Insights
Insights
12.02.20

Pinney Library earns LEED Gold certification

The new location for Madison Public Library’s Pinney Library branch has achieved LEED Gold certification.

Guided by sustainable design principles and with LEED certification in mind,  the library’s Gold certification was based in large part to its energy efficiency, air quality strategies, and community connectivity.

One of the busiest of the Madison Public Library’s satellite locations, Pinney serves multiple neighborhoods, as well as students from 12 schools within walking distance of the library and beyond.

The new 20,500-square-foot library — designed with current library trends and community needs in mind — nearly doubles its former size.

There are four levels of LEED certification. The number of points a project earns determines the level of LEED certification that the project will receive. There are specific prerequisites projects must satisfy and a variety of credits projects can pursue to earn points. The number of points the project earns determines its level of LEED certification. Gold, the second highest certification, requires 60 to 79 points.

The library earned 70 of the possible 110 points.

With more than two dozen LEED certified buildings, OPN also is proud to be among the 525 firms who have pledged to design 100 percent carbon-neutral projects by 2030. In 2019, the firm’s average energy savings across its entire portfolio of work is 60% above the 2030 baseline, outpacing the industry average of 44%.