|
|
Present: Nicole Benjamin-Ma, Susan Brauner, Sheilagh Doerfler, Ben Haavik, Jeffrey Harris, David Hart, John Hecker, David King, Krista McFadden, Doug Manley, Pat Morrissey, Henry Moss, Brian Roche, Susan Schur, Malcolm Smiley, Jonathan Smith, Bill Steelman, Natalie Wampler, Sara Wermiel, Gary Wolf, and Sally Zimmerman 1. Insulating Strategies for Historic Wooden Buildings: Henry Moss brought up this topic as one that the Historic Resources Committee may want to explore: what should owners of older, wooden houses do about insulating them, or taking other measures to save on fuel costs, while at the same time staying comfortable? Last month's presentation by Ben Haavik, Historic New England's Team Leader for Property Care, and his colleague Erin Knerr covered the strategies they are using to control temperature and humidity and manage ventilation in the old houses in HNE's inventory. The longitudinal data they collect should be valuable. But their interventions are aimed more at conservation of interior artifacts (by maintaining a target humidity level inside) than keeping a house warm (or cool) and drafts out, at a reasonable cost. Very importantly, whatever treatments are done should not injure the building. What are appropriate treatments for the thousands of ordinary, old homes that still retain their historic exteriors? Much of the research on home insulation, such as that done by Joe Lstiburek and Betsy Pettit of Building Science Corp. of Billerica, is for new construction. Their "deep insulation" approach is not appropriate for existing buildings; nor is retreating to the country and getting off the grid feasible for most households. But information on what owners of older houses should do is scarce. (See an article written by Sally Zimmerman, Preservation Specialist, Historic Homeowner Membership Program of Historic New England, "Energy Costs in an Old House: Balancing Preservation and Energy Efficiency" http://committees.architects.org/hrc/Zimmerman%20insulating%2010_08.pdf). Sara Wermiel observed that the Boston Building Materials Co-op no longer has an energy advisor on staff, although energy conservation had been one of their founding goals. Susan Schur mentioned that the National Research Council Canada Institute for Research in Construction (http://irc.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/index_e.html) publishes useful technical bulletins ("Canadian Building Digests") some of which are online: http://irc.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/pubs/cbd/index_e.html; http://irc.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/pubs/newpubs_e.html; http://irc.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/pubs/index_e.html. Sally Zimmerman said the APT Bulletin on sustainability and historic preservation contained useful information (vol. 36:4) (http://www.apti.org/publications/Past-Bulletin-Articles/bulletin-PR-36-4.pdf). She observed that what was best depended on the age, construction system, and other features of a house. Marilyn Fenollosa said Rebecca Williams of the NTHP has been collecting data on windows; her windows tipsheet is available on line at http://www.preservationnation.org/about-us/regional-offices/northeast/additional-resources/Wood-Windows-Tip-Sheet-July-2008.pdf. David Hart thought this would be a good topic to pursue, although good longitudinal data would be difficult to obtain. The discussion noted that rising energy costs will increase pressure to insulate and install effective air barriers in very invasive ways. 2. Work of the Essex National Heritage Area: Bill Steelman and his colleague, Sheilagh Doerfler, traveled came down from Essex County to explain the work of the Essex National Heritage Commission (ENHC), a non-profit organization that manages the Essex National Heritage Area (ENHA, http://www.essexheritage.org/). The ENHA was designated by Congress in 1996, and the ENHC was set up the following year. The area includes all of Essex County, a topographically diverse area, with seacoast and a big river (the Merrimack), many cities as well as rural landscapes. The area is rich in historic buildings and sites as well as recreational areas: its 500 square miles contain 11,000 NR properties and two NPS sites (Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site and Salem Maritime National Historic Site). The mission of the ENHC is to preserve and promote the historic and natural places of Essex County, or as Bill puts it, to get people outdoors to enjoy the resources of the county. It does this through a variety of initiatives: publicizing area resources, special events, education, and grants. In addition, it works to develop resources, such as trails. The types of resources their programs involve include: agriculture, burying grounds, town centers, maritime/coastal, estates and managed landscapes, industrial structures, a Federal Wildlife Refuge, and (human) neighborhoods. In the realm of publicity, ENHC has created thematic guides to the region and trails, modeled on the hoary Freedom Trail, that connect interesting resources (except that you drive on the Essex trails). Special events include "17th Century Saturdays," involving tours through first period houses; photo safaris on which participants visit a picturesque site in the ENHA with a professional photographer and try out photography equipment provided by local retailers; and weekends of events, such as the "Trails and Sails." While some funding comes from the federal government, ENHC also has a membership program. ENHC runs teacher workshops, under grants from the state, and offers grants through a partnership grant program, to fund education, preservation, and other activities. In the area of development, it is undertaking a landscape inventory (http://essexheritage.net/heritagelandscapes/essex.pdf), and is working to develop rail trails and the Border to Boston trail (the northern part, which ends in Danvers; how the trail will get into Boston is someone else's problem) and many other projects that Bill calls "heritage development." In short, the ENHC is a busy, entrepreneurial non-profit, energetically seeking new ways and effective collaborators to promote their goals of increasing public appreciation of the historic and natural resources of the region. There are 40 national heritage areas in the U.S., four of which cover Massachusetts, including the ENHA. 3. Redevelopment threats to Ames Shovel Works, North Easton: Architect, Chris Milford told the HRC about the proposed plan to redevelop the former Ames Shovel Works site in North Easton, Massachusetts. The owner of the site has applied for a comprehensive permit under the state's affordable housing law, Chapter 40B. The factory site is historically significant and located in the center of town, across the street from two of H. H. Richardson's important buildings and near Richardson's railway station. Chris and others feel that the site, which is in a good state of exterior preservation, is important to the setting of the Richardson buildings. While the site's owner no longer plans to level it, the latest proposed design involves adding so many new buildings while altering and demolishing existing buildings as to obliterate their historic integrity, compromise the Richardson buildings, and alter the town's center in an unwelcome way . See this memo for more information : http://committees.architects.org/hrc/Shovel%20Shop%20Alert%20Sep12-2008.pdf). Chris and colleagues seek to create an alternative plan to preserve and respectfully reuse the factory buildings. He asks people to send letters supporting this goal to Massachusetts Historic Commission and the Zoning Board of Appeals (see the Alert for addresses); and join the friends group, Friends of the Historic Ames Shovel Works. Contact Chris for more information (cmilford@mfa350.com). [See our committee's letter to the Easton ZBA on the BSA HRC website. It was copied to the MHC.] 8:00 a.m., Thursday, 13 November 2008 Featuring William Remson on his Building Conservation Projects in Cyprus The Architects' Building, 52 Broad Street, Boston Henry Moss, Matthew Bronski, and Sara Wermiel co-leaders and scribes
|