Question for HPLO or any of its members - looking for case study example for upcoming APT-Sustainable preservation symposium

[Karin Link]

As a member of the Historic Preservation League of Oregon, I have a favor to ask. The following may be a bit long-winded, but should be somewhat comprehensive.

 

I am also a member of the planning committee for the Association for Preservation Technology's upcoming symposium on sustainable preservation, (a mouthful?)

 

 The committee has put together a Decision-Making Matrix relating to sustainable retrofits of historic buildings. We are looking for a good example of an historic building, preferably an office building or perhaps some other sort of commercial building, (not a single family residence, in any case). We would like to use the building as an example upon which we test the Matrix during the 2-day symposium.

 

 Ideally the building would be located in the Pacific Northwest - (in Victoria, Vancouver, B.C., Seattle, Portland, Oregon, for example), although the symposium members will probably not be visiting it. I have contacted a few other Pacific Northwest organizations, in addition to HPLO.

 

The building would function as a case study during the symposium.

Ideally, the following information would be hugely helpful:

 

-  a photo or several photos of the building.

 

 -  working drawings or information that gives details concerning the construction of the building - particularly the exterior envelope, (walls, roof, windows, foundation, etc..)

 

- the nature of heating and cooling in the building, (mechanical systems, if relevant - of course, all this might be found in mechanical drawings, if they are available).

 

- current energy usage, if known, as well as the rough number of people using the building, if relevant.

 

- information on the siting of the building, (for example: urban site and/or are there trees or other types of vegetation near it etc. If there is paving, what type?)

 

 - What have been the major changes to the building?

 

The committee also thought that the building could be one that currently “needs attention.” They thought that the efforts of the symposium might serve as pro bono work that might ultimately benefit the building.