CHAPTER 4 Using Historic Properties
Use of Historic Properties to Address Climate Change
Historic preservation efforts can contribute to climate change mitigation by promoting the adaptive reuse of existing buildings, which reduces the need for new construction and associated carbon emissions. Renovating and retrofitting historic structures to meet modern energy efficiency standards can also contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Preservationists and urban planners increasingly consider climate resilience in the management of historic sites. Strategies to improve resilience may include elevating buildings in flood-prone areas, fortifying structures against extreme weather events, and implementing landscaping that can absorb excess water or provide shade. Raising awareness about the intersection of historic preservation and climate resiliency is essential. Education and advocacy can help garner support for sustainable practices and policies that protect cultural heritage in the face of climate change. In response to the ACHP’s questions regarding agency coordination of historic preservation and sustainability/resiliency goals in project planning, agencies provided numerous examples, demonstrating the amount of work that has been initiated and completed during the reporting period to rehabilitate and adaptively reuse historic properties with sustainability in mind. DoD described that renovating existing owned space for new needs instead of new construction has great potential toward carbon avoidance and meeting the goals laid out in EO 14057 “Catalyzing Clean Energy Industries and Jobs Through Federal Sustainability.” Agencies emphasized the need for consistent, reliable empirical data to be compiled to help advocate for the reuse of existing buildings, and for better cost comparison to provide supportive data on carbon avoidance. In response to this reported need, GSA explained that they are working with DOE to develop a protocol to calculate the embodied carbon of whole buildings and estimate the carbon impacts of various retrofitting options. By using existing buildings as benchmarks to demonstrate carbon avoidance through rehabilitation, such protocols may lead to more efficient and informed planning and more sustainable and carbon-conscious building practices.
AGENCIES ILLUSTRATED a variety of valuable and creative uses for historic properties during the reporting period, demonstrating the myriad ways that historic places can provide economic benefits and help to create more resilient communities. From their use as movie filming locations, to housing for disabled veterans, and storage for private spacecraft, federal historic properties provide value to our nation in countless ways. In preparation for this report, the ACHP asked agencies to report on how their agency coordinates historic preservation and sustainability/climate resiliency goals in project planning. In response, agencies demonstrated that the use, and reuse, of historic properties is a sustainable alternative to new construction, minimizing the environmental impact associated with resource extraction, manufacturing, and transportation. Agencies provided many examples of the ways they have retrofitted historic buildings to current sustainability standards while preserving the historic character, and adaptively reused buildings, giving them new purpose and life–including through use as housing. The ACHP also asked agencies to answer whether their historic properties contribute to local communities and their economies, and how their contributions have changed over the reporting period. Nearly all agencies responded with the various community benefits the use of their historic properties provides, from outleasing to recreation, heritage tourism, and education. In addition to providing jobs, agencies described how historic properties are being used as sites of job training, through trades training programs and volunteer opportunities.
The Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington, D.C., has served federal agencies as a setting for ceremonies and special events since the building opened in 1934. In 2023, GSA completed outlease revenue- funded restoration of the auditorium’s acoustic stone walls and ornamental finishes. (Carol M. Highsmith Photography, Inc./GSA)
HIGHLIGHTS
» Under the Program Comment for Inter-War Era Housing at U.S. Army Post Fort Bliss in Texas, the Department of the Army undertook a clay tile roof replacement, using metal tile roofing as a climate resilient imitative substitute building material. The metal tile roofing simulates the appearance of original historic clay tiles that had deteriorated on 98 Spanish Revival homes built in the 1930s. Climate resilient metal tile roofing is more durable in extreme Texas hailstorm events. This Army project saved $2.2 million by using metal tile roofing instead of high-cost clay tile roofing, maintaining the historic character of the homes and historic neighborhood aesthetic in a cost-effective and climate resilient manner. » The Iowa Army National Guard (IA-ARNG) adapted its historic bathing pavilion at Camp Dodge into modern classroom spaces. The IA-ARNG replaced leaking windows with modern windows that were weatherized with wood trim to match the structure’s original historic character after consultation with the Iowa SHPO. IA-ARNG is
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IN A SPIRIT OF STEWARDSHIP: A Report on Federal Historic Properties • 2024 | 75
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