Roseville Library will go for 'green' certification

Sometimes you need to spend some green to be officially green.

That was the idea behind a decision Tuesday by the Ramsey County Board to spend an additional $780,000 on the Roseville Library expansion. The cost of the project is now about $18 million.

Commissioners voted 5-2 to seek certification under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, program. LEED certification is a nationally recognized third-party verification that the building project is environmentally responsible and will create a healthy place to work.

As envisioned the library project will include three environmental education exhibits. The goal for the library, which draws about 2,000 visitors each day, is to be a public example of how to build in an eco-friendly manner and share those principles.

The decision sets the stage for the final design.

The library will close for remodeling March 31. Its materials will be put in storage or taken to a temporary location at 2680 Arthur St., near Rosedale Center. About 80 percent of the library's collection will be available at the temporary location, which opens May 2. Story times, computer classes and Internet workstations also will be available.

The expansion will add about 30,000 square feet and 100 parking spots and will triple the number of computer stations. About $300,000 of the budget will go toward technology improvements.

About half of the additional $780,000 will help the county attain the rigorous LEED certification. The rest will go toward environmental education exhibits. The money comes from the county's solid waste fund and a $400,000 state grant.

Without putting in the educational exhibits, the project still would have been eligible for basic LEED certification. Including the exhibits and paying for the accreditation brings the project up to "gold" LEED status, a step below the top rating.

The environmental education components are:

• Rain gardens to highlight how storm water is cleaned.

• A recycling project that will use glass, donated by a patron, that will be ground up and used in a floor.

Brochures talking about the eco-friendly elements of the building will be available for the public.

"If the county wants to highlight these practices, it's a perfect educational facility," said Susan Nemitz, the county's library director.

Commissioners Jim McDonough and Janice Rettman voted against spending the additional money.

McDonough said that $2 million worth of cuts already had been made to lower the project's cost and that spending $380,000 for a "certificate" wasn't prudent considering the original design would meet basic LEED standards.

Commissioner Rafael Ortega disagreed. "It's not about a piece of paper, it's about a process," he said.