Heres some good info i just read
The perception: innovative green building techniques require new housing construction and a significant financial investment over and above traditional housing costs. The reality: 100 year old buildings might be better suited as green investments, and the costs to do so are minimal.
That's the conclusion a team of local experts arrived at after completing a study begun in 2008. The Over-the-Rhine Green Historic Study, managed by the Over the Rhine Foundation and historical preservation consultants, Gray and Pape, was developed to test a common assumption: that centuries-old historic buildings are inherently energy inefficient. Funded in part by grants from the Ohio Historic Preservation Office and Duke Energy, the study assembled a cross-disciplinary dream team of local historic, engineering, architects, and green professionals. Their hope was that some green building techniques might be able to be implemented in conjunction with historic renovation of structures. The outcome, however, surprised even the experts.
With an estimated 500 vacant historical buildings in Over-the-Rhine, the opportunity to create the largest LEED certified neighborhood in America exists right here. Chalk it up to being largely built before the invention of cars and long before the existence of suburbs, but Over-the-Rhine's density and historic building patterns already embody most of what is now considered "green planning" or "new urbanism." Add in a little 19th century ingenuity melded with 21st century innovation and we have the opportunity to make our oldest neighborhood the greenest neighborhood in America.
And why not? Cincinnati's largest historic district is also one of the largest urban historic districts in the United States. Over-the-Rhine's scale and mixed-use building stock are unique and can easily accommodate housing, retail, offices, entertainment, and light industrial uses. Add in the fact that mixed use, historic neighborhoods with proximity to all the amenities offered in a central business district are what is attracting new urban residents and making cities appeal to young professionals, and you have a golden, nay, green opportunity. And with home ownership rates in Over the Rhine hovering just below 10%, attracting more individual homeowners into the neighborhood is an idea everyone can get behind.
The green historic study identified four prototypical buildings in Over-the-Rhine, and asked whether historic properties could be redeveloped affordably, in a historically appropriate manner, while still utilizing green guidelines. Using the federal standards for Historic Rehabilitation as the benchmark for "historically appropriate" and the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) point system created by the US Green Building Council as the test for being "green," the four buildings were put through architectural design work, historic and LEED analysis, and energy modeling. Ultimately, the study concluded that all four properties were capable of obtaining LEED certification; including reaching Energy Star levels of energy efficiency, while still complying with federal standards for historic rehabilitation. And it could all be done without significant added expense for the buildings' developers.
Of the four buildings participating in the study, two are deteriorating 'shells' owned by individuals who plan to turn them into primary residences. The other buildings include the Belmain Building at 1202-1204 Main, currently being renovated by Urban Sites into condominiums and retail space, and 1420 Pleasant, a multi-family currently being developed by Over the Rhine Community Housing.
But is every historic building a candidate for LEED certification? Sanyog Rathod, a LEED accredited architect who worked on the study team notes that homes remodeled in the past two decades can be a bit more challenging because testing involved in the certification process requires access to crawl spaces and inside walls. The perfect building might just be one of the many vacant, unoccupied 'shells' plentiful in the neighborhood.
"If it's a gut rehab, it has a better chance of obtaining certification," he says.
And their guts are exactly what Reid Hartmann and Patty Klein trusted when they invested in their own 'shell' on Vine Street.
Hartmann and Klein are both medical professionals - he's a physician with Christ Hospital; she's a pharmacist with Children's. The married couple have lived on Main Street in Over-the-Rhine for a little over five years.
While only a few blocks away from 3CDC's multi-million dollar residential and commercial reimagining of the Gateway Quarter, Hartmann and Klein's building is on a block of Vine Street that is still largely undeveloped and underutilized. But if location is a benchmark of successful real estate purchases, they have struck urban gold, with their front door steps away from Findlay Market, Tuckers' diner, new Gateway retail, and a short bike or bus ride to the University and Hospital corridor where both work.
