Environmental Education at Greenpoint Library

Questions about Environmental Education at the Greenpoint Library? Contact athompson@bklynlibrary.org.

Funded by a $5 million grant from the Greenpoint Community Environmental Fund, $1.8 million from the NY State Education Department, and over $14 million in Library and City capital funding, the new Greenpoint Library and Environmental Education Center is the result of community collaboration with Brooklyn Public Library and project architect Marble Fairbanks.

The plaza design offers the public an engaging civic space that demonstrates sustainability and reinterprets the environmental history of the region. There are clear visual connections to interior activities and two accessible green roofs on the upper floors. Primary exterior building materials include custom sandblasted wood panels on the upper level and custom cast concrete on the lower level. Serving as a demonstration project for innovative approaches to sustainable design and a learning tool for the community, the building exceeds LEED Gold certification standards.

Key green features of the building include:

  • A sustainable green roof with areas open to the public, solar panels, educational energy use tracking, rainwater management and horticultural programs, reducing energy usage and providing public access to fresh air and outdoor space.
  • Maximum use of natural daylight on the upper level and energy efficient lighting including LED lights and light sensors on the lower level.
  • Use of energy efficient glazing, solar shading devices, well insulated exterior enclosure panels and materials.
  • Installation of energy efficient mechanical, electrical and plumbing equipment, infrastructure and building management controls that will provide an optimum level of comfort and indoor environmental air quality, while optimizing energy performance.
  • Use of sustainable, durable interior finishes with low VOC emissions and high non-toxic recycled content.
  • Reduction of indoor and outdoor water consumption by using only WaterSense label low flow plumbing fixtures.

Explore Greenpoint Library

Greenpoint Library and Environmental Education Center has so many fascinating environmentally-friendly design elements. Expand each section below to learn about how the building works.

Displacement air (throughout): The large, open spaces in the library utilize a highly efficient heating and cooling system called “displacement ventilation.” A large amount of air is introduced into the space at a low velocity, close to the floor. Our bodies attract the air, creating individualized “thermal plumes” around each person. This delivers fresh air to everyone and removes many of the contaminants associated with heat sources while creating a comfortable environment. The system uses smaller fans and supplies fresh air efficiently throughout all four seasons.  

Wood feature walls (first floor): The library’s three meeting rooms bring the outdoors inside. Each meeting room features a wood wall containing the different species of trees that are native to the Greenpoint neighborhood. The first floor rooms have ash and walnut, while the second floor room has red oak. All of the wood used in the library is Forest Stewardship Council-certified, meaning it was harvested from forests that are responsibly managed, socially beneficial, environmentally conscious and economically viable. 

Bioswale (ground level): The native grasses, shrubs and trees within this planting area serve an important purpose. Together, they form a bioswale, a linear channel designed to slow down rainwater runoff, which will infiltrate the permeable soil below. Bioswales help reduce flooding by holding rainwater before releasing it into the sewer system. An additional bonus of bioswales is that debris and pollutants in the flowing water will decompose in the ground instead of entering regional waterways.  

Glacial outcroppings (ground level): These rocks have a story to tell you. During the last ice age, the Laurentide Ice Sheet began expanding above the area where you’re now standing to heights that exceed Manhattan’s current skyline. This granite outcropping is inspired by the sculpting force and direction of the ice sheet during the glacial formation and melting retreat that occurred approximately 18,000 years ago.   

GFRC panels (ground level): Take another look! These panels aren’t wood, they’re glass fiber-reinforced concrete casts of the sandblasted wood panels from the façade above. Using the sandblasted wood as molds, these panels replicate the natural grain and knotting found in the cedar panels. 

Reading Garden (second floor): Throughout New York City, street trees, gardens and parks provide spaces for humans and animals to encounter one another. This garden is designed to offer habitat and food for birds and insects using dense, fruit-bearing plants. In turn, the plants will migrate out from this site as birds drop seeds and berries throughout the neighborhood.  

Cistern (second floor): What happens when it rains? We keep the water! This cistern can capture and store up to 1,500 gallons of rainwater, which we’ll use for lab experiments and to water our plants. By harvesting rainwater, we use less tap water and reduce the amount of rainwater entering the storm sewer system. Rainwater that is not held here will flow from the roofs down to the plaza below and filter through the bioswale. 

Sandblasted panels (second floor): Wood is composed of both harder and softer layers, which is related to trees’ annual growth rings. The cedar wood panels on the façade of the building have been sandblasted to remove a portion of the softer wood, making it more durable and creating texture from the natural grain.   

Solar panels (third floor): Greenpoint Library runs on sunshine! Installed on a canopy structure above mechanical equipment, our solar panel modules can collect over 15 kilowatts of energy at once, just from sunlight. Over the course of one year, they can produce over 19,000 kilowatts, which help power the library. The modules are bifacial, meaning they can collect energy from both sides of the panel: sunlight from above and from light reflected off the roof.   

Pollinator garden (third floor): Birds and bugs have a big job—they’re pollinators! Pollinators and plants have a symbiotic relationship: pollinators assist plants’ reproductive process by transferring pollen, while the plants produce nectar for the pollinators to drink. The plant species installed in this garden were selected to bloom at different times of the year to attract a wide variety of pollinators.   

