building as a teaching tool. We’ll get more specific about framing each of these goals within the context of the new building project. During the session, we built a tool for ongoing idea development. We hope that you’ll take a moment to add your thoughts to our Buildings Padlet. You can add a sticky note by double-clicking on the background and typing a comment.

Questions to think about before we meet again:

• What are the reasons for the Jesup being a role model?

• How do we balance embodied carbon, operational energy consumption, and ongoing maintenance? Is it possible for us to optimize all three of these aspects?