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| The Newsletter of the High Street Hill Association | February 2009 |
High Street Hill Association
presents
How to Improve Energy Efficiency in Your Historic House
Performing a Modern Energy Audit for an Old Home
Saturday, February 28, 9 AM to 12 PM
36 Upland Road
Learn how you can conserve energy, save money and preserve the historical integrity of your Pill Hill home. Energy efficiency engineer Bradford White* will demonstrate the best way to analyze your home's heat loss to find the most cost-effective ways to reduce your energy consumption.
As a real-case example, you will be able to help Brad perform a "Blower Door Test" on 36 Upland Road, an 1890 historic house that is a good representative of many of our homes: partially insulated, drafty and too expensive to heat. He will show how the results of the test, combined with an infrared camera that can see through walls and a summary of past heating bills, can lead to an unambiguous and prioritized plan to save money on fuel. Brad will also answer questions you may have about energy loss in your own home.
This event is the first in a series of sessions that the High Street Hill Association plans to offer to address the unique energy considerations for historic homes. For the next event we will invite a preservationist to help us sort out the best ways to improve the energy efficiency of doors and windows without diminishing the historical value of our houses.
Don't miss this opportunity to hear and see a demonstration of a professional's approach to an often confusing and complex problem. For more info and to register contact: Rob Daves at or Blake Cady at .
* Bradford E. White is Associate Senior HVAC Engineer for TMP Consulting Engineers, Inc. of Boston, a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Accredited Professional and a member of the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE). He is also an instructor for the Boston Builder's Materials Cooperative in Roxbury.
Over the past few years the HSHA has held work sessions at Olmsted Park. As good as our efforts are, however, a few hours of work in the spring and fall are not enough. Rather than having the volunteer program be just one of many events on the HSHA schedule, what is needed is a dedicated group to develop an ongoing program to help maintain our precious park.
30 years ago the HSHA established the Friends of Leverett Pond (FoLP) to revitalize Olmsted Park. Now it's time to revitalize the FoLP itself with a new set of committed volunteers and a renewed focus.
An organizational meeting for the FoLP will be held at 7 PM on March 23. Please contact Hugh Mattison at 232-6083, Betsy Shure Gross or Rob Daves to sign up.
Longtime Glen Road neighbor Dr. Clarence "Ren" Zimmerman, 73, died Monday, January 12. He was for many years a surgeon at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston, where he ran the transplantation program, and he was an assistant professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School. A member of the Brookline Chorus, he had a lifelong passion for music (the chorus' next concert, at 8 PM February 28, will be dedicated in his memory). We will all miss his singing the part of Balthazar in "We Three Kings of Orient Are" at our annual caroling on the Green.
On January 22 the Transportation Board voted to make the four-way stop signs at the intersection of Allerton and High Street permanent. Thank you to the many residents that showed up at meetings to support this effort and thanks especially to Frank Casey for his unflagging determination to get action. We also like to thank T-Board Chair Michael Sandman for his leadership, Transportation Administrator Todd Kirrane for his professional support and Captain Michael Gropman for bringing increased enforcement to the area. Overall, it was a great example of how a neighborhood and the Town can work together to solve a problem.
It's In the Mail
For several months three High Street Hill Association board members along with representatives
from the other Brookline Local Historic Districts (LHD) and the Preservation Commission have been
constructing a survey in order to improve the Preservation Commission's processes and communication
procedures.
This week a letter was mailed to property owners who have appeared before the Preservation Commission in the past three years to ask them to participate in this survey.
The HSHA is helping to pay for this important effort and we hope that everyone will participate. The survey should be completed by March 15 and a report based on its findings is expected to be posted on the town's website by the end of April. If you have any questions, please contact Bill Weber (738-5504), Olivia Fisher Fox (277-0706) or Rob Daves (566-7334).
Know Anyone Who Can...?
Every once and awhile we hear from someone who's found a great carpenter, painter or housekeeper
and wants to recommend them to their neighbors. Please check our
"Tradesmen" list on our website for some recent postings.
Apartment Needed
Neighbor Brooke Chamberlain is looking for a small apartment in our neighborhood for
her 33 year old niece. She says her niece is "gainfully employed in Boston, responsible and
would make a terrific tenant." Please contact Brooke at (617) 909-8625.
We occasionally post "Neighborhood Alerts" to our HSHA email list when we hear of crime activity in the area. Now you can get the latest reports from the Brookline Police Department yourself. Last week Police Chief Dan O'Leary unveiled www.CrimeReports.com as his latest attempt to keep residents informed. There you'll find a Google map showing every incident in town.
HSHA Annual Meeting.
Monday, April 27, 6 PM. Latvian Lutheran Church.
Muddy River Restoration Project Maintenance and Management Oversight Committee (MMOC)
Annual Meeting
Thursday, March 19, 5:30 PM - 8 PM, Landmark Center, 401 Park Drive, Boston.
Join the MMOC for its Annual Meeting. The featured speaker will be Faye Harwell, FASLA,
Principal of Rhodeside & Harwell, presenting "Restoring the Olmsted Legacy
in the Twenty-First Century."
For more information, visit www.muddyrivermmoc.org.
2-4 Brookline Place/Children's Hospital Hearing
before the Zoning Board of Appeals.
Thursday, February 26, 7 PM. Town Hall, 6th Floor.
Please come support our neighborhood's call for reduced traffic congestion.
Announcing the Green Neighborhoods Challenge, a campaign to cut carbon in our neighborhoods. Sponsored by the Brookline Neighborhood Alliance and Climate Change Action Brookline. Wednesday March 11, 7-9 PM. Town Hall. (You'll hear much more about this in the next Highlight)
BGSA Field Trip: Winter Tree Identification Walk.
Saturday, February 28,11 AM. Meet at the Longwood T-Stop.
Join the Brookline GreenSpace Alliance and
Tom Brady, Town of Brookline Tree Warden for a winter tree identification walk along the Muddy River.
Tom will teach participants methods of identifying different types of trees despite the lack of
foliage this time of year. Please register for this free trip at
info@brooklinegreenspace.org
or 617-277-4777.
The Highlight is printed several times a year and is distributed on foot or by bicycle by HSHA Board members and their usually willing family members. If you have a comment or contribution contact the editor, Rob Daves, at 617-566-7334 or robdaves@rcn.com.