Community

Historic Preservation and Sustainability Can Co-exist

Oglethorpe’s plan for Savannah

Savannah is known for her unique and plentiful city squares that promote open space. Consequently, its present city planning department, the Metropolitan Planning Commission, tends to be examined under a microscope by planning departments and preservation scholars across the country. My impression had been that living under this microscope understandably tended the Board towards “safe decisions” and away from modern and new technologies. It seems that I was wrong, as evidenced by The MPC’s unanimous recent ruling to allow the first solar hot water installation in the Savannah Historic District during this month’s meeting on July 9th.

The homeowners of this precedent setting project are Sara Barczak and her husband Anthony Jernigan – customers of ours at OneWorld Sustainable. I met Sara at Savannah’s Earth Day festival this April. She was holding down the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy booth, while I was representing OWS. We got to talking, and I learned that she was looking into solar hot water for her home. A couple of months later, OWS, together with Sara and Anthony, began the process of submitting an application to the MPC for approval on the installation of the solar-water delivering mechanism, 20 evacuated tubes, to be placed on top of her roof.

In my research to prepare for the application, I spoke with several helpful people across the country who all had experience in attempting to marry sustainability with historic preservation, very new and unchartered territory for me.

Chris Meschuk, a City of Boulder, CO planner, generously agreed to a lengthy phone conversation to explain how Boulder has implemented alternative energy into their General Design Guidelines.

The message was clearly delivered by many planners, from Key West, FL to Ypsilanti, MI, that solar PV and hot water were the least obtrusive instruments to deliver alternative energy. And since these installations are also reversible in that they can be removed, the fear of a more solid commitment and ease of correction are both reinforced. Everyone I spoke with also agreed that the general preference for installation was on a roof NOT facing the street. This gave me pause, since Sara and Anthony’s South facing roof is also street facing. Thankfully, their pitched roof was designed for future solar, remaining virtually invisible from the street, thus helping our chances for an approval come decision time.

In my search to better understand the issues, and in turn to hopefully convince the MPC board to approve our application, I luckily happened upon Kimberly Kooles, a University of Georgia National Alliance of Preservation Commissions (NAPC) staff member. She actually answered the phone, and serendipitously explained that she was crafting her PhD on the very subject of the integration of Sustainability and Historic Preservation. What luck! Kimberly educated me and sent me innumerable articles, research links, and various precedents set throughout the country.

Thanks to Kimberly, I learned that while this subject is fairly new to us all, there is a common thread set forth by both Boulder and Ypsilanti, MI, among others. The thread is this: we need to create energy efficient homes through energy efficiency audits and upgrades, prior to implementing alternative energies for any building. These measures include envelope sealing, HVAC equipment upgrades, appliance upgrades, and more efficient lighting equipment.

I have often used a similar line of thinking while speaking with potential solar customers with the simple analogy of turning up ones heat while simultaneously opening all of ones doors and windows. While we all realize the foolishness in the above scenario, we must work together in educating homeowners to pursue energy efficiency prior to considering solar, wind or geothermal alternatives.

This thinking was presented with our application, as the Barczak/Jernigan home was built twice as efficient as their Georgian neighbors’ homes. It is a new home, built on a previously empty lot within the historic district. And it is this fact, that the home is NOT an historic home, that seemed to allow the board to recommend an approval.

Thankfully, Jack Star attended the MPC meeting and spoke during the public comment period. He stressed the importance and timeliness for the board to consider the future allowances of solar PV and hot water applications within the historic district, including installation on historic buildings. It seems many on the board, most notably Joseph Steffen, are open to this discussion and future attempts at finding a good balance at the intersection of sustainability and historic preservation.

As Chatham County has produced a resolution to become the “greenest county in Georgia” and new Georgia tax credits have taken effect on July 1st, there is no time like the present to tackle this much needed dialogue and resolution. Community cooperation together with individual’s heightened responsibility towards environmental stewardship is the vehicle we need to drive implementation of alternative energy worldwide. The first steps, of course, always begin at home.

P.S. A very sincere thanks to all of the combined efforts that helped make this precedent ruling a reality: Sara and Anthony, their neighbors Anthony Alfonso, Tom Hoffman, and Gretchen Ernest, Bill Traver of OWS, Jack Star, all of the generous sharing of information by various planners across the country, and of course, the MPC Historic Review Board.

Merch Mart Leading Major Shift

Vintage postcard of the Merchandise Mart

Existing buildings seem to be overlooked when the sustainability topic arises, although USGBC’s LEED program has had an EB (existing building) designation for three years now. The shift from new construction to the rehabilitation of the estimated 4.5 million commercial properties already built is one that is necessary, especially considering that commercial buildings account for over 60% of the nation’s electricity consumption.

One of the largest buildings to get LEED certification, The Merchandise Mart in Chicago takes up two city blocks and has its own zip code. Spearheaded by Myron Maurer and Christopher Kennedy, brother of Robert Kennedy of NRDC fame, the Merch Mart received a Silver LEED rating.

With the real estate market morph towards realistic values, this seems to be the time when many property management companies and large commercial building owners are staying put and looking for ways to increase tenant retention and decrease operating costs. Building owners, meet sustainability. Sustainability, building owners.

From the New York Times Sunday business section:

The headquarters of the software maker Adobe Systems received a platinum rating for its three towers in December 2006. Adobe spent 1.4 million on the project, but earned that back in savings in less than 10 months.

The myth that “green” buildings cost more is thankfully being successfully challenged at every turn. I personally am incredibly interested in the LEED ReGreen program, addressing residential remodeling projects using a whole house approach. Helping homeowners to retrofit and build upon what they have, as opposed to using more natural resources by building a new house from scratch, is also an exciting prospect.

The Righteous Olympics

With the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver come an estimated 1.5 million attendees, creating a mammoth-sized footprint.

Thanks to VANOC, the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games, sustainability is written into the mission/value statement of this enormous effort.

In 2005 and 2006, VANOC established a set of six corporate-wide sustainability performance objectives. These objectives are based on Bid commitments, best management practices of other Organizing Committees and input from sustainability experts, key partners and stakeholders. They are now an integral part of VANOCâ€™s strategic and business plans.

Accountability, Environmental Stewardship and Impact Reduction, Social Inclusion and Responsibility, Aboriginal Participation and Collaboration, Economic Benefits, and Sport for Sustainable Living are the six objectives. Some of the poignant goals are:

To behave ethically, set measurable performance targets and communicate openly about our progress and challenges

To conserve natural environments and manage, mitigate and offset negative impacts

To care for our workforce, protect human rights, and ensure health and safety

To demonstrate that sustainable innovation and practice makes good business sense

To use sport, and growing athlete and public interest in living more sustainably, to inspire action on local and global sustainability challenges

Vanoc is going for LEED certification on many of the building’s that will be constructed, as well. Imagine if all corporations, business ventures, governments, and individuals sat down and mapped out their intentions like this. Imagine.