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DDRC staff presents energy-efficiency strategies for historic houses
Summary
DDRC staff gave an 18-minute presentation on energy-efficiency measures for historic homes, emphasizing air sealing, insulation, and preservation-friendly window treatments and citing test findings and practical steps homeowners can take.
Betsy, a DDRC staff presenter, told commissioners that historic houses are often perceived as markedly less efficient than modern homes but that measured differences are smaller than many expect. "There was about a 6 to 8% difference in historic buildings versus contemporary buildings," Betsy said, summarizing results from a grant-funded study she worked on evaluating about 120 properties.
Betsy explained that the first step in improving efficiency is understanding the building envelope — where conditioned space ends and unconditioned space begins — and then addressing air leakage. She emphasized that windows are responsible for a minority of heat loss: "You see that there's about 12% that is lost through windows," she…
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