Santa Monica Public Library

More than 50% of the building materials contain significant recycled content, supporting a high level of workplace quality for users and staff.
Under-floor plenum air supply in public areas promotes energy efficiency and the use of fresh air for higher indoor air quality.
The chandeliers throughout the building are light sensitive and adjust as needed.
The low heat-absorbing roof collects rain water, which is filtered and stored in an underground cistern to be used for landscape irrigation.
The underground parking eliminates large, paved surfaces exposed to sunlight, while the building’s roof is treated to reflect sunlight. Combined, these design elements help reduce the “heat island effect”.
Solar electric panels on the roof generate renewable energy for the building, while the extensive curtain wall system provides a line of sight to windows from 90% of the public spaces in the building, giving almost every seat in the library a view to the outside.

Project Economics:
The savings goal established early in design was to achieve 45% savings in site energy and nearly 60% savings in source energy. The project achieved a net 42.5% savings from the base case energy budget.

Project Highlights:
- Raised access floor and underfloor air distribution to improve energy efficiency and facilitate future adaptation of the space.
- 200,000 gallon rain water storage system for landscape watering
- Significant percentages of recycled content materials (e.g., 100% structural steel and rebar, 70% aluminum framing)
- High-efficiency HVAC equipment.
- High performance windows
- Direct Digital Control (DDC) System for HVAC optimization
- 10 kW Photovoltaic system
( source http://santa-monica.org )