[MassHistPres] Solar panels in a local historic district

[Dennis De Witt]

By a split vote Brookline approved an installation on the S side of a jerkin-headed hipped roofed house which seemed a very poor prospect because of the irregular roof shape and shadows from a larger dormer.  

As a result there are a lot of dummy tiles that look a bit different than the functional ones.  These are both along the hips and in the shadow areas next to the dormers.  

Something no one on the commission thought about is that the new slates had to be furred on 2x4s -- thickening the edge of the roof.  The Commission had required that the rest of the roof be recovered with black flat asphalt to to be of a similar color and with copper along the asphalt roof ridges to match those along the edges of the solar tile area.  That helped a lot to tie it together.

Its worth taking a look.  Perhaps not a troubling as might have been expected -- albeit had there been a slate roof, the vote outcome might well have been different.  The house is on the N side of Walnut between Oakland and Cypress.  The job is just about completed.

Incidentally, at the time of the application -- last winter -- the owner made it clear that the installation was being done for ideological reasons and the payback made no economic sense.

Dennis De Witt


On Jul 7, 2010, at 9:40 AM, Wolf, Emily wrote:

>  
> Clean Air Cool Planet recently published Energy Efficiency, Renewable Energy and Historic Preservation: A Guide for Historic District Commissions, which discusses solar thermal and photovoltaic systems with historic commissions/preservation commissions in mind.  The guide also includes Sustainable Preservation: An Addendum to Building with Nantucket in Mind, which further discusses the use of solar technologies in historic districts.
>  
> The guide is available at http://www.cleanair-coolplanet.org/for_communities/HDCGuide.pdf.
>  
> Best,
> Emily
>  
> Emily Wolf
> Architectural Historian/Assistant Survey Director
> Boston Landmarks Commission
>  
> City of Boston Environment Department 
> Boston City Hall, Room 805
> www.cityofboston.gov/landmarks
> t. 617-635-3850
> f. 617-635-3435
> e. emily.wolf at cityofboston.gov
>  
>  
> 
> From: masshistpres-bounces at cs.umb.edu [mailto:masshistpres-bounces at cs.umb.edu] On Behalf Of Dcolebslade at aol.com
> Sent: Wednesday, July 07, 2010 8:12 AM
> To: masshistpres at cs.umb.edu
> Cc: Sharon-WHCHDC at charter.net; jcollinsjr at payette.com
> Subject: [MassHistPres] Solar panels in a local historic district
> 
> Have any LHDs written regulations concerning placement of solar panels in a local historic district? 
>  
> Have any LHDs allowed solar panels in a LHD?
>  
> Any other comments that you might think relevant for an LHD to consider would be much appreciated.
>  
> Betty Slade,
> Westport
> 
> 
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