A New Library for Whoberley

Early in September, I wrote to Gary Ridley, the Coventry city council cabinet member in charge of libraries, to enquire about the environmental features of new libraries planned for Tile Hill and Whoberley.

5th September

Cllr Ridley,

I am pleased to hear of the increased investment inthe Coventry library system, coupled with plans for new library buildings in Tile Hill and Whoberley.

Can you give my party a commitment, in light of the recent city council cabinet decision to sign the Nottingham Declaration, that the design of the two buildings will be as low-energy and environmentally-friendly as possible?

Specifically, will features, such as a living roof(http://www.livingroofs.org/), natural lighting, solarpanels, and a miniature wind turbine be incorporatedinto the design?

The good news of his response: whilst the Tile Hill design is finalised, the Whoberley one is still at the "briefing" stage, which sounds unfinalised. He also mentioned pilot projects in local schools to incorporate a green roof and rainwater harvesting.

The less good news: he didn't give any details of the Whoberley library design, and his letter was peppered with phrases such as "sustainable methods of design and construction that are both energy and cost efficient" or "operating within the available resources."

When we are being inundated with reports each fortnight that say we only have 5 years to turn the carbon emissions "supertanker" around, it's this short-term cost focus. Environmental designs are more expensive, since less people use them! If everyone used them, the extra demand would lower costs.