[MassHistPres] Energy Costs of Demolition

[Lenox Land]

I found this site and have copied for you the very end of the article
printed.  

Peggy Ammendola
Land Use Clerk
Lenox, MA 

http://sohosandiego.org/reflections/2009_12/environmental.htm



Energy Efficiency of Historic & Older Buildings 
It is often assumed that older and historic buildings are "energy hogs"
and that it is more environmentally friendly to demolish these buildings
and construct new energy efficient buildings. However, recent work
indicates otherwise. 
	The average embodied energy in existing buildings is five to 15 gallons
of gasoline per square foot. The average embodied energy in a 250,000
square-foot office building is 3.75 million gallons of gasoline.
 
	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. 
 
	Far from being "energy hogs," some historic buildings are as energy
efficient - or more so - than buildings constructed in later decades. 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 afterwards - except for those built after 2000.
 
	In 1999, the General Services Administration examined its building
inventory and found that utility costs for historic buildings were 27%
less than for more modern buildings.
Reprinted with permission from the National Trust for Historic
Preservation, [
http://www.preservationnation.org/issues/sustainability/additional-resources/sustainability-numbers.html
]http://www.preservationnation.org/issues/sustainability/additional-resources/sustainability-numbers.html


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