Hand pump/cistern (third floor): This hand pump is connected to the 1,500-gallon cistern on the second floor rooftop garden. Holding almost 20 bathtubs full of rainwater, the cistern can provide water for these plants when rain is scarce. Pump the handle a few times to get the water moving and use it on everything from lab experiments to manual plant irrigation. Just be sure to grab a watering can!  


Greenpoint Environmental History Project

The Greenpoint Environmental History Project is dedicated to documenting and preserving the environmental history of Greenpoint through oral histories and community scanning. All of the collected documents, images, and oral history recordings are made available online as part of BPL's digital collection. You can also find the oral histories on SoundCloud and the Our Streets, Our Stories Tumblr.

The Greenpoint Environmental History Project is made possible by the Greenpoint Community Environmental Fund.


With gratitude to the Community Advisory Committee and our funders

Greenpoint Community Environmental Fund, Mayor Bill de Blasio, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, Assembly Member Joseph Lentol, the New York State Education Department, and the New York City Council including Speaker Corey Johnson, Council Member Stephen Levin and Committee Chair Jimmy Van Bramer.

Greenpoint Library and Environmental Education Center was made possible with funding provided by the Office of the New York State Attorney General and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation through the Greenpoint Community Environmental Fund.

SpectrumSupport for technology and internet service provided by the Spectrum Learning Lab program. 

Brooklyn Public Library’s Green Series is made possible through the generous support of Whole Foods Market.

 

 

 

Upcoming Events

Interactive Environmental STEM Workshops, 8-12 Years Old

Thu, May 1 3:30pm
Kensington Auditorium

climate and the environment Interactive Environmental STEM Workshops kids explore

Join Kensington Library and Solar One for our winter Interactive Environmental STEM Workshops series. 

These 60-minute workshops aim to increase interest in STEM, self-efficacy in regard to STEM skills, expand knowledge on electricity generation, energy efficiency, renewable…

Interactive Environmental STEM Workshops, 13-19 Years Old

Thu, May 1 4:00pm
Teen Tech Center at The Annex

climate and the environment Interactive Environmental STEM Workshops science and math

The Teen Tech Center and Solar One for our Spring Interactive Environmental STEM Workshops series. 

These 60-minute workshops aim to increase interest in STEM, self-efficacy in regard to STEM skills, expand knowledge on electricity generation, energy efficiency, renewable…

Climate Justice Storytime

Fri, May 2 11:00am
Brighton Beach Library, Auditorium

climate and the environment early literacy first five years

A special storytime that celebrates our earth and shares simple things kids can do to help the environment. Parents and caregivers will receive age-appropriate tips and strategies for discussing the climate crisis with kids. 

Climate Justice Series: Climate Song and Story Time, with Puppets!

Fri, May 2 3:30pm
Greenpoint Library

climate and the environment first five years live music

This program is the perfect introduction to Climate Justice for the very young.  Award-winning NYC Kindie climate-rocker and puppeteer, Esther Crow, uses puppets,  original music, and environmental storybooks in this fun and…

Greenpoint Library 5th Annual Plant Giveaway

Sat, May 3 10:30am
Greenpoint Library

climate and the environment

Join us for our 5th Annual Plant Giveaway to support our patrons in connecting to plants and how we may care for them in our urban environment.

We will have annuals, perrenials, herbs, and vegetable plants on hand. All plants are seedlings and will be ready to plant.

One plant per…

Flatbush Library Learning Garden: Spring Planting Day

Sat, May 3 11:00am
Flatbush Library

climate and the environment Events for Youth and Family gardening

Help Flatbush Library launch our garden for the summer growing season! Join us Saturday, May 3 for an afternoon of gardening. We'll prep our beds, harvest our cover crop and and start planting some of the beds for the summer. We'll have tomato, pepper and herb seedlings to plant. Both…

East Flatbush Community Seed Library

Sat, May 3 11:00am
East Flatbush Library

Branches in Bloom climate and the environment DIY

Join your neighbors in East Flatbush at 9612 Church Avenue to “borrow” seeds to grow in your home or community garden. 

Happy Spring! This is the perfect time to start indoor seedlings that will be ready to plant by the time the last frost of the season thaws. Attendees may have up to…

"Safe Passages on the Wing: In Praise of Migration" (Storytime & Crafting Program)

Sat, May 3 1:00pm
Bay Ridge Library

climate and the environment community partner storytime

Join us in the 2nd floor children's programming room at 1:00 on Saturday, May 3rd for a book reading and craft activity! 

Author-illustrator Hannah Salyer will read from her picture book The Class with Wings and then facilitate a craft activity to help identify the birds that will be…

Kids Clothing Swap - Spring and Summer Clothes

Sat, May 3 1:00pm
Greenpoint, Eco Lab 1

climate and the environment

Did you know over 30% of garbage landfill is from textiles? Let's sustainably find new homes for our belongings. 

Join us for a Kids Clothing Swap for Spring and Summer Clothes. Here are the details:

NO OBLIGATION TO BRING CLOTHES. TAKE WHAT YOU NEED.

Not accepting…