This week at Green Heart Town we have a very special guest. We interview Patrice Frey, President and CEO of Main Street America about her background in sustainability and her role in the movement of green historic preservation.

In recent years, there has been a growing undercurrent of people who appreciate historic buildings as both culturally significant and inherently sustainable resources. Living in a Green Heart Town requires understanding the deep value your historic properties offer. Through my work with the Oklahoma Main Street Program, I have been fortunate to follow this ray of truth and learn from sustainability champions like Patrice.

Below is an outline of some of the talking points we covered (with their approximate times), so you can jump to them if you'd like. The total interview ran about 24 minutes. Hope you enjoy!

0:00     Bio & Introduction
2:45    First Memories & walking to Dairy Queen
4:00     Liberty in Washington D.C.
5:00     Old buildings educate collective soul
7:00     College focus on preservation
8:15    Early role of historic buildings in CO2 reduction strategy
10:00   USGBC neighborhood development and building reuse
12:15     LEED credits for building reuse vs. $$$ for points
14:00     Early National Trust work in Seattle
15:50     Preservation Green Lab initiative
17:10     How older properties dialog in the community
18:30     How community leaders can lead sustainability
19:35     The Greenest Building research study*
20:15     Resources for greening a historic property*
21:20     Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) used for comprehensive assessment
22:00     Oklahoma Main Street Poster*
22:40     Closing thoughts
* Refer to resources at bottom

You can also listen on SoundCloud, if you prefer:

Resources

Main Street America™:

Main Street America™ (new website)!

Greening Historic Buildings:

National Park Service, Technical Preservation Services, Sustainability
National Trust for Historic Preservation, Preservation Leadership Forum, Sustainability
Preservation Green Lab
Study Patrice led: The Greenest Building: Quantifying the Environmental Value of Building Reuse
Oklahoma Department of Commerce, Oklahoma Main Street Program, Historic Green Poster

Next Time

Patrice will return next week, for the second part of our interview. We will discuss her transition to leading the National Main Street Center, updating the brand for over 1,600 neighborhoods and communities nationwide, and “refreshing” the time-tested Four Point Approach.