Spring Greening

Elements of Green, and Historic, Buildings

Interesting, and relevant, reading from the National Trust For Historic Preservation on balancing green design with the maintenance, or stewardship, of the built environment over the long term. In “Essential – and Often Forgotten – Elements of Green Buildings”, Patrice Frey, director of sustainability research for the National Trust, writes in PreservationNation:

“What isn’t included in LEED – or any other green building rating program that I’m aware of – are measures of longevity. I’m not talking about just the durability of the various components of buildings (which is also extremely important). I’m also concerned about the viability of the building long-term. Is it designed in a way that will be flexible for undetermined future needs? Or is it overly-designed to fit the current occupant’s needs?

And, as Stewart Brandt would ask in his book How Buildings Learn, is the building lovable? (Before you roll your eyes, bear with me.) Is it a building that will stand the test of time? Or is this a building that has been value-engineered to within an inch of its life, without even the slightest bit of architectural merit or interest? Is it a building the people in our field – preservation – will fight to save in 100 years? Or does it have more in common with a strip mall than the quality architecture of our past or present?

The endless destruction and rebuilding of our built environment is simply not sustainable. Longevity is key.”

Great stuff. Read the full blog post here.

Call for Papers: NOLA's Green Rebuilding

Progress at 5200 Dauphine: Preserving Green

Some of you were present for the kick-off charrette hosted by the Preservation Resource Center during Historic Green's 2009 March event. We discussed an idea that was already a year and a half in the making.  The concept of blending sustainable design with the complete reconstruction of an historic building in an historic district is new and developing field in architecture. Partnerships had formed over the year since HG participated in the deconstruction of what was left of 5200 Dauphine. Those partnerships led to the decision that a reconstructed, sustainable and historically appropriate facility would be constructed to serve as the new home of the Center for Sustainable Engagement and the Holy Cross Neighborhood Association.

RENDERING: Ryan Schmidt, UTSA

Since our first charrette in March a design team composed of preservationists, community leaders, architects, contractors and engineers have been working to design the first LEED Platinum project that has the support of the USGBC, National Trust for Historic Preservation, Prince of Wales Foundation and numerous other groups. 

The design will incorporate salvaged materials from the deconstructed structure as well as materials from salvaged from throughout the area and beyond.  The building will be heated and cooled by a high efficiency Variable Refirgerant Volume system which has been minimized in scale due to the high performance envelope being developed to serve the building. 

Construction is slated to begin this winter with completion anticipated for this spring.

Meet Historic Green's Executive Board

During our last planning meeting in June the Historic Green Steering Krewe took another major step in becoming a legal non-profit entity. Roles and responsibilities of the elected Executive Board members were discussed and the first Executive Committtee was elected.

Soon, we will be announcing the rest of our Board of Directors, but until then we would like you to meet our Executive Board. 

Worldchanging.com: Rebuilding the Crescent City - Green

Historic Green board member Anisa Baldwin Metzger just contributed a terrific piece for Worldchanging, titled “How Local Rebuilding Efforts are Working in New Orleans”. As a recent transplant to the Crescent City, she serves as the U.S. Green Building Council's New Orleans Green Building Coordinator. She writes of the city’s incredibly high rebuilding activity, much of it green, and of some of the projects led by the Make It Right Foundation, the Good Work Network, and The Salvation Army’s EnviRenew program to build 125 green, affordable homes and renovate 125 existing homes.

Go here for the full article.

Nice job Anisa!