1. the library we want
capital campaign and legacy project
the Valatie Free Library
3203 Church St. box 336 valatie, ny 12184
The Valatie Free Library’s Evergreen Project for the Library We Want.
The future Valatie Free Library on Kinderhook Street (Rt 9) will be a near Net-Zero building.
Considering the exponentially rising costs of energy, a plan to relocate to a much larger space
would prohibitively deplete the operating budget. The library's goal is to reduce both the need
and the expense of energy for the library.
Architecture has provided a unique solution: our building designer has specified energy-efficient
materials and construction techniques. The planned green building project will align our
resource-use with 'ever-green' practices, including the installation of skylights and photovoltaic
solar panel technology, with the goal of attaining Net-Zero energy usage.
The innovative building materials and techniques include energy-efficient thermal Steel
Structural Insulated Galvalume Panels (SSIPs), combined with an expanded polystyrene core.
The 'shell' for the new addition will be composed of SSIPs for the external, load-bearing walls
and form an integral part of the roof system. This building envelope will protect against fire,
hurricanes, and other disasters, saving on fire insurance and drastically reducing resource
depletion of the library's operating budget. The specified materials and construction techniques
are resistant to fire, pestilence and storms developed in the rebuilding of New Orleans and the
Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina. Valatie is one of the very first to employ these new
materials outside of the Gulf Coast.
With the ability to generate power from the sun during an emergency, such as an ice storm or
other incident, the library's solar power has an additional opportunity for 'net metering': the
library produces power when the sun shines-sending it into the grid-only purchasing power back
from the grid when needed, all serving to lower costs and leave the library's operating budget
intact.
With costs matched by the State of New York's "Public Library Construction Grant Program",
and additional installation costs funded through rebates by the NYS Energy Research and
Development Authority (NYSERDA), the building and installation cost of these improvements
should pay for themselves within a few years. Utility savings will yield funds for the purchase of
books and materials for the library's collections, as well as for operating budget and programs.
The hybrid building is iconic for an online innovative hub, serving the entire community, and will
also foster communication and cooperation between many library and community patrons and
groups. The success of this project will include an energized landscape of learning and access to
information for all age groups as well as provide a centralized location and facility that meets
multiple community needs, i.e. community hub.
As the library barn building is prominently visible from Kinderhook Street, these 'green'
initiatives will publicly demonstrate the VFL's environmental stewardship.
Please see the United Nations’ Sustainability Initiative for their Rio+20 Summit which features
our library project: http://futurewewant.org/portfolio/sustainable-library-ibrary/
Capit alCampaign@Valat ieLibrary.net

2. http://futurewewant.org/about/

3. 2

4. 3
http://futurewewant.org/portfolio/sustainable-library-ibrary/

5. 4
http://futurewewant.org/portfolio/sustainable-library-ibrary/

6. Vol. 12-26 6.26.12
Valatie Library Gets International Attention!
The Valatiesome very high praiseCounty has
received
Library in Columbia
for their plans
“Net Zero” Defined by the U.S. Department of
Energy: “In general, a net-zero energy building produces as
to build a “near net-zero” energy library facility! much energy as it uses over the course of a year. Net-zero
The United Nations' Sustainability Initiative, The Future energy buildings are very energy efficient. The remaining low
We Want / Rio+20, has selected the Valatie Library’s energy needs are typically met with on-site renewable
energy.”
project to feature on its Solutions page and during
their Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil which was held
last week. From the library’s press release: MHLS Announcements
MHLS will be closed on Wednesday, July 4th. There
will be no deliveries.
“Valatie's 80 year old library was no longer meeting the needs of its
constituency. Considering the exponentially rising costs of energy,
a plan to relocate to a much larger space would prohibitively Resource Sharing & Millennium
deplete the operating budget. The library's goal is to reduce both Eric Takes a Road Trip to Help Your Library! Don’t
the need and the expense of energy for the library. miss out! Starting in July, Eric McCarthy, MHLS
Automation Coordinator, will be taking a road trip to all
Architecture has provided a unique solution: our building designer, five counties served by MHLS to provide training on
David Bienn - who has over two decades of “evergreen” design Patron Data Entry. It is strongly recommended by the
initiatives, working with sustainable communities in Europe and the Directors Association that each library plan to send at
USA - has specified energy-efficient, emerging-technology least one staff person to a session:
materials and construction techniques, viewing the building as a
microcosm of the community. The planned green building project Thursday, July 12 | Mahopac Library
will align our resource-use with 'ever-green' practices, including the Monday, July 16 | Catskill Public Library
installation of skylights, photovoltaic solar panel technology, and
ductless air conditioning, with the goal of attaining Net-Zero Thursday, July 19 | Elting Memorial Library in New Paltz
energy usage, "allowing the library to be more self-sufficient
in unpredictable economic times, as an ever-present member Wednesday, July 25 | MHLS Auditorium in Poughkeepsie
of the Valatie and world community", said Bienn.” Friday, July 27 | Roeliff Jansen Community in Hillsdale
Please see the United Nations' Sustainability Initiative Please register online at http://calendar.midhudson.org/
for more information on the Valatie Project:
http://futurewewant.org/portfolio/sustainable-library-ibrary/
Trustee Resources
Trend Watching: Rebekkah Smith Aldrich, MHLS Got a FOIL Policy? Many libraries are required to
Coordinator for Library Growth & Sustainability, has have a policy that outlines how to respond to a
recently heard from three member libraries that are Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request.
currently considering “Net-Zero Energy” goals for their FOIL is intended to allow citizens to access the records
new facility projects! Rebekkah is a certified Sustainable of government and related entities. Check out pages 3-
Building Advisor and LEED AP and available to your library 9 of Your Right to Know:
to discuss your energy efficiency plans! http://www.dos.state.ny.us/coog/pdfs/right2know.pdf for

