The Greening of RPL...

Where can you go to pick up the latest bestseller, that little art film your neighbor told you about and the newest release from Panic at the Disco? The library, of course! But our new building will not only be a place to get all this and more, but it will be a space that is helping to save our world! The new Richland Public Library is designed to meet the LEED Silver requirements. LEED is the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System™ which encourages and accelerates global adoption of sustainable green building and development practices through the creation and implementation of universally understood and accepted tools and performance criteria. (and yes, I stole that right from the website!)

We are also committed to recycling as much as we can from the old building. The trees that were removed from the site were transferred to the landfill. The trunks and large limbs are being milled for as-yet-undetermined-uses. The small limbs will be made available for Richland residents to take as fire wood and the very small pieces will be chipped for compost. (And don’t worry – there is a plan in place to re-populate the site with new trees. Big trees, not saplings!)

Much of the work of construction involves sharing of resources and re-use of materials. For example, one firm will not own all of the equipment that is needed but will rent it from a rental firm or from another construction firm. The equipment is not only very large, but specialized and it makes more sense to have it available only when it is needed.

During the construction of the elevator towers, the framing pieces are ones that have been used to build other elevators in the past and will be used again for future elevators at other sites.

Over 6000 bricks from the old building were removed and cleaned of old mortar, by hand, to be reused on the new construction so that the exterior look will be consistent.

So, just remember, not only is Richland Public an ultra cool space to hang out in, but we’re saving the environment one brick at a time!

Pop! Six! Squish! Uh Uh! Cicero! Lipschitz!

Cell Block Tango anyone?

Actually, this is part of the new framing in the older part of the library. It's just a coincidence that it looks like a jail cell. Really.

Brings back memories of my Tonka Truck days!