Source: WCAX.com, March 8, 2011, by Alexei Rubenstein “Candy Moot owns a centuries-old, eight-unit apartment building on Montpelier’s State Street. To help ease her tenants’ high heating costs, a few years ago she ordered custom windows to replace the leaky single-pane glass. “We had to have custom made windows because the windows are so large,” Moot said. She says the energy savings were remarkable– a drop in fuel bills of nearly $200.It was only after replacing the first window in the back of the building that she realized she had run afoul of Montpelier’s Design Review Committee. Montpelier has the largest historic district of any town in the state and since the 1970s; it’s that committee that enforces those standards. Moot brought the committee members over to have a look. “With me being convinced my husband and I were going to jail for doing this thing wrong, they come and do a site visit where one apartment has the new windows, all the other apartments have the old windows and they didn’t even notice. So I don’t see how anyone could argue they’re a historic blight on the city,” Moot said. While she was eventually able to finish the back of the building, she wasn’t able to finish the front and is stuck with $40,000 in windows…”
PDF of Story: Balancing Energy Efficiency with Historic Preservation
Candy Moot owns a centuries-old, eight-unit apartment building on Montpelier’s State Street. To help ease her tenants’ high heating costs, a few years ago she ordered custom windows to replace the leaky single-pane glass.
“We had to have custom made windows because the windows are so large,” Moot said.
She says the energy savings were remarkable– a drop in fuel bills of nearly $200. It was only after replacing the first window in the back of the building that she realized she had run afoul of Montpelier’s Design Review Committee. Montpelier has the largest historic district of any town in the state and since the 1970s; it’s that committee that enforces those standards. Moot brought the committee members over to have a look.
“With me being convinced my husband and I were going to jail for doing this thing wrong, they come and do a site visit where one apartment has the new windows, all the other apartments have the old windows and they didn’t even notice. So I don’t see how anyone could argue they’re a historic blight on the city,” Moot said.
While she was eventually able to finish the back of the building, she wasn’t able to finish the front and is stuck with $40,000 in windows.