COLUMBUS — If temperatures rise as changing climate conditions prevail, home and business owners should renovate landmark structures into energy-saving buildings, a Ball State University architecture professor said.
Jonathan Spodek, director of the BSU graduate program in historic preservation, believes those historic structures, including landmark courthouses and government buildings, can often be refitted for reuse, and not demolished as a first option.
“What I’m thinking about is not how do we make our historic buildings more resilient. My argument is how do we work with our existing and historic buildings stock that will have a positive impact on reducing carbon emissions,” he said.
Urban dwellers often hear about amenities such as proximity to entertainment, work or dining options.
“I think we need to add another layer to that. I think we need to add a layer of dealing with climate change,” Spodek added. “It’s not going to be happening by big broad-brush national policies. It’s going to be happening locally.”
He addressed about 20 planners and architects working for public agencies and private firms in one of the sessions at “Preserving Historic Places,” Indiana’s Statewide Preservation Conference, in Columbus on Friday.
To underscore his message, Spodek and others remodeled an older home on Muncie’s west side to become a net zero energy structure by adding insulation and solar panels, among other efficiencies. The 1,500-square-foot home has reduced electric consumption by 22 percent and natural gas usage by 60 percent, he said.
Demolition is being discouraged in preservation circles now looking at energy efficiency for buildings they say should be treasured for their heritage.
“Older buildings have sustainability built into their design. That starts with where they’re located, which is close to the centers of our communities in places where we can walk,” James Lindberg, senior director of research and policy at the National Trust for Historic Preservation, said.
Preservation Green Lab, a trust project, has compared costs between new construction and rehabs.
“Even a highly-efficient new green building over its lifespan will use more energy and create more greenhouse gas issues than a rehabbed building of the same size. It will take 80 years for that debt to be recovered,” Lindberg said. “We certainly don’t have 80 years to start making a difference. So the smartest thing we can do is to hang on to the buildings we can, serve those and make them more energy efficient.”