March 6, 2008
“The greenest home…may be the one you live in now, given the cost in dollars and pollution of ripping out old materials and producing and shipping new ones,” the Wall Street Journal quotes the National Trust last week. The payback time on many “green” building products is longer than many Americans live in their houses.
March 5, 2008
Data from the U.S. Energy Information Agency indicates that buildings constructed before 1920 are actually more energy efficient than buildings built at any time afterward - except for many built after 2000. And the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) examined its building inventory and found that utility costs for historic buildings were 27% lower than for more modern buildings.
The thick, solid walls that create greater thermal mass reduce the amount of energy needed for heating and cooling. Transoms, high ceilings, large windows and other features of older buildings allow more natural light and ventilation, and shaded porches and deep roof overhangs reduce solar gain.
February 22, 2008
We’ve recently visited a spectacular historic restoration in Rosemont (near Stockton, Hunterdon County) of an 1860s farmhouse and several barns and outbuildings. Conservation Development founder Lise Thompson describes her “regenerative” approach to development as “’beyond sustainability’,” identifying and enhancing the spirit of the communities and places within and upon which it works.” Thompson used recycled and healthy materials wherever possible and equipped the 19th century James Dean house with many 21st century “green” technologies, including a high-efficiency HVAC system, zero VOC paints, and modern, rigid spray foam insulation. The property is for sale.
Lise will be a speaker at the 2008 NJ Preservation Conference in the session “The Greenest Building is the One Already Built” on June 4 at Rutgers, New Brunswick.
February 22, 2008
President Clinton’s Climate Initiative has announced efforts to green the existing building stock. As part of the Energy Efficiency Building Retrofit Program, 16 of the world’s largest cities have agreed to participate in the retrofit program, and offer their municipal buildings for the first round of energy retrofits: Bangkok, Berlin, Chicago, Houston, Johannesburg, Karachi, London, Melbourne, Mexico City, Mumbai, New York, Rome, Sao Paulo, Seoul, Tokyo, and Toronto. Bet there are plenty of important historic places among them.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Green Building Council has renewed their efforts to address existing buildings in an improved version of LEED-EB.
February 14, 2008
Preservation Nation, the National Trust’s blog, recently posted info about a great “embodied energy calculator,” developed by the May T. Watts Appreciation Society in Highland Park, Illinois (a community, by the way, experiencing incredible teardowns problems). Check out the calculator at www.thegreenestbuilding.org – and the associated blog.
Enter the size of a building and the building type and generate an estimate of the amount of embodied energy in any building, and calculate the total energy wasted by demolishing a building and constructing another structure in its place.
As Preservation Nation points out, though, “the work can’t stop here …. Embodied energy only tells us part of the story. While knowing the embodied energy in a building enables us to understand how building construction and demolition compares to other energy intensive activities, such as auto use, it doesn’t help with much else. It doesn’t tell us anything about toxins that are released as a byproducts of extraction, manufacturing, construction and demolition – or the natural resources consumed in the process.”
February 11, 2008
Contrary to popular belief, studies show that replacing old windows does not always improve energy efficiency and also wastes the energy and resources that went into making them. It also requires the use of new materials to replace them. When maintained properly, historic windows made from old growth wood have a life measured in decades, often in excess of 100 years. And they can be repaired. Modern replacement windows have an average life of 20 years, and usually cannot be repaired, but must be entirely replaced when they fail. And only 20% of heat loss at windows is through the glass.
February 9, 2008
As National Trust President Dick Moe said recently, “we cannot build our way out of the climate change crisis.” Preservation of existing historic buildings is a significant contributor to sustainable development, and PNJ is making a sustained commitment to provide information, education and advocacy on this important and timely topic. Keep your eye on this page for comments, case studies, success stories, technical information and facts you can use.
