The City of Memphis officially opened the new Frayser Library, the first city-owned building in Memphis to achieve LEED Gold Certification. Entegrity Energy Partners served as the project’s sustainability, commissioning, building testing, and solar partner — supporting the city in delivering one of the region’s most energy-efficient and environmentally responsible civic facilities.

The 20,200-square-foot library replaces a much smaller neighborhood branch and was designed from the ground up to support the City’s climate goals, community needs, and long-term operational savings while creating a vibrant community hub.

Scope

The Frayser Library project combined high-performance design, sustainability consulting, and renewable energy integration to elevate civic infrastructure:

• LEED Certification Leadership: Guided the project through sustainability planning, integrated design workshops, and detailed energy and daylight modeling to achieve LEED Gold.

• High-Performance Building Design: Optimized envelope, mechanical systems, daylighting, and water efficiency to reduce utility loads.

• Solar Integration: Designed and installed a 50 kW rooftop solar array producing an estimated 74,800 kWh annually, offsetting approximately 17% of building energy use.

• Commissioning & Building Testing: Verified systems performance and indoor environmental quality.

• Community-Focused Spaces: Flexible learning areas, technology centers, meeting rooms, and dedicated zones for literacy, job readiness, and community events.

Accomplishments

• LEED Gold Certification: First city-owned building in Memphis to achieve this designation, reflecting high sustainability standards.

• Energy Cost Savings: Library design achieves approximately 48.1% energy cost reduction compared with baseline modeling.

• Water Efficiency: Saves an estimated 1,598,398 gallons of water annually (about 76% reduction).

• Carbon Impact: Reduces the equivalent of 1,316,880 pounds of CO₂ emissions annually.

• Construction Waste Management: Achieved 83% construction waste diversion (185 tons).

• Solar Renewable Generation: 74,800 kWh/year of clean electricity from the rooftop solar system, equating to roughly 17% of total building energy consumption.

By the Numbers

• Building Size: 20,200 sq ft

• LEED Certification: LEED Gold (BD+C v4)

• Solar Capacity: 50 kW

• Annual Solar Production: ~74,800 kWh

• Energy Cost Reduction: 48.1%

• Annual Water Savings: 1,598,398 gallons

• Annual CO₂ Reduction: 1,316,880 lbs

• Construction Waste Diversion: 83%