Apr 29 2011
The National Park Service (NPS) rolled out new guidelines to help improve the energy efficiency of historic buildings while preserving their historic character.
The Illustrated Guidelines on Sustainability for Rehabilitating Historic Buildings offer practical advice to building owners, developers and preservation practitioners. The guidelines show recommended – and not recommended – approaches to projects, from solar panel installation to heating and air conditioning upgrades to weatherization and insulation.
The National Park Service’s Federal Historic Preservation Tax Incentives Program incentivizes more than $4 billion in private investment in historic preservation annually. To be eligible for the tax credits, construction projects must comply with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation. The guidelines are supplementary to the standards.
The new guidelines were developed with assistance from the preservation community, including other federal agencies, the development community, state and local governments, as well as private individuals. They are the latest in a series of NPS publications created by its Technical Preservation Services Division that offer usable, how-to advice for historic preservation. View the new guidelines.
