Page 16 - Brookings, SD Historic Preservation Plan
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attic, uninsulated walls, and around windows and door cavities,
and not through the glass in a window itself (Gotthelf, Jill H. &
Walter Sedovic. What Replacement Windows Can’t Replace: The
Real Cost of Removing Historic Windows. APT Bulletin: Journal
of Preservation Technology. Volume 36. Number 4.) Repairing an
existing window and adding insulation to the attic saves more
energy than the replacement of single-paned wood windows
with double or triple-paned alternatives.
Older windows were also built with well-seasoned wood from
stronger, durable, weather-resistant old-growth forests. Historic
225 Main Avenue, a contributing windows can be repaired through reglazing and the patching
historic structure in the Commercial and splicing of wood elements. By preserving the original win-
Historic District (W&Co, 2020) dow materials and enhancing them to be more energy efficient,
the life-cycle of the historic building is lengthened and energy
is saved. For instance, repairing, weather-stripping and insu-
lating an original window is more energy-efficient and much
less expensive than new windows, in addition to being a sound
preservation practice.
Contemporary windows, on the other hand, are often difficult to
repair, with replacement as the only option. If a seal is disturbed
in a new, vinyl window, the best approach is to replace that
particular window, rather than repair the part. This means the
damaged window then goes to the landfill. On the other hand, a
historic wood window can be repaired more easily. In addition
to being more difficult and costly to replace, newer window ma-
terials, such as vinyl, are also often less sustainable and require
413 1st Street South, a contributing the extraction of raw, nonrenewable materials. High levels of
building in the Sexauer Seed Historic
District (W&Co, 2020) energy are involved in production and the new materials will
often also have an inherently short lifespan.
• Building Energy Savings
Energy savings are not usually achieved by replacing original
building fabric with contemporary alternatives. Repair and
weather-stripping or insulating original walls, floors and the at-
tic is usually more energy efficient and much less expensive than
replacing original material with a new material. As much as 50%
of the energy lost in a house is from air infiltration through the
attic, poorly insulated walls and around the windows and door
cavities, and not through the glazing of windows and doors.
Proper caulking and insulation around windows and doors,
combined with adding insulation in attic space, will save energy
at a higher rate than by replacing single-paned wood windows
with multi-paned alternatives. Many utility companies are now
advising customers that the “payback” of replacing a window is
much longer than other energy-saving measures.
12 Brookings Historic Preservation Plan