"We both love OTR, and felt that it was important to bring improvement to a block that needed help," Hartmann says. "Main Street was continuing to improve so nicely, and we were getting the itch to work on a new property. It also helped that the price was affordable."
They purchased the house and an adjacent lot for a little less than $18,000, and estimate they'll spend $350,000-$400,000 over the next five years to completely rehabilitate their primary residence and a separate detached building in accordance with the environmental design and green historic study recommendations.
Even before the opportunity arose to work with the LEED study team, Hartmann knew they wanted to go green.
"We saw a great opportunity to create a home that had many sustainable features that are often not incorporated in current developments."
Their 1870s home was actually already 'green' before the study. Built in the common 'L' shape of many early 19th century houses, its design permits air and sunlight to penetrate the densely built environment and provides sufficient outdoor space as well.
Hartmann says the couple plan to implement many of the ideas resulting from the study, including installing geothermal heat and cooling, utilizing an operable window well skylight for air circulation, and other green finishes. They're also big fans of reusing historic products and scour local reuse resource centers for doors, windows, fireplace mantels and other items.
"Some of our green upgrades may be in a later phase, such as solar panels, to keep costs down," he says.
Hartmann admits that there have been "moments of pure harmony and pure frustration" in balancing green rehab and preservation principles for their home.
"Owning a condemned property in a historic neighborhood in Cincinnati is not easy," he says. "Sometimes we forget that simply being able to reuse a building is the best form of preservation, as we have seen what happens to vacant buildings."
Rathod suggests that one of the benefits of working with LEED certification is the cradle to grave assistance with your project. He notes that certification guides you through the process by utilizing an integrated professionals approach and rewards you for engaging all of the necessary experts up front. And Cincinnati has a wealth of good advice out there to make it a reality.
"So many [green projects] are currently being built that there is a good amount of expertise that exists in our community," Rathod says.
While he might have more experience working on old historic buildings than Hartmann and Klein, urban developer Greg Badger says his building on Clay Street that's also part of the study will be his first green project as well.
Originally a stable for the French Bauer Dairy constructed in the late 19th century, the industrial building will be a primary residence for Badger with rental units and storage. Currently, the building still has the original horse ramp used by the dairy, and Badger says that's part of the allure.
"I loved everything about the building; the history, the past use, design, location, size. I decided this could be the perfect next home for me and I could design a really nice loft. "
Badger hopes to start work on the building in the next three to four years and complete the project within five. After purchasing his building for $140,000, he estimates a total build out cost of $300,000. He is still evaluating his design options for the space, and recognizes that in pursuing the LEED path costs will be higher up front, but the savings down the road more than make up for it.
"Some of the technologies involved in a LEED project are still new to the market so some of their costs are somewhat higher. You have to weigh that against the longer term benefits as well as cost savings in heating and cooling as well as lighting. With proper planning upfront, the cost shouldn't be any higher than traditional methods."
Rathod agrees. He estimates that if you're planning on investing $300,000 on a home, you would need about $8,000 more for the LEED certification process. But, he notes, you can expect up to 30-40% in energy savings over the life of the building which more than recoups your additional out of pocket costs.
While he admits to some initial skepticism about the project, Badger is now fully on the green bandwagon.
"With proper planning, most buildings in OTR can be green," he says.
Hartmann also agrees, and believes Cincinnati, and Over-the-Rhine, is greener than we think.
"We have a solid residential recycling program. We are using energy saving technologies in our government buildings. We have an enormous number of LEED certified schools. Bike ridership is up and Metro buses accommodate bikes. We have Park and Vine. We have many great restaurants which feature local foods. We have great city and county parks. And we have solar panels on Findlay Market!"
And one day, Hartmann and Klein will be able to walk right down the street to the Market. It doesn't get any greener than that.
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Good god... that's a lot of text.
