Historic preservation training in St. Mary's County frames reuse as a sustainability strategy

The county archaeologist for Calvert County told members of the St. Mary's County Historic Preservation Commission that historic preservation is “inherently a sustainable practice” and outlined ways preservation can reduce energy use, support local economies and sustain social fabric.

The training, presented to the commission as a sustainability module, emphasized three linked aspects of preservation: social and cultural sustainability, economic sustainability and environmental (ecological) sustainability. The presenter said reuse and careful repair often require less energy than demolition and new construction and cited the Secretary of the Interior’s illustrated guidelines on sustainability as a reference for commissions.

The presentation used Baltimore’s Miller’s Court redevelopment as a primary case study. In a video shown during the session, a Miller’s Court project speaker said the $22,000,000 rehabilitation produced about 35,000 square feet of office space and 40 residential units and helped “build on those neighborhoods of strength.” The presenter read figures from the case study showing the project leveraged about $160,000,000 in additional neighborhood investment and avoided an estimated 83,400,000,000 BTUs of energy (described in the materials as the avoided impact from demolition and new construction), roughly equivalent in the presenter’s citation to 731,579 gallons of gasoline and several thousand metric tons of carbon dioxide avoided.

The presenter stressed practical, local strategies for commissioners to promote sustainability in historic contexts. He encouraged commissioners to: recommend energy audits (utilities referenced in the talk included SMECO and Baltimore Gas and Electric as local providers that offer audits), favor repair and restoration over wholesale window replacement when possible, and consider storm-window systems or weatherstripping to improve efficiency without replacing historic sash. “The greenest building is one that’s already built,” the presenter said.

On renewable-energy installations, the presenter advised caution: photovoltaic panels and other systems can be acceptable if they are not visible from the public way or are mounted on non-primary roof planes or out of public view. He noted that panel design is evolving and that some installations are now made to resemble tiles or shingles; however, he said most commissions, including Baltimore’s, routinely disallow visible panels on primary faces and public-facing roof planes.

The training also covered policy levers. The presenter told commissioners that St. Mary's County’s zoning ordinance references “sustainability” once in Article 6 (he cited it as a potentially useful paragraph to expand) and suggested the Historic Preservation Commission could support a text amendment to integrate sustainability more broadly into local regulations. He also described a local tax-credit program he’s worked with: Calvert County’s program was raised, he said, from a 10% to a 25% historic-preservation tax credit after the state tax-credit law changed in 2013; he offered to share sample language and materials for commissioners considering a similar incentive.

Commission discussion during the training touched on outreach tactics — hosting workshops (for example, on windows), targeting specific properties for designation to create momentum, and developing a local list of contractors with demonstrated historic-preservation skills. The presenter offered to provide the commission with a consultants list and pointed commissioners to the Maryland Association of Historic District Commissions website (mahedc.org) for additional resources.

The presenter closed by urging commissioners to pair deliberation with timely action when policy or outreach opportunities arise and to keep teaching the sustainability case repeatedly in public forums so attitudes and votes by elected officials may follow.

Ending: The presenter invited further questions and offered to send the commission a contractors/consultants list and sample tax-credit language; commissioners and attendees were directed to mahedc.org and the Secretary of the Interior guidance for additional technical materials.