San Antonio Sustainable Living: Are San Antonio’s Historic Building Districts controls Greener than Green building??

Join San Antonio Sustainable Living for our July meeting for what we hope will be a lively exchange of expertise and information with a representative from the city’s Office of Historic Preservation who will make the case that historic preservation is the greener than green building.

Historic buildings are with few exceptions energy inefficient. But does their preservation and reuse have advantages for the built environment, our culture, our standard of living and the environment as a whole?

Through the city’s numerous historic districts and reviews of changes to many older buildings outside the districts, the Office of Historic Preservation has a huge impact on San Antonio green building. In many central city neighborhoods, the OHP must be satisfied before building can commence.

At San Antonio Sustainable Living we frequently find that our presenters month to month disagree with each other.

A few months ago our presenter told us that he found trying to make early 20th century buildings energy efficient to be a waste of time and money and potentially dangerous to the building and its residents. In contrast, the Office of Historic Preservation advocates rehabbing older buildings and asserts that it is both safe and efficient to adhere to their requirements (in addition to being legally mandatory).

Come and hear their arguments in favor of historic preservation being greener than green building. Come with your experience to share with them. Come to learn what you need to know before you build in a historic district.