TECHNICAL COMMITTEES

Building Codes for Historic Resources
Modern Heritage
Preservation Engineering
Sustainable Preservation

Building Codes for Historic Resources

APT's Technical Committee for Building Codes for Historic Resources was created in 2004 to address the issue of how building codes affect historic resources.

Generally, the committee serves as a forum for the exchange of ideas about the application of existing codes, including both specialty codes for historic or existing buildings and general-application codes. Among other issues of discussion are the analysis and interpretation of code provisions; the creation of new code provisions; background research into issues that code seeks to resolve; and cataloging existing codes, interpretations, and terminology.

The Codes Committee has the following as goals:

• To coordinate interest and activity among APT members in the application of building codes to historic resources
• To serve as an advisory body to APT and partner organizations for the
  • appropriate content of symposia, publications, and similar educational outlets
  • evaluation of compliance of specific resources to specific code provisions
• To establish connections to other code-related forums, either formally or by committee members networking with their existing connections
• To develop a database of adopted and model codes, including international examples, for existing and historic resources
• To develop a database of useful, significant, and interesting code sections and interpretations for use by APT members
• To provide technical support for and participation in future conferences and symposia
• To provide a resource to preservation professionals and encourage them to join APT to receive the full benefits of the committee.

Meetings and Communications
The committee communicates by email and teleconferences and at meetings.

Membership
Committee e-mail and conference calls are open to APT members and APT chapter members who have an interest and expertise in building codes that affect the application of technology to preservation issues. Non-APT members may participate; however, membership is required to have access to APT Web site resources.

For more information refer to the committee Bulletin Board or contact the committee chairs.

Tom Winter, Technical Committee for Building Codes for Historic Resources Co-chair
Marilyn Kaplan, Technical Committee for Building Codes for Historic Resources Co-chair

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Modern Heritage

In the course of the 20th century the built environment expanded and changed at a pace unprecedented in human history. New philosophies of design and innovations in building technology produced a vast and very diverse body of work that in turn is posing a unique series of challenges as it ages and requires rehabilitation. The Technical Committee on Modern Heritage (TC-MH) is constituted to promote the understanding and management of this heritage and to foster the development of the full range of philosophical, design and technical issues necessary to ensure our ability to sustain this legacy.

As an integral component of APT, the TC-MH has a primary concern to address the technical issue raised by the stewards of modern resources as well as the design and construction communities charged with carrying out rehabilitation efforts. However we also acknowledge that the planning and material nature of many modern buildings – as well as the urgency of the mandate to create the most sustainable possible environment – often suggest rehabilitation solutions that require us to re-think many aspects of traditional preservation practice. The TC-MH will therefore take an active role in the broad and ever expanding philosophical debate about the changing nature and priorities of preservation that has ensued over the course of the last twenty years, particularly as they apply to the heritage of the recent past.

The TC-MH has been active in promoting scholarship and dialogue concerning the heritage of the recent past including leading a track at the most recent APT conference in Los Angeles.

The work of the TC-MH can only be fully carried out through the efforts of its sub-committees and consequently we are seeking committed individuals to serve on the following sub-Committees:

• Public Outreach
• Education
• Technical Database

Please contact committee co-chairs for further information.

David Fixler, co-chair Technical Committee on Modern Heritage
dfixler@eypae.com
Thomas Jester, co-chair Technical Committee on Modern Heritage
tjester@quinnevans.com

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Preservation Engineering

The APT Preservation Engineering Technical Committee was created in 2003 to provide focus for discussing issues relating to engineering and historic preservation.

The committee's critical tasks are to

• establish itself as a leader for promoting the role of engineering in the field of historic preservation
• establish a forum for discussion of issues relating to engineering in the field of historic preservation
• encourage active and continuous education for professionals from many disciplines who seek a better understanding of historic-preservation engineering techniques and philosophy
• identify areas of knowledge and practice where further study and/or research is required to establish parameters of practice
• establish a process and repository for the documentation, collection, and dissemination of information related to the practice of historic-preservation engineering
• establish a program of generating and publishing consensus standards for treatment of historic engineering systems
• identify and undertake initiatives to advance the role of the preservation engineer and an understanding of the importance of preservation engineering

Membership is open to all current members of APT with an interest in engineering and the history of building technology who are willing to make regular and substantial contribution to the mission of the committee. The committee meets during the APT annual conference.

Timothy Crowe, Co-Chair, Preservation Engineering Technical Committee
John Dumsick, Co-Chair Preservation Engineering Technical Committee
Vacant, Co-Chair Preservation Engineering Technical Committee (Canadian Member Preference)

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Sustainable Preservation

Committee Brochure for 2007 (PDF)

Bibliography of Resources for Sustainable Preservation, with Links

The APT Technical Committee on Sustainable Preservation was formed in 2004 to provide an arena for discussion, review, and information sharing. It aims to educate APT members on the relationship between historic preservation and environmental sustainability.

The green design and building movement and the heritage preservation movements share many common goals and ideologies. However, standardized measuring tools-such as the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building Rating System® and BRE's Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) — are lacking in how they specifically address older and heritage properties. Specifically, these standards often overlook the impact of projects on cultural value; do not effectively consider the performance, longer service lives, and embodied energy of historic materials and assemblies; and are overly focused on current or future technologies and do not look to past experience to determine sustainable performance.

The Technical Committee on Sustainable Preservation not only affords APT members a forum for discussing sustainability issues but also serves as a network to other preservation and green building stakeholders. The committee's areas of interest include sustainability-rating systems, life-cycle management, embodied energy, envelope performance, durability of materials and assemblies, construction and demolition waste management, contaminated-sites mitigation, water and energy conservation, and the role of historic properties in sustainable cultures and communities.

The committee organized a symposium on Sustainable Heritage Conservation at the APT 2005 annual conference in Halifax, Nova Scotia. That symposium, attended by representatives from both the historic-preservation and green-building communities, resulted in a statement of purpose and an action plan for APT, which were published in a special issue of the APT Bulletin on sustainability and best practices in late 2005 (Volume 36, Number 4).

Working groups are being formed based on developing the following: case studies, educational materials, assessing rating systems, writing articles or reports for the Bulletin, and producing a committee brochure and newsletters. It is intended to include an update on committee activities in every issue of the Communiqué.

Membership is open to all APT members who have an interest in environmental sustainability and its relationship to the protection of historic buildings and their cultural significance.

The committee meets at the annual APT conference and communicates regularly by email. For more information refer to the committee Bulletin Board or contact the committee chairs.

Jill Gotthelf, Technical Committee on Sustainable Preservation Co-chair, USA
jhgotthelf@modernruins
Lisa Howe, Technical Committee on Sustainable Preservation Co-chair, Canada
lisa.howe@goodyclancy.com
Jason Wright, Technical Committee on Sustainable Preservation Secretary
jason@argsf.com

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