[MassHistPres] Wooden historic windows

[Joseph S. Larson]

A UMass alumnus, who is a professional in the field of historic preservation in the borough of Queens in New York City, shared with me the following statement made by Simeon Bankoff, Executive Director of the New York City Historic Districts Council (New York Times City Room Blog, March 27, 2009) when recently asked how historic preservation should respond in the face of sustainable development pressures. I think that his views address well the wooden windows issue.

 

"Historic preservation is sustainable development. Rehabilitating, restoring and reusing older structures is much more "green" than demolishing old buildings and building new construction, regardless of the LEED certification. The National Trust for Historic Preservation has an extensive sustainability initiative that clearly demonstrates 'the greenest building is the one already built' with a growing array of statistics and case studies. For instance, 'data from the U.S. Energy Information Agency finds that buildings constructed before 1920 are actually more energy-efficient than those built at any time afterward - except for those built after 2000' and 'recent calculations indicate that it takes about 65 years for an energy efficient new building to save the amount of energy lost in demolishing an existing building.'

 

"In addition, much of what can be done to make a building more energy efficient, such as interior insulation, can be installed without affecting the historic appearance or fabric. The goal of historic preservation practices is to preserve our historic built environment as a living, functional part of our lives. Achieving that goal means allowing modernizations as long as that change does not intrinsically alter the nature of what we are preserving. No one is going to cry foul over indoor plumbing or heating systems, unless you are preserving a historic log cabin.

 

Windows are, generally speaking, the most difficult elements to upgrade. Generally speaking, well-maintained historic windows last decades longer than modern replacements and their difference in thermal insulation is not critical in terms of the energy efficiency of the entire structure (typically 10 to 15 percent of heat loss occurs through windows versus 30 to 40 percent through roofs). In some cases, installing thermal glass can be done without sacrificing historic appearance of the windows. Interior mounted storm windows are another possibility. My office in the Neighborhood Preservation Center has four 100-year old wood windows that measure 5 feet by 6 feet, and they keep out the cold of winter and let in the breeze of summer wonderfully."

 

 

Joseph S. Larson
27 Arnold Road
Pelham, Massachusetts 01002-9757
http://myprofile.cos.com/larson358
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