7. http://www.greenbuildermag.com/News/Headlines/Sustainable-Library--Future-Valatie-Free-Library

9. http://todayeco.com/pages/5175874-sustainable-library-future-valatie-free

10. http://www.registerstar.com/articles/2012/07/17/news/doc5004da5ccb8ca746639154.txt
By Barbara Reina
For Hudson-Catskill Newspapers
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
VALATIE — Design concepts for the future home of the
Valatie Free Library were counted among an elite selection
of sustainable visions featured at the United Nations’
Sustainability Initiative, The Future We Want/Rio+20,
summit in Rio de Janeiro last month.
The plan for the new library, along with providing more
space, is aimed at low energy use and sustainability.
Building Designer David Bienn met with a reporter recently
at the library’s future home, the historic Steam Railroad
Freight Barn on Kinderhook Street in Valatie.
building was built in the 1890s on River Street next to the
As designer, Bienn said that the future library concept is a
railroad tracks and later relocated to Kinderhook Street in
“near-net zero” energy usage building.
the 1930s.
“The planned green building project will align resource use
Valatie Free Library Board President Erica Balon said, “I am
with ever-green practices, including the installation of
very excited to give my full support for the Valatie Free
skylights and photovoltaic solar panel technology, with the
Library project.” She added, “David Bienn has spent
goal of attaining net zero energy usage,” Bienn said.
numerous hours with various members of the community to
develop a sustainable library plan for a building we can grow
According to Bienn, “the strategies that we are applying to
with for years to come.”
move the Valatie Free Library into the range of net zero
energy usage will allow the building to sustain itself and be
Co-chairwoman of the library’s “The Library We Want”
more self-sufficient.”
capital campaign Lori Yarotsky said “the community is
overwhelmingly excited” about the project.
Utilizing solar power technology goes hand-in-hand with net
metering, affording solar panels to soak up energy
She said that the library serves a population of 4,400,
transformed into power from the sun, sending it into the grid
including residents of rural Kinderhook, Kinderhook Lake,
which is purchased back from the grid only when needed,
Valatie and Niverville. It’s part of the Mid-Hudson Library
according to Bienn. “New York is very progressive in utilizing
System.
net metering,” Bienn said.
Yarotsky said that the present library location on Church
Although the new building is being designed to incorporate
Street has 600 square feet of usable space. The new building
modern technology, Bienn said, “I’m very sensitive to
will offer space three times that of the present library. The
preserving the cultural identity, the roots,” of architecture.
new site rests on a half-acre of land with a parking lot and
Bienn said he strives to “preserve and enhance what is
handicapped accessible entrance.
already there.”
The first annual summer dinner dance gala to benefit the
The new location, previously the home of the Hummingbird
library will be held on August 11 at the Niverville Fire House
Gift Shop, was acquired by the library for $125,000, said
Pavilion.
Valatie Free Library Board Vice President Randall Schmit. The

11. VALATIE - The historic
Steam Railroad Freight
Barn on Route 9 will be
transformed from a dusty,
neglected building with an
overgrown lawn to an to create a modern building
energy efficient, high with near "net-zero" energy
ceilinged, light filled use for the new village
library, if the Valatie Free library. The library is
Library (VFL) board has its chartered to serve not only
way. Valatie, but Niverville,
The library bought the Kinderhook Lake and parts
building a year ago and of the Town of Kinderhook.
hired David Bienn, who The Village of Kinderhook
specializes in sustainable, has its own library, which
community based projects,

