Book Review: Sustainable Preservation: Greening Existing Buildings

by Jean Carroon, foreword by Richard Moe

Book Review by Valerie J. M. Heider

Is the greenest building the one that’s already built?

According to Jean Carroon, respected and renowned leader at Boston’s well-known architectural firm Goody Clancy and author of Sustainable Preservation: Greening Existing Buildings, the answer is yes. Carroon argues that restored durable original materials in combination with new and environmentally conscious building systems make historic structures the ideal of sustainability.

From the start of Sustainable Preservation: Greening Existing Buildings, Richard Moe (President Emeritus of the National Trust for Historic Preservation) hits the nail on the head regarding the significance of the connection between historic preservation and sustainability. He notes that sustainability “challenges us to think in new ways about the process by which we decide what to protect and how to protect it, about the real economic benefits of our work, and – most important – about the vital role our historic resources can play in reducing our impact on the environment.” With this sentence as a focal point for the rest of the text, Carroon addresses design and operational issues relating to historic structures and provides concrete examples of real-world and proven solutions. Read more...