Historic preservation is fundamentally sustainable in that its practice reuses existing built resources and encourages reinvestment in older communities. While this concept is really a reflection of the basic principles of sustainability, the integration of green building design into the rehabilitation of historic structures has only recently become a more common and encouraged practice in the United States. Since new construction in the United States produces a disproportionate percentage of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, we must continue to rethink housing and commercial development to incorporate sustainable principles. With creativity in thought and application, historic buildings can be retrofitted for new energy-efficient technology, often at lower costs—and nearly always resulting in less waste—than new construction.
The Trust for Architectural Easements actively seeks to incorporate sustainable principles in its work practices and in its own office environment, in several ways:
- Encouraging the use of creative, energy-saving solutions in building owners’
renovation and retrofit projects - Integrating sustainable ideas in exterior modification reviews
- Going paperless in our publications by developing online newsletters - including sustainability briefs - to be issued in 2009
- Practicing energy efficiency and minimizing waste in the office
To emphasize the Trust’s commitment to sustainable practices in the rehabilitation of historic structures, we have created a booklet entitled Preservation of Historic Structures and Environmental Sustainability that provides important facts and information from various sources, including The Brookings Institution, the United States General Services Administration, and the Pew Center on Global Climate Change.
Preservation of Historic Structures and Environmental Sustainability
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Articles
As the Co-Chair of the Association of Preservation Technology’s Technical Committee on Sustainable Preservation and as Principal and Director of Sustainable Design at QUINN/EVANS ARCHITECTS, Carl Elefante, AIA, LEED AP, has extensive experience with the concurrent use of green design and historic preservation in rehabilitation projects. His article, “The Greenest Building Is…One That Is Already Built,” has become one of the most widely read and quoted in efforts to encourage such practice among architects, developers, homeowners, and preservationists.
Learn more about why “the greenest building is…one that is already built” and calculate your home’s embodied energy.
At the Historic Districts Council Annual Conference in New York City, on March 10, 2007, Donovan Rypkema, Principal of PlaceEconomics, presented “Sustainability, Smart Growth and Historic Preservation”, a talk that highlights how uniting historic preservation and green building principles involves not only energy conservation but also economic and community sustainability as well.
James O'Brien of The Boston Globe describes how owners of an 1870s Colonial Revival home retrofitted their building to save money on energy consumption in the winter months in, "Time to Button Up: a Variety of Choices Are Available to Help You Fight Back Winter's Cold."
The National Institute of Building Science’s Whole Building Design Guide Committee illustrates the ways in which historic preservation is “inherently sustainable.”
RenewableEnergyWorld.com discusses how preservation and green building principles are being used together in the rehabilitation of neighborhoods in New Orleans in "Combining Preservation and Sustainability in the Big Easy" .
Nancy A. Solomon, AIA, describes common concerns, conflicts, and policy involved in projects using both sustainable practices and historic preservation in “Tapping the Synergies of Green Building and Historic Preservation".
Case Studies
The use of green design in the rehabilitation of historic structures is becoming a more common practice in the United States. Over forty rehabilitations of historic structures have earned U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification since 2001. While not all rehabilitations involving both preservation and sustainable elements earn LEED certification, there is a growing consciousness about the natural relationship between the two. The following case studies show how some green-designed rehabilitation projects came to be.
LEED Certification
The State and City Building in downtown Roanoke, Virginia, underwent a rehabilitation that not only earned Roanoke its first LEED certification, but also qualified for Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credits. Completed in the 1920s, the former State and City Bank now houses a jewelry store, one floor of commercial office space, seven condominiums, and one penthouse suite.
Further reading on the State and City Building project.
The use of sustainable design and historic preservation principles in the rehabilitation of the c. 1899 Cambridge City Hall Annex in Cambridge, MA, earned the project a Gold rating from LEED.
Further reading on the Cambridge City Hall Annex project.
Affordable Housing
The S.F. Holland Building in Danville, Illinois, was recently rehabilitated by Crosspoint Human Services, a non-profit organization that strives to provide safe, affordable housing for people with developmental disabilities and mental illness. Completed in 1927, the Holland building initially served as an apartment building with additional retail store and restaurant space. The rehabilitation focused on respecting the National Register-listed building’s architectural character while incorporating sustainable principles that earned the project a LEED Gold rating in November 2007.