12. is chartered by the state to to donors about naming “This barn has really great our recent purchase of the The design has gotten some
service the village and parts rights to sections of the bones,” Mr. Bienn said of building on Kinderhook attention. The United
of Stuyvesant. library. A gala fundraiser is the structure, which dates Street,” Ms. Balon said in Nations' Sustainability
scheduled for this Saturday, from the 1870s. He said the release. Initiative, The Future We
According to Lori August 11, at the Niverville what he and the board want Want/Rio+20, selected the
Yarotsky, co-chair of “The Firehouse Pavilion. to do is create an The VFL purchased the design to feature on its
Library We Want” capital “ecological retrofit of an 1,900-square-foot building, website. Ms. Yarotsky
campaign, the Valatie Mr. Bienn said he and the old building.” at 1036 Kinderhook Street, said that it was the only
Library provides service to library are waiting for in March of 2011 for library to be showcased.
an area of 4,400 people. concrete numbers on the “I am very excited to give $125,000. Their current
And now the board is trying construction costs and that my full support for the VFL space is 660 square feet. In an interview with the
to raise money for the new design elements are still Sustainable Library project, The board plans to sell the Columbia Paper in March
library through corporate being discussed, especially offering our community a library building on Church of last year, Ms. Balon said,
and individual donations, those aspects where the library they deserve,” Erica Street after the library “We are really excited to
and state library grants. library will try to keep up Balon, the president of the moves to the new building. have more space.” She also
with current "green library Board of Trustees, said she was excited for the
Neither Ms. Yarotsky nor building" plans. But the
Mr. Bienn, who sat down said in a press release. She library to be more visible
library board has settled on said that the board decided “The space is going to be on the main route, which
with the Columbia Paper in a floor plan and some dynamic and exciting,” said
mid-July, would discuss the 10 years ago that they had also has a parking lot,
features, like added outgrown the current space. Mr. Bienn of the new unlike the current library.
amount the board hopes to windows, an upstairs library, which he hopes will
raise for the project, though “Since that time, the Board
reading room and plantings of Trustees have worked open in March or April of
they did say the capital around the building. 2013. For more information about the
campaign will start soon very hard to budget and gala and capital campaign, email
and they are already talking save enough funds to allow CapitalCampaign@valatielibrary.net
.
http://columbiapaper.com/index.php/the-news/2881-by-emilia-teasdale

14. 2
The Valatie Free Library is a small library with plans to make a big difference. The threshold
for defining a “small library” in the United States, according to LJ’s Best Small Library in America
Award, is a library serving fewer than 25,000 people. The Valatie Free Library serves just over
4300 people and currently does so in a 750 square foot library building. Now that’s small!
Yet this small library, in rural New York, had the spotlight on it during Rio+20, the United
Nations Conference on Sustainable Development held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in June 2012.
The library caught the attention of the UN’s Sustainability Initiative, The Future We
Want/Rio+20, for its commitment to investing in a new library facility with the goal of attaining
near net-zero energy usage.
Net-zero has been defined by the U.S. Department of Energy as a building that produces as
much energy as it uses over the course of a year. Net-zero energy buildings are very energy
efficient. The remaining low-energy needs are typically met with onsite renewable energy.
This small rural library, with an operating budget of just over $70,000, has been saving for years
to address its space issues. With just 750 square feet, the library is serving its community in a
facility less than one-quarter of the size necessary.
AN EXPLOSION OF ACTIVITY
In the past ten years, the library has seen a literal explosion of activity; in 2002, the library
offered just six programs for the public; last year, almost 140. Program attendance is up more
than 1000 percent.
“Ten years ago we could fit programs outside, weather permitting, or inside the library after
regular operating hours. Now, we conduct programs in a local church hall, a former village café,
and the library. Scheduling events has become a challenge as we work around usage by other
groups and try to fit larger groups of children into our current very small building,” says library
director Elizabeth Powhida. “In the current library, seating and workspace are very limited. It is
difficult and sometimes impossible to have room for tutors and their students, patrons using
laptops, and people reading a newspaper or book at the one table [we have]. To accommodate
this usage, we set up card tables in corners, making a crowded facility even more crowded,”
says Powhida.
When a property on the main thoroughfare near the village became available, the board perked
up and started watching the asking price. As the economy nose-dived, the property owners
became more motivated to sell and the price dropped. The library expressed interest early on
but was firm that the asking price was not within reach. After two years of patience by the
library board, the owners ended up cutting the initial asking price in half, making it achievable
for the library.

