Exploring the Intersection Between Environmental Sustainability and Historic Preservation

Findings of year long study to be announced in a public presentation on September 18, 2009 at 5PM

On Friday, September 18, the findings of the "Over-the-Rhine Green Historic Study" will be revealed in a public presentation that will be held at the University of Cincinnati campus, 2624 Clifton Ave., (the DAAP building), in Auditorium 4400. The presentation is free and open to the public. Doors open at 5PM for welcome and reception. Presentation begins at 5:30PM. Question and Answer period will begin at 6:15PM, and the program will conclude by 6:30PM.

The Study

In the spring of 2008, the Over-the-Rhine Foundation began work on the "Over-the-Rhine Green Historic Study." The goal of the study was to test a common assumption: that historic buildings are inherently energy inefficient. The study compiled a cross-disciplinary team of professionals to look at conflicts and commonalities between the goals of "green design" and historic preservation. The project was co-managed by the Over-the-Rhine Foundation and historic consultants Gray & Pape, Inc. It was funded, in part, by grants from the Ohio Historic Preservation Office and Duke Energy.

The "Over-the-Rhine Green Historic Study" took over a year to complete. A full study report will be printed later this month. The study brought together an unprecedented cross-disciplinary team, including: LEED certified architects, historic preservation consultants, developers, building code experts, solar and geothermal experts, and a structural engineer. It also utilized a University of Cincinnati DAAP course and a graduate level design seminar.

Renovating Sustainably and Historically

Using four prototypical buildings in Over-the-Rhine, the study asked, is it possible to redevelop these properties: 1) in an historically appropriate manner, 2) to be "green," and 3) do so within a budget that would make them sellable in the Over-the-Rhine housing market? The study used the Secretary of Interior Standards for Historic Rehabilitation (SOI standards) as the benchmark for "historically appropriate." (SOI standards are the standards that must be met to obtain federal or state historic tax credits.) And it used the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) point system created by the US Green Building Council as the test for being "green." The project properties were not actually developed as part of the study, but were put through architectural design work, historic analysis, LEED analysis, and energy modeling.

Over-the-Rhine

Over-the-Rhine is Cincinnati's largest historic district and one of the largest urban historic districts in the United States. It possesses an unrivaled collection of Italianate, Queen Anne, and Greek Revival architecture - styles that were in vogue when OTR was built, roughly between the 1830's and early 1900's. Once one of the two most densely built neighborhoods in America, OTR's scale and mixed-use building stock are unique. OTR is also home to Cincinnati's only Urban Mix zoning district, which aspires to combine housing, retail, offices, entertainment, and light industrial uses in a walkable urban setting. Largely built before the invention of cars and long before the existence of suburbs, Over-the-Rhine's historic building patterns embody most of what we now consider "green planning" or "new urbanism." However, the neighborhood is being lost at an alarming rate. There are an estimated 500 vacant buildings in OTR, over 72 are condemned, and it is estimated that the neighborhood is only four buildings away from losing over 50% of its historic building stock. 

The "Over-the-Rhine Green Historic Study" shows that this state of disinvestment actually represents an opportunity for Over-the-Rhine to become America's greenest historic neighborhood.

For more information about the Presentation or the Study, contact:

Michael Morgan
Executive Director
Over-the-Rhine Foundation
(513) 721-1317