Timberglen Branch Library: Holiday gift ideas from The 'Glen!

Friday, November 18, 2011

Holiday gift ideas from The 'Glen!

Is there someone on your holiday gift list for whom you have difficulty shopping?

Peruse through our book sale shelves to find a thoughtful holiday gift for that certain someone. These gently used items range from Sci-Fi to Harlequin Romance and from Cookbooks to Children's titles.

Find a literary gem for that discerning book lover this holiday season!

Timberglen is in the LEED

The Timberglen Branch Library, which opened in February of 2007, is part of a growing number of City of Dallas facilities that meet the LEED standard for Green Building. It is administered by the Green Building Council. LEED stands for “Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.” It received the gold level award in 2009 and has drawn the positive interest of both patrons and even architects nationwide!

One of the ways that we keep the public informed about the library is through the information kiosk in the lobby. Not only can it provide information about upcoming events it delivers a plethora of data about the attributes of our green building and its performance.

The attributes of the Timberglen Branch are best described as “sustainable design elements.” What areas does this cover?

Sustainable sites
Water efficiency
Energy and atmosphere
Materials and resources
Indoor environmental quality
Innovation and design process

Some areas of focus:
Daylighting and light shelves: 88% of the Timberglen Branch’s occupied spaces are illuminated with natural light. Light shelves reflect natural light and optimizes it depending on whether or not it is summer or winter.

Cisterns: These collect rain water for flushing toilets and outdoor irrigation.

Building materials: All materials used emit no or low amounts of VOC’s or “volatile organic compounds.” This includes glues, carpets and sheetrock.

Electricity use: Designed to conserve energy use. Some specific aspects are reflective roofing material and continuous dimming of artificial light controls in our public area.

Water use: Uses a rainwater harvesting system to collect the areas estimated 38” of precipitation each year.

Something really cool about the above two items is that the information kiosk in the lobby provides the public with real-time, up-to-date status tracking of how much water and electricity is used by Timberglen and how it compares to an average library.

PLEASE CLICK ON PICTURE BELOW TO LINK TO INFORMATION KIOSK.