The city of Kalamazoo, the Michigan Historic Preservation Network, and the State Historic Preservation Office partnered together to offer a free, 10-day, window repair/rehabilitation workshop for 12 Michigan craftspeople.

The text of the MHPN press release is below.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 6, 2009

Contact:
Nancy Finegood, Executive Director
Michigan Historic Preservation Network
107 East Grand River Avenue
Lansing, Michigan 48906
517-371-8080; finegood@mhpn.org

MHPN, SHPO & City of Kalamazoo Collaborate on Ground-Breaking Sustainable Jobs Training

Lansing, MI: Jobs are tough to find right now, and programs that create sustainable jobs and practice sustainability even rarer. Luckily for Michigan, that’s changing. In a new, first-of-a-kind program, governments and the Michigan Historic Preservation Network (MHPN) are collaborating in Kalamazoo between July 6th – 17th to do both.

Prompted in part by Michigan’s high unemployment rate and media reports about the about the energy saving values of “replacement” windows, the MHPN and the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) began a conversation about alternatives to both. Overall, building activity rates are down, and many contractors, architects, engineers and others who serve this market are un- or under-employed. At the same time, the preservation community knows that historic building windows in good condition, coupled with good storm windows — are as energy efficient, if not more so, than replacement windows. The problems? Not enough people know about window rehab efficiency as an Alternative, and not enough people know how to do the work.

Twenty percent of the U.S. housing stock was built before 1950, and most homes have wood, double-hung windows. Another sustainability take: repairing these windows – rather than replacing them – keeps the old-growth material out of the landfill. Just as important, perhaps even more so today, well-trained craftspeople that rehab wood windows are well paid, and their jobs are local, so much of their income stays in their communities.

The conversation expanded, later including the City of Kalamazoo, and together, the groups conceived a solution. In early June, a call went out across the state, attracting over 30 applicants. MHPN and the City of Kalamazoo chose twelve applicants: from Saginaw, Bay City, Traverse City, Lansing, Detroit, Northville, Ann Arbor, Vandalia, Holland, Zeeland, Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo — who will receive two weeks of free window rehab job training. When completed, they’ll have new, highly-marketable job skills that will help preserve one of Michigan’s greatest assets — its historic building stock.

The collaborators are also hopeful that the trainees will be window rehabilitation ambassadors — helping to counter-balance the general, though false belief that the only road to window energy efficiency is through replacement.

Window rehabbers can make a very good wage: One person can rehab one window into prime operating condition in one work day — at a cost of $300 – $400 – the same or less than that of many replacements. The material cost/window to the contractor is usually less than $25.00. That translates to an hourly wage of as much as $46. Window rehab is work that usually can’t be “outsourced” – and is most often done on-site or nearby. The average investment to start up a window rehab business, including insurance and tools, is probably under $2000, and less if the person already owns some tools.

The trainees selected for the Kalamazoo program are a diverse group in age, race, gender and experience, and all are people who want to rehab old windows themselves, and – the collaborators hope – to teach others to rehab old windows. The training site is a middle-class home in Kalamazoo’s “Vine” local historic district, known for both its student rentals and owner-occupied homes.

Building on its practical preservation training experience, MHPN is administering the Kalamazoo program, with staff assistance from the City of Kalamazoo. Funding for the program is provided through a State Historic Preservation Office-administered, federal Certified Local Government grant made to the City of Kalamazoo. Act Naturally Studios, Kalamazoo, is the media production partner for the project.

The Michigan Historic Preservation Network is a non-profit membership organization that advocates for Michigan’s historic places which contribute to the state’s economic vitality, sense of place, and connection to its rich cultural and architectural heritage. Field assistance for local preservation efforts is provided by Network staff and volunteers. Technical assistance is funded through small grants. For more information, visit: www.mhpn.org.

Additional information provided by the SHPO staff can be found at the Michigan Info for HUD-Funded Projects blog.

A downloadable PDF prepared by the Louisiana State Historic Preservation Office that addresses the myths of replacement windows can be found here.

An accompanying article can be found in the New Orleans Times-Picayune.