A bit of advice; you may want to summarize the article into a paragraph and link to the full article. ;>
This may be heresy since I'm LEED certified but you don't need to certify your building through LEED to be "green". You just have to do the green things. Insulation and efficient housing design is something we've been incorporating since the 70s. There are other programs. The main thing is to use the techniques.
LEED people will tell you that increasing the efficiency of the system will even out the cost and make it no more costly, considering life cycle cost, to build green than building the other way.
For example better insulation, windows and HVAC rating will result in comfort and lower utility bills. Old houses can realize the greatest benefits. Surprisingly many old houses will have areas without insulation or with matted down insulation.
Can anyone recommend a company that does spray foam insulation inside walls? My home was built in 1914 and short of tearing out original wainscoting, plate rails & plaster to put in fiberglass insulation, I am struggling to find a way to mitigate our crazy electric bills.
I've heard a local company advertise about spray in insulation, but my understanding is that is generally for open attic spaces or other voids that are accessible.
I'm sure my original windows are a big source of heat/AC loss as well, but I'm not willing to replace with new because the quality will never be the same. Any suggestions on someone that can retrofit old windows to make the sashes more air tight
I did a siding job in Atlantic Beach last year, where we drilled 3 inch holes in the sheathing with a hole saw to allow sprayfoam insulation.
It was a major remodel, so this might not seve you. The isulation was, so I am told, is a soy product.
I'll try to get the name of the insulation company from my contractor. This application can be done from the interior as well, but many patches in the plaster are required. Not a difficult problem, (barring antique wall coverings) but you'll need to be prepared to drop a few grand.
In this climate, fancy double and triple pane windows are a waste. With some weather stripping your old windows are fine. Exception to that is when the sun shines in them in the summertime. That's why you see awnings on all the houses in old photographs.
Years ago I re-sided my 1940's frame house in St. Petersburg. Before putting on the new siding, a contractor drilled three inch holes through the old siding above the ceiling line and blew in cellulose insulation to fill the wall cavities. Cellulose insulation is essentially ground up newspapers with some fireproofing and bug proofing material mixed in. It made a huge difference in the comfort level and sound proofing of the house. It is a material that will pass moisture vapor so will dry out if it gets wet.
A frame house built in 1914 is balloon framed and the wall cavities are open to the outside underneath the house. There are also no firestops ( the short crosswise boards between wall studs.) If the crawl space under the house is well ventilated, as it should be, then when the wind blows you will get cold air coming out of your switch plates and outlet plates and under the baseboards all over your house. An inexpensive first step to take to make your house easier to heat is to stop this air infiltration by stuffing batts of fiberglas insulation into the opening of each wall cavity. You do this from under the house. You will find them just above and slightly behind the perimeter beam that runs around the outside wall. If you have pocket doors anywhere in the house they are also major conduits for cold outside air and you will have to go under the house to seal the bottoms of their cavities also.
If some contractor come up with a way to get soft expanding, Icynene foam up into the wall cavities of balloon framed houses from the ground, they will make a fortune in Springfield and Riverside!
Dog Walker, thanks for the tip on the fiberglass insulation at the bottom of the wall cavity. My crawlspace is quite accessible and this would be a great project for this weekend.
It is amazing how the whole LEED certified craze is sweeping the nation. If you just look to the true architectural hertitage of your region of the country you will see the well designed old historic architecture actually took a lot of this into account. If we weren't so concerned with the out of pocket expenses of construction and actually looked at true long term costs, and built the 100 year building instead of the 5 year developer building, the only thing we should have to consider today is the use of renewable resources and energy. Every time I have to look at the LEED certified checklist, I think "What a joke this is something we should already be doing and not being patted on the back for". But maybe that's just me.
The credit applications are even worse. Now that the military has enacted LEED on just about all new construction there is no way around it. First cost is astronomical and life cycle costs/savings are untested and based on guesstimations.
not to mention there isn't much follow up by the LEED council once the building is up and operational.