Two press releases from Historic York, Inc.:

YORK CELEBRATES ‘THIS PLACE MATTERS!’
Citizens in York, Pennsylvania will join thousands of individuals around the country as part of a nationwide celebration of 2008 National Preservation Month in May 2008. “This Place Matters" is the theme of the month-long celebration, which is sponsored by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Since the National Trust created Preservation Week in 1971 to spotlight grassroots preservation efforts in America, it has grown into an annual celebration observed by small towns and big cities with events ranging from architectural and historic tours and award ceremonies, to fundraising events, educational programs and heritage travel opportunities. Due to its overwhelming popularity, the National Trust has extended the celebration to the entire month of May and declared it Preservation Month to provide an even longer opportunity to celebrate the diverse and unique heritage of our country’s cities and states and enable more Americans to become involved in the growing preservation movement.

Here in York, Preservation Month 2008 will be observed with a series of community events and workshops. Historic York, Inc.’s Annual Meeting will include a special Keynote Address by Scott Butcher of NuTec Design. Mr. Butcher, who is also an author of local history books, will speak about how historic buildings fit within the Green Building Movement. The meeting will be held on May 15, 2008 at the historic Johannes and Cristina Schultz House in Springettsbury Township. This historic complex will also be open for tours.

Historic York, Inc. will also present the Annual Preservation Awards to six very worthy preservation, rehabilitation, and restoration projects throughout the county. These awards represent some of the best, well-respected work in the area.

To RSVP to this special event, call Historic York Inc. 717-843-0320 or visit their website at www.historicyork.org.

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I recently returned from a visit to the southwestern United States. Tucson, Arizona is a booming area with a modern, open downtown. Much like York – and many other places – Tucson is experiencing major sprawl. Where only four years ago barren desert and saguaro cacti stood, today they have been replaced by Home Depot and Circuit City and countless other retailers. Unlike York, however, the city limits of Tucson expand far beyond the city, so the tax base continues to grow.

Whenever I travel, I’m always attracted to the architecture. In Arizona, it was no different. Every place we went, I keenly observed the buildings around me. The architecture in the southwest is wonderful – cream adobe walls, red tile roofs, courtyards and plazas, etc. While you have to look hard to find a Spanish Colonial Revival home in York County (Elmwood has a few), you pretty much can look in any direction in Arizona and find the style. Add Mission Revival and Pueblo Revival, and you’ve just described about 90% of the buildings I observed. Certainly, there were a few modern, glass structures. But for the most part, the buildings were all the same. Don’t get me wrong – this added to the area’s charm.

But in York, we have such a diversity of architectural styles. Within a few blocks of Continental Square you can find everything from German Colonial and Georgian to high Victorian styles to modern and post-modern buildings. That is what makes York so unique. I’ve often referred to downtown York as an “open air gallery of architectural achievement,” and I think this diversity is not lost on visitors.

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Recently, while conducting research for a presentation, I came across a simple yet profound statement:

“The greenest building in the world is the one that is already built.”

I had the “V8” reaction as in, “Wow, I should have known that.” But the sad truth is that most people don’t think of historic buildings as being green. The U.S. Green Building Council, in fact, does not penalize a project for tearing down an existing building (think of all the waste, much less the energy used to construct that older building that is now being demolished).

Yet another green building reference source, the Whole Building Design Guide, really sums it up:

“Sustainability begins with preservation.”

Take the example from the earlier post – the “greenest building in the world” isn’t nearly as green when you factor in the energy used for the staff to commute to and from work every day.

But how can old buildings be green? They are drafty, and the heating bills are outrageous.

As it turns out, that is a myth.

The U.S. General Services Administration, owner/manager of non-military Federal buildings, conducted a study and found that utility costs for historic Federal buildings were actually 27% less than the utility costs for modern buildings. And another study confirmed that. Buildings constructed prior to 1920 were found to be, on average, more energy-efficient than any building constructed between 1920 and 2000. It has only been in the new millennium that the emphasis on energy efficiency and green buildings has gotten us back to where we were 100 years ago.

