Our Position on Sustainability
Historic preservation can – and should – be an important component of any effort to promote sustainable development. The conservation and improvement of our existing built resources, including re-use of historic and older buildings, greening the existing building stock, and reinvestment in older and historic communities, is crucial to combating climate change.
Preservation’s Essential Role in Addressing Climate Change
The construction, operation and demolition of buildings accounts for 48% the United States’ greenhouse gas emissions. But reusing and retrofitting our existing buildings can reduce these emissions dramatically. In fact, our existing buildings are one of our greatest renewable resources.
Through our Sustainability Initiative, the National Trust for Historic Preservation is focusing the nation's attention on the importance of reusing existing buildings and reinvesting in older and historic communities as critical elements in combating climate change. Americans already embrace as common sense the need to recycle aluminum cans, glass and newspapers. We advocate applying that same common sense to our built environment.
We don't discount the value of new, green construction – in fact many green technologies can and should be applied to existing buildings to improve performance. But new construction – no matter how green – still uses energy and other natural resources and generates construction waste that clogs landfills.
Through its research, the National Trust’s Sustainability Initiative is demonstrating that conservation and improvement of our existing built resources are environmentally logical and economically viable elements in combating climate change.
Sustainable Stewardship of our Buildings and Communities
Guiding Principles:
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Reuse existing buildings: Use what you have. The continued use of our existing buildings reduces the amount of demolition and construction waste deposited in landfills, lessens unnecessary demand for energy and other natural resources and conserves embodied energy (the amount of energy originally expended to create extant structures).
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Reinvest in our older and historic communities: Older and historic communities tend to be centrally located, dense, walkable, and are often mass-transit accessible – qualities celebrated and promoted by Smart Growth advocates. Reinvestment in existing communities also preserves the energy embedded in infrastructure, such as roads, water and sewer lines.
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Retrofit our existing building stock: Many historic and older buildings are remarkably energy efficient because of their site sensitivity, quality of construction, and use of passive heating and cooling, while other buildings require improvements to reduce their environmental footprint. Historic buildings can go green without compromising historic character.
Our Commitment
Focus on Local, State and Federal Policy: The National Trust for Historic Preservation will work with several cities to develop model policies that encourage preservation as sustainable development. This work will include refining building, energy and zoning codes, as well as developing model language for comprehensive plans and climate change action plans. We will also work to expand the availability of historic tax credits at the state and federal level, encourage other financial incentives for building reuse and community revitalization and support energy policy that improves energy efficiency in older buildings.
Empower Preservation Practitioners: The National Trust will provide our network of practitioners with the tools they need to incorporate green building practices into their preservation work. This will include development and dissemination of best practices and other guidance for greening older and historic buildings.
Submitted by hosro at: March 7, 2010
Sustainability and preservation can be mutually supportive as carbon costs increase the cost of preserving many buildings will escalate beyond economic affordability or competitive use of energy and costs to maintain. Using double paned windows instead of single paned are an immediate example.
Submitted by Elizabeth at: February 10, 2010
I agree with the NT's position on sustainibility. It exerts a practicalness that is applicible in everyday life. I feel an obstacle resides in getting the message out. The preservation and sustainibility movments should not take the PSA / mandative route, as this will turn people off. I think the public would be more engaged and receptive if the movments (preservation particularly) utilized a more stylized, subversive, and marketed approach. This would be through mass media: print, movies, television, internet, etc.... I am not suggesting "dumbing down" the ideals of either movment, but it is through these forms of communication that most influence the world.
Submitted by Karen at: February 10, 2010
I think that the concept of embodied energy (or its sophisticated friend, life cycle assessment) mentioned in the guiding principles can be confusing and not terribly convincing for the general public. It’s complicated to quantify and it seems like most people start from a position of thinking of energy wrapped up in building materials more like a sunk cost than something that can be tangibly counted as potential energy savings today. As a bit of a nerdy numbers wonk I enthusiastically follow the LCA work that the National Trust has done thus far, but I wonder about how to effectively present this concept to the public without losing the audience.
Submitted by Heather at: February 10, 2010
The NTHP presents a viable, pragmatic position to the issue of sustainability in our future. By utilizing existing historic buildings that have been integrated with energy efficient materials and design, we are able to conserve our environmental landscape and cultural heritage, while at the same time ensure our sustainable future. Guided by the principles stipulated by the NTHP Sustainability Initiative, architects, preservationists and community leaders, among others, can utilize these concepts put forth by the National Trust to move forward in preserving our past while initiating a sustainable lifestyle for our future. The basic principles that are the foundation of our historical urban environments are basic concepts that when coupled with new sustainable technology, will contribute to the preservation and conservation not only of our historical and cultural heritage, but our historical and environmental landscapes as well. By utilizing local, state and federal tax incentives in combination with the helpful guidance of the NTHP, there are no excuses for not utilizing our existing built environment and applying past principle design concepts to new innovative green technology. With the initiation of the NTHP Green Lab, the economics of preserving and reusing historic structures will hopefully make it more economically feasible and ecologically responsible to utilize existing historic buildings for adaptive reuse. When some of the policies and codes are amended to accommodate older buildings and new tax incentives initiated, then developers could have a quite a different outlook on preserving and utilizing existing structures for new development.
Submitted by Leann at: June 16, 2009
When will hte model policies that encourage preservation as sustainable development be available for use by jurisdiction? This is badly needed as the march to "sustainabililty" moves forward is some areas without a preservation component.
Submitted by lee david at: June 4, 2009
Hamilton Hall, you should contact the Trust's Northeast Office in Boston to discuss financial assistance that may be available to you. Click on 'regional offices' under the 'About Us' category at the top of this page. If you haven't yet, you should also contact the Mass. Historic Preservation Office; their website is at: http://www.sec.state.ma.us/mhc/.
Submitted by Hamilton Hall at: June 4, 2009
Hamilton Hall is a National Historic Landmark, built in 1805, by the famed Architect Samuel McIntire, locasted in Salem Mass. We are interested in learning how we can benefit from grants/gifts from the National Trust.
Submitted by MWO/NTHP at: April 20, 2009
The National Trust listed the Rosenwald Apartments on our 11 Most Endangered list back in 2003 and we continue to track events related to the site which is, unfortunately a most difficult challenge for rehabilitation because of its structural configuration. We remain interested in seeing the Rosenwald preserved because of the important role it played in African American social history in Chicago. Anyone willing to help preserve the site can contact the Midwest Office of the National Trust at mwro@nthp.org.
Submitted by Carolyn P at: April 17, 2009
I would like to echo the request that the National Trust get involved in supporting the renovation of the Rosenwald Apartments. The buildings contribute a great deal to the history of African Americans in Chicago as they worked hard to better themselves and live in better homes. My grandmother, who lived in Minnesota, visited Chicago in the '30's and talked for many years about seeing friends who lived in the Rosewald. It was quite the place to live for middle class Blacks at the time.
Submitted by green bronze at: April 6, 2009
We are delighted to see this. Can the National Trust assist a group of community members and organizations in Chicago to renovate the Rosenwald Apartments. Our desire is to assist several not for profits, including a sustainable education charter school, a wellness clinic and mixed income housing to put this four block historic complex to better use than just high end condos after the Olympics.