Libraries have long been a place of creative and professional growth, and a new branch of the Kitchener Public Library, which broke ground last October, is no exception.

While housing a recording studio, digital leaning labs for coding and technology, a commercial kitchen and an outdoor learning garden, the Southwest Community Library (the KPL’s sixth branch) will also be the first net-zero, carbon-neutral municipal facility in Waterloo Region – in keeping with the KPL’s commitment to building sustainable communities.

“As a public institution we have a responsibility to be sustainable in our designs,” says Penny-Lynn Fielding, deputy chief executive officer of the Kitchener Public Library.

Sustainable features of the new library branch include controlled use of glazing to capture solar heat, an all-electric building, geothermal technology, photovoltaic systems (solar panels), triple-panel glazing, a thicker roof wall, floor insulation and a custom heating, cooling and ventilation system.

“This was not just design for design’s sake,” says Drew Hauser, director of design and business development at mcCallumSather. “KPL pushed us to make good choices that were sustainable. These are tricky buildings to design when aiming for net zero. You have to look at the repercussions of every little change and its impact on carbon and energy output. You can never design these projects in a bubble.”