East Coast Green - Session Descriptions

East Coast Green is offering over 30 continuing education sessions focused around individual topics tracks throughout the conference.

Below is a detail of one of the courses. To see full course listing and times go back to Speaker Schedule.

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TH16B3
Thursday, September 16, 2010, 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm

Sustainable Design and Carbon Neutral Practices
in Historic Preservation
1.0 HSW/SD LU Hours - Approved
1.0 USGBC CEU Hours - Approved

Summary: Preservation is by nature a sustainable process. By preserving an historic building and its materials, and re-using it for a contemporary purpose, you both save the enormous amount of energy used (1) to originally produce and build it, (2) to tear it down and remove all the debris and (3) to build a replacement structure. However, if a restoration is not performed correctly and inefficient systems are installed, a lot of this benefit can be lost. In contrast, by incorporating modern technologies and design best-practices into a preservation project, you have the capability of producing a project that combines the best of the old with the best of the new.

In this presentation, we explore, through several case studies, how to gain the inherent sustainability benefits of historic preservation, while incorporating modern technologies and techniques that enhances its sustainability/carbon neutral characteristics and maintains its historic character. We will look at the role that the master planning of an entire campus/district plays in developing a sustainable/carbon neutral historic building. We will also look at the evolution of sustainable practices in historic preservation projects, from basic preservation through to sustainability and carbon neutrality.

From this historical review of best practices, we look at the emerging trends in sustainability/carbon neutrality and what technologies and design techniques might be viable on future preservation projects. In specific, we will take a close look at how to incorporate the latest in alternative and efficient energy designs and systems into a historic building.

Speaker:

David Gibson, AIA
President,
DF Gibson Architects

Full Course Description: Preservation is by nature a sustainable process. By preserving an historic building and its materials, and re-using it for a contemporary purpose, you both save the enormous amount of energy used to:
(1) originally produce and transport the materials and build it,
(2) tear it down the historic building and safely and environmentally responsibly remove all the debris and
(3) produce and transport the building materials build a replacement structure.

However, if a restoration is not performed correctly and inefficient systems are installed, a lot of this benefit can be lost. Because of the cost and labor involved to heat and maintain many older buildings when they were originally built, their original construction is often very energy efficient. In this discussion, we will identify many of the energy efficient features of older buildings and how to integrate them into the new re-used building. We will explore, through several case studies, how to gain the inherent sustainability benefits of historic preservation, while incorporating modern technologies and techniques that enhances its sustainability/carbon neutral characteristics and maintains its historic character. We will look at the role that the master planning of an entire campus/district plays in developing a sustainable/carbon neutral historic building. We will also look at the evolution of sustainable practices in historic preservation projects, from basic preservation through to sustainability and carbon neutrality and how they have impacted the concepts and practices of historic preservation.

While many historic buildings are energy efficient and environmentally friendly, by incorporating modern technologies and design best-practices into a preservation project, you have the capability of producing a project that combines the best of the old with the best of the new. Following this historical review of best practices, we look at the emerging trends in sustainability/carbon neutrality and what technologies and design techniques might be viable on future preservation projects. In specific, we will take a close look at how to incorporate the latest in alternative and efficient energy designs and systems into a historic building. These include many alternative energy solutions - from cogeneration to solar, photovoltaic and wind, among others, to analyze the advantages and disadvantages of each and their impact on an historic structure. We will also look at the passive energy savings that can be gained from utilizing building technologies at the building envelope and in other building systems.