Darien Library wins top Connecticut Green Building Award

Written by The Darien Times
Thursday, 30 July 2009 23:00

The Connecticut Green Building recently announced the winners of its second annual Design Awards, with Darien Library winning the top award for Institutional/Public Building.

At a luncheon held last month at the Peabody Museum at Yale University, the 2009 Connecticut Green Building Awards Program recognized excellence in green building design.

The awards are for current work that has been completed, ideally in Connecticut, but not limited to that if the design firm is from Connecticut. Darien Library, submitted by Peter Gisolfi Associates, won the award for Most Intriguing institution. The library is projected to be the first LEED Gold certified library in New England based on the selection of its site, water efficiency, energy use and atmosphere, use of materials, and indoor environmental quality. It was also awarded points for the building’s innovation.

According to the announcement from the Connecticut Green Building, there were several major design highlights of Darien Library:

• Geothermal wells used as both heating and cooling source;
• Heavy mass to provide thermal comfort;
• Choice of materials to minimize maintenance;
• Located on a Brownfield site and incorporated water conservation on site for grey water usage with the building;
• Automated material handling, eliminates wasted effort by staff;
• A circulation system that allows any visitor to orient themselves without fear of getting lost.

“The Darien Library is remarkable because it is intrinsically sustainable. The sustainable features are embedded within the architecture of the building and the landscape architecture of the site,” said Peter Gisolfi, principal of Peter Gisolfi Associates of Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y., who led the design team.

“There is another use for the term “intelligent design” and this one has no spiritual connotations. For the Connecticut Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council, it refers to the design and construction of a building or home that uses its resources wisely in an environmentally friendly way,” said Eileen Weber for ctgreenscene.com.

The new Darien Library was envisioned, designed, and constructed with the idea that lifecycle costs are more important than initial savings. The new Darien Library opened on Jan. 20.

Darien Library is at 1441 Post Road.