Green libraries: sustainable library buildings

A guide to resources and trends in sustainable library building design.

Centre for Sustainable Energy: CSE seeks sustainable energy solutions that meet real needs for both environmentally sound and affordable energy services, by working with individuals and organisations from public, private and voluntary sectors.

GreenBiz: Resource centre for environmentally responsible building development. A US site, with a lot of useful information for anyone interested in environmentally friendly building design.

Green Libraries: The website is designed to serve as a resource for information focused on the emerging trend of green and sustainable libraries. The heart of this site is the Green Libraries Directory which contains a growing list of green libraries located mostly in North America.

Sustainable Libraries: The blog of Rebekkah Smith Aldrich, and a useful source of news and links on sustainable library buildings.

Sustainable buildings, equipment, and management: a checklist: This 'green library' checklist of planning, construction, and library operations from IFLA is designed to help ensure that all aspects of sustainability have been considered.

This old library: strategies for reducing energy consumption: Useful short illustrated article from American Libraries on reducing energy consumption in historic buildings.

Biomimicry in architecture: Michael Pawlyn. RIBA, 2011. Aimed at architects, urban designers and product designers, the book looks to the natural world to seek clues to how we can achieve radical increases in resource efficiency and is packed with inspiring case studies predicting future trends.

Eco-library design: Springer, 2013. This publication explores in detail the evolution of the eco-library, focusing on how design teams cope with diminishing resources in diverse geographic and climatic conditions.

Going green: Implementing sustainable strategies in libraries around the world: This IFLA publication examines aspects of reducing the ecological footprint in libraries' workaday operations as well as the social role and responsibility of libraries as leaders in environmental sustainability. The theoretical background and practical applications of contributions made by worldwide libraries to the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are discussed. De Gruyter, 2018.

Green Building Ezene: An online e-magazine focused on eco buildings (subscription).

The green library: Published by De Gruyter Saur, 2013. Contributions and case studies from Germany and other European countries, as well as from Asia, Australia and the US, demonstrate different aspects of reducing the ecological footprint in libraries.

Greening libraries: A collection of articles and papers to help professionals understand a wide range of green and sustainable practices within libraries. (June 2012)

How green is my library?: Published in the US by ABC-CLIO, this is a short introductory guide following the steps from wanting to be green to how to be green.

Websites