LEED with Historic Landmarks

When I started looking at topics for the final research presentation I wanted to see if a LEED certified building could be historic. Unfortunately LEED certification has not been enacted for at least 60 years. I did find that the Empire State Building had recently gone through a long process to become the first LEED certified landmark.

I actually got really excited upon hearing this, for the fact that a landmark could come into the twenty first century energy crisis. My perceptions of old buildings has always been that they are as energy efficient, if not worse, than the day they were created, but are an exception to the rules because they are historic.

As the modern world moves into more energy efficient buildings, I wonder if more historical landmarks will move towards LEED certification? Now there are tax incentives to do it, but I don’t necessarily think that could bring more progress, since the incentives are not advertised. Also how does one keep up with the LEED certification after it has been granted?

I am looking forward to see if the trend in ‘green retro-fitting’ will take over to the more prominent landmarks and see exactly how the Empire State Building proposed and enacted their plans to become a LEED landmark.

Since the complete interior has been redone I can see their being a debate against the landmark status. As it has come up in class if something is completely changed on the inside, can it still hold the same history?

I think this is a fun topic combing both the history and the present. Historically energy efficient? Since it sounds contradicting I think it could make for an interesting topic.