Report finds Jones Library project will bring more climate benefits than earlier estimates - GazetteNET
Report finds Jones Library project will bring more climate benefits than earlier estimates
Published: 12/6/2023 12:11:41 PM
Modified: 12/6/2023 12:11:30 PM
AMHERST — An expanded and renovated Jones Library has been championed by supporters as providing a better building for patrons and staff, meaning more access for the public to materials, having a dedicated space for teenagers and an improved area for special collections.
A 133-page report recently released by the Jones Library Capital Campaign, on behalf of Finegold Alexander Architects, is confirming that the project at the Amity Street building enlarging it from 48,000 square feet to 63,000 square feet, will also meet the town’s climate goals, with sustainability going beyond an assessment previously done in 2020.
Using estimates of the project’s embodied carbon, which is the carbon emitted from building materials during manufacture, construction, transport and disposal, the report shows that the building project’s global warming potential is smaller than earlier estimates.
The report was released by the Ginny Hamilton, campaign manager for the Jones Library Capital Campaign, in advance of Monday’s Town Council meeting, where councilors delayed a decision on increasing the borrowing cap for the project by about $10 million, to $46.1 million.
Hamilton said the project remains mostly unchanged from what was presented to the public in 2021, with most differences aesthetic in nature and not impacting wither climate benefits or programming goals. The changes include eliminating the saw tooth roof, using brick instead of stone on the building exterior, and reusing some existing furniture.
Known as the Tally Report, due to using the Tally LCA software to assess plan impacts, the document shows current renovation and expansion plans are more sustainable than a similar 2020 “Whole Building Life Cycle Assessment” report. Even as some measures have increased, others have decreased, meaning the overall global warming potential is lower.
“The current, refined design reduces the upfront carbon emissions in the ‘production phase’ from 70% to 54%,” the report states. “This is significant as these upfront carbon emissions occur at the time the materials are manufactured and have the greatest impact on climate change today.”
This is partially offset by the “end of life” phase for materials increasing from 4% in the 2020 assessment to 27%, which the report notes is due “to the greater specificity of materials, particularly finishes.”
The Tally Report was delivered to the Sustainability Committee last month. The full report is posted on the building project website, www.joneslibrary.org/buildingproject Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
Related Knowledge Center: Climate economics
Climate change is now a driver of the world’s economy. The impact is profound:
- Catastrophic weather events — hurricanes, floods, droughts, high temperatures — are more frequent and more extreme. The cost can be measured in both the initial damage caused and the longer-term impact on the economy.
- Vulnerable communities are increasing climate-related investments, hardening infrastructure and taking other protective measures.
- Investment in carbon capture and storage technologies is increasingly rapidly.
- Governments are making investments and crafting regulations to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
On top of all of this is the cost of uncertainty. As the Fourth National Climate Assessment, released in 2018 by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, says, “The assumption that current and future climate conditions will resemble the recent past is no longer valid.”