Green Preservation

"The greenest building is the one already built," said architect Carl Elefante. Historic buildings contain embodied energy--the total energy needed for extraction, processing, manufacture, and delivery of materials to the building site, as well as energy for construction. Historic preservation is an inherently eco-friendly practice, with existing structures and neighborhoods already in place, available for reuse and renewal.

The National Park Service, Association for Preservation Technology, and National Trust for Historic Preservation have compiled many resources for those wishing to make their preservation projects energy efficient and environmentally sustainable.