Located in New Haven, Connecticut, the Beinecke Library contains Yale University's principal rare books and literary manuscripts and serves as a research center for students, faculty, and other scholars. One of the largest buildings in the world devoted entirely to rare books and manuscripts, the library can accommodate 180,000 volumes in the central tower and more than 600,000 volumes in the underground book stacks.

The renovation project was largely concerned with replacing the library's mechanical infrastructure, i.e. its electrical, plumbing and heating and cooling systems, which had not been replaced since the library’s inception in 1963. Machinery in the building’s sub-basement, including room-sized air handlers and chillers, was replaced with state-of-the-art equipment. Part of this new equipment upgrade was installing the Paragon FAATS-1000 systems in order to ensure the proper climate requirements were met to protect the rare materials the library contained.