So what’s the deal?

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Yesterday I received this announcement from Historic York, Inc.:

Historic York, Inc. and the Architectural Warehouse will hold an educational program on Saturday, March 15, 2008 on ways to repair and restore windows within your historic home. The program will be held at 10:00 AM and last until 11:30 AM. Participants will learn about the techniques to make their historic windows more energy efficient, operate smoothly, and retain the historic character of their home.

Don Delp, a well-respected carpenter with the firm Restore ‘n More will lead the class on basic window repair. Topics will include replacing broken panes of glass, removing deteriorated glazing putty and using wood consolidates for repair of rot on wooden members.

All classes meet at Historic York, Inc., 465 Prospect Street, York, PA. The program costs $15.00 for Historic York, Inc. members; $20.00 for nonmembers. The session is open to 30 students. Advance registration suggested. To register, call the Architectural Warehouse, 717-854-7152.

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Once upon a time, Kermit the Frog pined that “It’s not easy being green.” But that was long before “green buildings” became a design standard for architects and engineers around the country. Kermit, today it is hip to be green.

According to the U.S. Green Building Council, which promotes green building through their Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design (LEED) program, almost 1300 buildings are now certified, with another 9800 in the process of becoming certified.

That’s some pretty impressive statistics, especially considering that ten years ago the green building movement was still largely unknown.

But there is more than meets with eye when it comes to sustainable green buildings. When it opened several years ago, the Philip Merrill Environmental Center, headquarters of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, was touted as the “Greenest Building in the World.” In fact, it was the first building to obtain LEED Platinum status, the highest certification awarded by the U.S. Green Building Council. The building is located ten miles from Annapolis, and is a wonderful testament to sustainable design, recognized throughout the nation for its environmental friendly features like photovoltaic panels, geothermal heating, and rainwater recycling.

But the Philip Merrill Environmental Center was a new building. And it was constructed ten miles from the former location of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, which had previously been headquartered in Annapolis. There, many of the Foundation’s 100 employees walked or rode their bikes to work. Unfortunately, the new building was no longer an easy walk or bike ride for the employees, so they have been forced to drive.

And driving, as it turns out, uses 30% more energy than operating a building.

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If you’ve been through Continental Square as of late, you’ve undoubtedly noticed the transformation of the Futer Bros. Building. The three-story building clad in white vertical siding has been a fixture for over forty years, but the building itself is almost 160 years old.

John Hartman purchased the property in 1824. (Refer to the image in the Centre Square, 1815 post – the building on the far right is the one that Hartman purchased.) It had been Gottlieb Ziegle’s tavern and Sign of the General Jackson inn. Hartman constructed a new six-story building in 1849. Jacob Dietz was the carpenter – he also built the 1841 courthouse and County Almshouse.

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The dome of the Helb mansion carriage house has been in the news lately, featured in a York Daily Record article as well as a York Town Square post by Jim McClure. Furthermore, my last Windows into York post made mention of a cupola. There are many architectural terms dealing with rooftop structures or architectural elements that define a roofline: dome, cupola, belfry, belvedere, spire, steeple, gazebo, tower, turret dormer, parapet…. Well, the list is somewhat extensive. So how do you know what is what?

Here’s a short primer:

Belfry – A rooftop structure, or portion of a tower or turret, in which bells are hung.

Belvedere – A rooftop structure, or top level of a tower, accessible by stairs or ladder and from which one can look out. A belvedere has a roof and is open on one or more sides. The term means “beautiful view.”

This view depicts a variety of roof-defining structures. To the left of the image is the Second York County Court House, with cupola. The large building in the center, known as the Hartman Building, is crowned by a lantern. And the Christ Lutheran Church steeple to the right is actually a tower topped by a cupola topped by a spire.

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