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The Blue Library in the Green Building
Founded in 1873, École Polytechnique de Montréal ranks among Canada's leading engineering institutions. Polytechnique provides instruction in 11 programs and carries out more than one-quarter of university research in engineering in Québec. The school has 220 professors and nearly 6,000 students.
One of the library's new work booths.
Photo by ©Productions punch inc
From Bulging at the Seams to Earning Gold
For several years, Polytechnique's main building bulged at the seams and some departments and services had to be located in rented facilities off-campus. Construction of a second facility — the Lassonde buildings, two structures joined by an atrium — began in 2002.
From the start the new facility was intended to be an "environmentally responsible, profitable and healthy place to live and work" and hence a "green building" as defined by the US Green Building Council. In 2005, the new facility received the USGBC Gold Certification after scoring 46 — the highest score ever earned by a Canadian building — on the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design scale. Polytechnique is the first Canadian university to obtain this prestigious certification. The energy performance of the Lassonde buildings is 60% better than the standard set by Canada’s Model National Energy Code for Buildings.
The library occupies the top two floors of the Lassonde buildings, located on a hillside on Montréal's Mount Royal. A passageway over the atrium links the library's two main areas. Almost all library spaces are bathed in natural light through the atrium or windows. The dominant color of the floors and some walls is a deep bright blue, hence the title of this article. The panoramic view extends northward to the Laurentian mountain range.
Innovating to Meet Needs of Patrons and Staff
The library's passageway over the atrium.
Photo by © Productions punch inc.
Of course the library benefits from the new facility’s green features, but the “new library” committee went even farther in ensuring the well-being of staff and patrons. Witness the nearly 17% of additional floor space in the new premises that has been given over to public space, not collections. Major weeding projects completed the previous year allowed for collection growth within existing collection space.
Interestingly, acquisition of online books didn’t figure at all into the new library being able to control space for collections. E-books we now have were acquired well before we moved to the new library. For us the determining factor for e-books hasn’t been saving space, but rather getting more books with the same money and providing improved access to patrons.
But let us return to innovations of the new library itself. Overall seating for patrons more than doubled. An ergonomist designed carrels that meet three spatial needs: computer space, reading space and writing space. Students tested and approved the carrel design which allows use of notepads in a networked environment. Environmentally friendly materials were used as far as feasible for all new furniture.
Polytechnique in 2005 launched a new undergraduate curriculum emphasizing teamwork, and our new library supports this focus. Our library now offers three times as many group study rooms as formerly available, as well as work booths, much like restaurant booths, in some open areas. Equipped with large flat-screen monitors, electrical outlets and network ports, the booths take up less space than study rooms.
Library staff received much attention during the planning. A design challenge we successfully met centered on equitable division of natural light between staff and patrons. The design process additionally allowed staff in offices to choose between height-adjustable desktops and adjustable keyboard trays. Also the circulation desk is height-adjustable.
An Agreeable Atmosphere Conducive to New Ideas
This is only an overview of distinguishing characteristics of École Polytechnique's new green building including our new library. We sought to create a dynamic and stimulating intellectual environment, and an agreeable atmosphere. And that's what we’ve got! 
www.polymtl.ca/biblio/apropos/albums/bibliotheque
- Heat recovered from chimneys of adjacent facilities provides 66% of the heating.
- Interior sensors control lights and air conditioning in peripheral areas.
- Paint, coverings, furnishings and doors emit little or no volatile organic compounds or urea formaldehyde.
- The sanitation system re-uses rainwater and drainage water and infrared sensors control double-flush toilets, urinals and sinks — resulting in a 92% reduction in consumption of city water.
- The garage reserves 66% of spaces for car-poolers and offers six spaces equipped for recharging hybrid vehicles.
Dumont, R. (2006). Cultivating intelligence: École Polytechnique de Montréal’s new library. 27th Annual IATUL Conference, May 22-25, 2006, Porto, Portugal.
www.polymtl.ca/biblio/apropos/presentations/iatul-2006-paper.pdf
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