Further reading on the S.F. Holland Building project.
A National Register of Historic Places-listed former hotel and theater built in 1911, the Acme Building in downtown Billings, Montana, has been rehabilitated by homeWORD, a nonprofit organization that develops sustainable and aesthetically-pleasing affordable housing. Finished in the fall of 2004, the Acme Building project provides an example of a relatively inexpensive ($3.4 M) historic preservation/green building project that also incorporates both affordable and fair market value rental space.
Further reading on the Acme Building and homeWORD.
The Acme Building rehabilitation is not the first time homeWORD has incorporated green design and preservation into an affordable housing project. Somewhat smaller in scale than the Acme Building project, their Lenox Flats project in Missoula, Montana, also involved a National Register property and was fairly inexpensive ($1.7M).
Green Lodging
The c. 1853 Plough Inn in Madison, Wisconsin, was rehabilitated to become the Arbor House Inn, a green-minded bed and breakfast. The rehabilitation emphasized the building’s existing sustainable features, like the twelve-inch-thick walls and windows, and the b&b’s green features include organic bedding, energy-saving appliances, and native plant landscaping.
In its recent rehabilitation of its 155 restrooms, the Heathman Hotel in Portland, Oregon, mixed green building with historic preservation by maintaining existing teak trim, mirrors, stone vanities and tubs, using Forest Stewardship Council certified wood, and 40% recycled content tile on the walls and floors, among other features. In addition, the Heathman used local artists, businesses, and vendors, thereby investing in the local economy and minimizing the energy use involved in transporting goods to the hotel and shipping debris out.
Further reading on the Heathman Hotel project.
How to "Go Green" In Your Historic Home
REPAIR historic windows instead of replacing them. Historic windows were built to last. The removal and disposal of historic wood and metal windows results not only in a loss of high quality materials like old growth wood, but also in an enormous amount of waste—not to mention the waste and byproducts produced in the creation of those replacement windows, made with lesser-quality material. In addition, the historic glass panes often can be replaced with low-e Argon glass panes. Don’t let a cracked window light or broken pulley rope discourage you from keeping those old windows!
The June 2008 issue of the Trust for Architectural Easements’ newsletter Columns provides a look at historic window repair in practice, featuring Allison Hardy, the owner of The Window Woman of New England.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Tip Sheet on Historic Wood Windows
The National Park Service’s Technical Preservation Service Preservation Brief 9: The Repair of Historic Wooden Windows and Brief 13: the Repair and Thermal Upgrading of Historic Steel Windows
The New England Window Restoration Alliance (NEWRA)'s "Top Ten Reasons to Restore or Repair Wood Windows."
Also see Walter Sedovic and Jill H. Gotthelf’s article, “What Replacement Windows Can’t Replace: The Real Cost of Removing Historic Windows,” printed in the Association for Preservation Technology’s Bulletin (Vol. XXXVI, No. 4), available for purchase with APT.
SEAL your windows and doors. Contrary to common thought, weather-stripping your windows, caulking exterior house trim, and repairing cracked window glazing and putty often makes the system more energy-efficient than replacement windows, without added waste or exorbitant costs. With windows in particular, make sure the weather-stripping you install creates a tight seal when you close them to keep the hot or cool air inside the house.
INSULATE your attic and basement. While one should be aware that insulation of the interior wall may create moisture on the warmer interior wall, simple insulation retains hot and cool air inside your house, making it more energy-efficient.
VENTILATE your home naturally whenever possible, using fans, windows, and doors in warmer months. Historic homes were often designed and built with natural heating and cooling in mind. Natural ventilation lessens the need for artificial cooling and heating methods—some of the highest energy consumers in your house. For even more energy savings, turn your thermostat up in the summer and down in the winter.
Preservation Brief 24: Heating, Ventilating, and Cooling Historic Buildings
PAY ATTENTION to your energy consumption. For example, use natural light as much as possible, and clean radiators and forced-air registers for maximum efficiency.
See the U.S. Department of Energy's Tips on how to "Stay Warm and Save Money".
For more tips on how you can reduce your own carbon footprint in your own home, see the United States Green Building Council's Green Home Guide and the National Geographic Green Guide.
Calculate your own eco-footprint at Conservation International.
Links
The July 2007 issue of Columns, featuring an article about the relationship between green building and historic preservation.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation's Sustainability Page
The Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties
