Big Green: copper gutters

[Doug Driscoll]

Bit of a late reply but . . . .

How is the water to be reused?  Can the gutter systems be repaired rather than replaced (avoid, minimize, mitigate-the mantra of preservationists)?  

Patina on copper protects the surface and reduces copper release, but if you are talking about potable water . . . . . .  :(

Somewhere sometime ago I remember we coated the interior of copper gutter and boxes - think it was manufactured that way, but I would imagine there is a coating out there that would accomplish the same thing.

Regarding a "better material" I would suggest reading the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation first - if you intend to restore / rehabilitate the project and consider it a preservation project you have some value balancing you should address.  If the gutters are considered contributing to the historic fabric, there are numerous approaches you should consider.  It is dependent on many things and difficult to advise without knowing much more about the project, but fortunately the preservation community is pretty tight and very generous with their advise.  Typically a historic structure assessment is preformed by a preservation professional first, which clearly defines what elements are important and why, the structural conditions and how they can be addressed, period of interpretation, etc.  Also contact your State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO)

Here's a few links you may find useful


Standards 
http://www.nps.gov/history/hps/tps/tax/rhb/

Washington SHPO

State Historic Preservation Officer 
Allyson Brooks, Ph.D.  
email: Allyson.Brooks at dahp.wa.gov 
(360) 586-3066 



TPS Preservation Briefs

http://www.nps.gov/history/hps/tps/briefs/presbhom.htm

Good luck and let us know how you progress

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Peter Dobrovolny 
  To: biggreen at biggreen.org 
  Sent: Friday, March 07, 2008 12:22 PM
  Subject: Big Green: copper gutters


  Biggreen listserv,

  The City of Seattle has just recently acquired an historic structure, the King Street Station,  the main railway station near downtown.  We will soon begin a complete remodel and intend to make the project as sustainable as possible.  The building currently has copper gutters which need to be replaced. 

  The question we have is, is copper a good material to use for replacement as we intend to capture rainwater in a cistern for re-use in the building, or is there a better material we should consider, keeping in mind the need to maintain historic character?

  Thanks,

  Peter Dobrovolny
  Commercial Expert
  Green Building Program
  Seattle Dept. of Planning and Development
  P.O. Box 34019
  Office Location:  19th Floor, Seattle Municipal Tower
  Seattle, WA  98124-4019
  www.seattle.gov/dpd/citygreen
  V - 206-615-1094
  F - 206-233-7883
  peter.dobrovolny at seattle.gov
  LEED A.P., AIA, APA
  "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world.
  Indeed it's the only thing that ever has."  Margaret Mead


------------------------------------------------------------------------------


  _______________________________________________________________
  This green building dialogue is provided as a public service 
  by Drew George, along with Environmental Building News 
  http://www.buildinggreen.com. For instructions see http://www.biggreen.org/discussion.html
  _______________________________________________________________
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.biggreen.org/pipermail/biggreen/attachments/20080323/c6eb3836/attachment.html