West Branch Berkeley Library

West Berkeley Library, City of Berkeley

Berkeley, CA

(Re)making history.

A zero net energy community hub reenergizes its neighborhood.

Breathing new life into a 1923 library.

The City of Berkeley invited HED to transform its historic Carnegie-style library into a state-of-the-art, zero net energy (ZNE) community hub. Aligned with the city’s ambitious climate action plan goals, the new library would set a critical precedent both as an early prototype design for other ZNE buildings in the San Francisco Bay area, and as the first LEED Platinum, ZNE library in California.

The library’s redesign needed to reflect and celebrate its ethnically and culturally diverse Berkeley neighborhood; be sensitive and responsive to the geography and climate of its coastal environment; and establish the new library as an inviting community gathering place—a center of civic pride. The setting for collaboration and ongoing educational outreach. And a source of lasting delight and value far into the future.

At its completion, the new library would exceed all of these expectations.

Through the use of a clever natural ventilation scheme, the library literally breathes on its own, as skylights and windows automatically respond to atmospheric events, including changes in light, temperature, and other climate conditions.

The primary interior space—comprising library stacks, computer stations, eating areas, circulation desk, teens’ and children’s areas and a flex-use community meeting room—is easily adaptable for evolving use.

A pedestrian-scaled front porch underscores the library’s civic importance as a neighborhood gathering place, linking the street and interior and aggregating public activity.

By incorporating extensive passive sustainability strategies and bioclimatic design, HED minimized energy consumption, bringing the building to a zero carbon footprint and zero net annual energy use.

Renewable energy supplied by solar photovoltaic system—including radiant heating and cooling and an innovative wind chimney—eliminates the need for traditional HVAC.

The facility includes an improved program space for the Berkeley READS Adult Literacy Program, which has more than doubled in size since the completed renovation.

The new library features programs for adults, teens and children.

The only firm to propose a ZNE design for the project, HED initiated a number of public workshops to seek community input and build engagement, moving the concept design forward by consensus.

Results

The recipient of the prestigious COTE Top 10 Award (Committee on the Environment), the profession's most rigorous recognition program for sustainable design excellence.

The first Zero Net Energy library in California, with a net zero annual energy bill and zero carbon footprint, the LEED Platinum structure is a significant contribution to the City of Berkeley’s ambitious climate action plan goals.

The first publicly-funded ZNE municipal building in California and only the third ZNE publicly-funded building in the US, the library’s ZNE design saved the City of Berkeley over $1 million and a forty-year payoff of the carbon footprint.

The renovated library serves as a critical safety net and social network for new arrivals to the community.

The building and site development creates a prominent civic presence and active community hub for a diverse and historically underserved neighborhood.

Extensive passive design and energy optimization strategies—including a high-performance building envelope, daylighting, solar thermal panels, radiant flooring and natural ventilation—minimize the total energy load.

“

We wanted to create a building derived from a specificity of place, attuned to both its natural environment and its public mission. This is West Berkeley Library's delight and lasting value.”

Michael Bulander, AIA, LEED AP BD+C

Principal

HED

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