HPC of South Bend and St. Joseph County - Standards Update Draft

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City of South Bend and St. Joseph County Historic Preservation Guidelines 118 For More Information: Sustainability and Historic Preservation sustainability . Historic properties in the downtown and historic districts provide direct links to the past . These links convey information about earlier ways of life that help build an ongoing sense of identity within the community . Residents anchored in this sense of identity may be more involved in civic activities and overall community sustainability efforts. Social interaction supports a high quality of life and helps build a sense of community. These neighborhoods are compact and walkable, providing for impromptu mixing of different cultural and economic groups . Direct connections to the public realm also provide opportunities for community interaction . These physical development patterns, combined with their inherent cultural connections, provide significant support for the community’s overall sustainability efforts. Environmental Component of Sustainability This is the most often cited component of sustainability . It relates to maintenance of the natural environment and the systems that support human development . Rehabilitation of historic resources is an important part of environmental sustainability and green building initiatives . It directly supports environmental sustainability through conservation of embodied energy, adaptability, and other factors that keep historic buildings in use over long periods of time . Historic districts are also compact and are accessible by alternative modes of transportation that minimize carbon emissions . Embodied Energy in Building Embodied energy is defined as the amount of energy required to create and maintain the original building and its components. Preserving a historic structure retains this energy. Re-using a building also preserves the energy and resources invested in its construction, and reduces the need for producing new construction materials, which require more energy to produce. Studies confirm that the loss of embodied energy by demolition takes three decades or more to recoup, even with the reduced operating energy costs that may occur in a replacement building . Also, restoring an original building is sustainable since it will extend the lifetime of the structure . Building MaterialsMany of the building materials used in historic structures and historic districts contribute to environmental sustainability through local sourcing and long-life cycles. Buildings constructed with wood and masonry were locally sourced and were built for longevity with the goal of repair instead of replacement. Today, new structures utilize a significant percentage of manufactured materials. These are often less sustainable and require extraction of raw, non-renewable materials. High levels of energy are involved in the production, and the new materials may also have inherently short life spans. They also typically require shipping, increasing financial cost and greenhouse gas emissions . The sustainable nature of historic building materials is best illustrated by a window: older windows were built with well-seasoned wood from durable, weather resistant old growth forests. A historic window can be repaired by re-glazing as well as patching and splicing the wood ele- ments thereby conserving the original materials . Many contemporary windows cannot be repaired and must be replaced entirely . Repairing, weather-stripping, and insulating an original window is generally as energy efficient and much less expensive than replacement. Landfill ImpactsAccording to the Environmental Protection Agency, building debris constitutes around a third of all waste generated in the country . The amount of waste is reduced significantly when historic structures are preserved or deconstructed and the materials are repurposed. Economic Prosperity Component of Sustainability This component of sustainability relates to the economic balance and health of the community. The economic benefits of protecting historic resources are well documented across the nation . These include higher property values, job creation in rehabilitation industries, and increased heritage tourism . Historic districts also enhance that quality of life for the community at large, which can help in attracting new businesses to the city and thereby strengthen the local employment base . Historic Rehabilitation ProjectsHistoric rehabilitation projects also generate economic benefits. Direct benefits result from the actual purchases of labor and materials, while material manufacture and transport results in indirect benefits. Preservation projects are generally more labor intensive, with up to 70% of the total project budget being spent on labor, as opposed to 50% when compared to new construction which means that more of a rehabilitation project cost stays in the community. In this way, expenditure on local labor and materials benefits the community’s economy.DRAFT