15. 3
THE BUILDING PROCESS
The “new” building was originally constructed as the Kinderhook Steam Railroad Freight Barn in
the 1890s and was moved along Route 9 in the Village of Valatie in the 1930s. By planning to
use existing building stock rather than clear-cutting land and employing new resources to build
a new library, the board had already begun down the path that would garner worldwide
attention.
“Valatie’s 80-year-old library building was no longer meeting the needs of its constituency.
Considering the exponentially rising costs of energy, a plan to relocate to a much larger space
would prohibitively deplete the operating budget,” says library board president Erica Balon.
Attention to the built environment, commitment to project cost efficiency, and an eye toward
feasible operating costs in a facility three times the size of its current facility have led the
Valatie Free Library to begin working with architect David Bienn, who has over two decades of
experience, specifically with “evergreen” design initiatives, in conjunction with sustainable
communities in Europe and the United States. While working with GEN, the Global Ecovillage
Network, Bienn notes he had a front-row seat to observe emerging sustainable design
technologies being applied in Scandinavia, Scotland, and other sites in Europe at the time. After
almost 20 years abroad, Bienn returned to the United States to help rebuild New Orleans after
Hurricane Katrina.
LEARNING FROM KATRINA
Bienn, with input from Powhida and the Valatie library board, has designed a facility that will
create a highly energy-efficient library facility using emerging-technology materials and
construction techniques that have come to the fore during the rebuilding of New Orleans.
“The community has been very patient with our existing facility. We look forward to offering a
library where adults can leisurely browse, teens have their special nook, and children have a
secure, spacious, and cheerful room. We envision a comfortable location in which we can
conduct classes and provide speakers and presentations for groups, currently impossible,”
Powhida says. “I hope people will be attracted first to the beauty and energy-efficient design of
the building itself and then to what this library can provide—the means to enrich life and
expand its possibilities.”
Bienn views the building as a “microcosm of the community” and is motivated not only by the
exciting things happening in library services these days but also by the opportunity to have this
new library serve as an inspiration for sustainable design.
“The role of the designer is to listen and help to birth that process, especially in a public facility
such as the Valatie Free Library, and to try to help manifest that architectural archetype that
best resonates with the needs and desires of all involved,” says Bienn. “At the same time, in the
Valatie project we are trying to attain a near net-zero energy use, i.e., we are trying to
implement and overlay a new set of technologies that are subject to existing codes based on
conventional building techniques and striving to gain ground in practical application. There are
many factors to juggle to satisfy all requirements and wishes, and the end result is still a moving
target.”

16. 4
THE VALATIE DESIGN
The design includes the installation of skylights, photo-voltaic solar panel technology, and
ductless air-conditioning, with the goal of creating a facility that has a low demand for energy
to light, while heating and cooling it while generating the energy load that is needed onsite.
The planned building envelope, made of materials and construction techniques developed in
the rebuilding of New Orleans, will also protect against fire, hurricanes, and other natural
disasters, thus also saving on insurance.
“Since the Gulf Coast experienced the devastation of the storms of 2005, a whole slew of the
latest building technologies have appeared as start-ups and business incubators in the region,”
says Bienn. “These technologies are focused on the viability and strength of the structures in
hurricane circumstances and also improve variously fire regulation standards, termite
protection, and strength of materials. We expect to use one such system at Valatie—the SIP
system of wall and roof construction for the new area of the building. That’s a structural steel
insulated panel system, a method that has been constantly updated and improved since being
originally introduced in a simple form by one of the students of Frank Lloyd Wright.”
An opportunity is also being found with the ability to generate power from the sun during an
emergency, such as an ice storm or other incident. Last year the region suffered from Hurricane
Irene, and many residents sought refuge in area libraries where they could charge phones,
tablets, and laptops (as well as find a functioning restroom!). With a growing number of
residents who are telecommuting and those who split their work between upstate towns and
New York City, the ability to connect online is vital to their livelihood.
“Maintaining the status quo among universally rising costs—especially within the context of this
uncertain economy—is a primary concern for donors,” says capital campaign cochair Lori
Yarotsky. “The library’s operating budget is scrutinized and evaluated against both the known
current rate of inflation and the unknown but exponentially rising cost of energy. The most
common question I receive from donors? Is your budget sustainable? Are you sustainable for
ten years or more? The solution afforded by a sustainable library with a near-net-zero footprint
brings donor focus back to the classic realm, where their generosity can help [their] community,
and the library can remain open and vital.”