Sustainability in Historic Building Renovation

A major focus on sustainable construction and green building ratings systems in LEED is the section of new construction and major renovation.  There are many innovative methods of construction and working systems that are improving our new infrastructure to a great degree.  From the classroom to major published articles and national conventions, it seems that the department of new construction and major renovation takes the majority rule.  This is important as large new projects are where we can incorporate the leading green technology, but there are several millions of old buildings that are large violators of sustainability.  The focus of this post will be on historic building renovation, since they were built before today's high performance standards and contain antique operating systems.  Therefore, these buildings are perfect candidates for sustainable construction updates, but also need to be done in a way where their historic preservation and value is retained.  One example is of the Spigner House Renovation at the University of South Carolina, which was originally built in 1915.  Pictured below, this campus building earned a LEED Gold Certification from the Commercial Interiors Rating System

The USGBC has another green rating system in place where theses projects would fall underneath called LEED for Existing Buildings.  The building must be at least two years old and the credits listed promote using performance records, testing and analysis, and resource tracking.  The Existing Building category certification ensures the building is meeting the intended potential with high performance over time.  This category was developed in 2004 after a rating system was put together by a qualified committee and tested on 100 buildings before being placed as a LEED rating system.  The key component in acquiring initial certification is that three months of operational data must be collected and recorded.

Historical buildings have organizations for official registration and up-keeping.  According to the Environmental Building News article, Historic Preservation and Green Building: A Lasting Relationship, the National Park Service (NPS) oversees the National Register of Historic Places (NR).  A building must be over 50 years old and must have been used for a historical event/person, or contains significant craftsmanship, architectural, or design details.  There are over 80,000 listings in the NR, and with some containing multiple buildings it totals to over 1.3 million buildings!

Owners of a NR property who follow rehabilitation standards and application process are eligible for a 20% federal tax credit of the construction cost according to the Federal Historic Preservation Tax Credit.  The IRS requirements are that the construction cost must exceed the buildings cost basis and that it must be income-producing.  So this tax credit will only apply to substantial renovations, but many projects are still done every year.  On average 1,200 historic projects are done and around $2.8 billion is produced in private-sector investments.  The Secretary's Standards are the leaders as they have been in place since 1977 and help determine the appropriateness of historic property proposed work.  These four categories of rehabilitation, preservation, restoration, and reconstruction determine if a project is eligible for the 20% federal tax credit.  In summary, these standards either recommend or do not recommend certain material and system selection for projects.  The key concept is to always respect historical appearance and character defining features in improving the building.

For anybody learning about what to generally do with key components of a historical building project, the feature Sidebar: Considerations for Green Building and Historic Renovation does a nice job with a clear breakdown.  The building attributes of a historic building that already in place for positive sustainability are the natural daylighting from large windows, natural ventilation from older operable windows, material salvation to sell or donate, local sources and tradesman for careful repairs, and the existing "passive survivability" that already exists for site sensibility and livable conditions under loss of electricity.  Under most projects, the windows and operable windows will be brought back from their sealed or ineffective condition.  Using these base components effectively while preserving the building integrity will help form a foundation for the rest of the project.

In October of 2006, many organizations came together at the Greening of Historic Properties National Summit and collaborated on the issue of advancing sustainable construction in historic buildings.  A LEED for Historic Properties rating system has been discussed, but we will have to wait to see further implementation to help improve specifics and awareness for this sector of sustainable construction.

Green Roofs: The Benefits and Future In Cities

Welcome to Blake's Blog in Sustainable Construction!  I am a graduate-level student at the University of Florida pursuing my Masters in Construction Management.  I have the honor of taking classes inside Rinker Hall, which earned the first LEED Gold certification in Florida by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) back in 2004.  I really pay attention to detail on components of the building as I further my education.  Sometimes I even may get caught blocking a hallway or looking up overhead by the general public.  Specifically, the one element that caught my interest is the green roof above the Charles R. Perry Construction Yard (see picture below).

According to Green Roof Technology, adding one of these satisfies 2 LEED credits and there are several options for more credits upon stormwater efficiency, energy performance, and system reuse. After first observing this green roof, the perception of why it was constructed can be just a LEED requirement meant and nothing further.  An environmentally friendly roof with vegetation is rare to be seen around Florida, so this is the result of unawareness.  Benefits of a green roof can be unbelievable, especially if constructed in large amounts in big cities.

This remarkable idea for vegetation on rooftops has been around for quite some time, but the past few years it has substantially increased in awareness.  Green Roofs For Healthy Cities (GRHC) formed in 2004 and is one big non-profit association that provides information and professional development to those interested.  There are even over 500 registered Green Roof Professionals (GRP) that have to be qualified on all types of roof systems that help building efficiency and the environment. Having an official title to acquire like this is beneficial to make sure the builder knows what they are doing in the rare scope addition of a green roof.  This is the time to produce quality sustainable systems that work well, and the results can be shown off as successful examples to advance green roofs in big cities.

Big, world cities tend to be hotter and the people care less about environmental concerns.  New York is one of the most well-know cities of the world, and the construction of most larger buildings occurred years ago when environmental impacts were rarely considered.  Awareness is surely growing with the help of national associations as well as local companies like New York Green Roofs.  Future construction and renovation will have options to revamp the skyline with sustainable solutions.  This is one example of a small specialized contractor that can assist in creating an elite and functional green roof.  The New York Times Opinionator submission Green Roofs in Big Cities Bring Relief From Above clearly defines general problems of New York and how green roofs can help reduce harmful effects.  Most roofs contain dark surfaces that absorb and heat up to extremely high temperatures.  New York is a prime urban heat island with the average summer temperature 7 degrees hotter than the outside suburbs.  Stormwater runoff is fast-paced and the sewers are outdated, so a bunch of soil beds would help control, hold, and possibly reuse rooftop water.  Getting rid of black roofs, fast-paced water runoff, and high air conditioning costs will be immediate benefits if a green roof movement grows in these busy areas.

Keeping with Rinker Hall's construction, it contains large cisterns that giving it another reason why it is a good example for future green buildings. The Gainesville Sun article Cisterns Help UF Building Cut Water Use, define these cisterns and their efficiency. Dr. Charles Kibert helped define this process, as one 8,000 gallon and two green roof 1,500 gallon containers collect rainwater to be reused through piping to the restrooms.  The average campus building uses about 40,000 gallons per month and Rinker Hall saves about 36,000 gallons per month with these cisterns.  There are several examples out there of successful green roof systems and what they can deliver back to your building in life-cycle costs.