BC Hydro Recants
Readers may have seen a recent BC Hydro newspaper advertisement promoting Energy Star windows. “Having old windows”, the half-page ad said, “is like having 
no windows at all”.
Heritage BC immediately wrote to BC Hydro, saying that “to imply, as the advertisement does, that one cannot live in comfort in an older house without replacing the windows, is simply not creditable”. Our purpose, of course, was to try to fend off the rush to tear out the windows in all of B.C.’s heritage homes in the name of 
energy conservation. As we have pointed out in recent issues of Heritage BC Quarterly, there are many ways to improve the efficiency of the older home without discarding its heritage values and tossing out perfectly serviceable units. It’s not a question of heritage or conservation, but heritage and conservation.
Susan Yurkovich, Senior Vice President, Corporate Affairs, for BC Hydro has written back to assure us;
“We recognize the value that heritage buildings have in British Columbia, and in no way are we advocating the replacement of windows in these structures. We will change the headline in our window campaign ads to ‘having 
inefficient windows is like having no windows at all’”.
This is a good result. But we will have to remain vigilant if heritage is not to become a victim of the growing wave of interest in creating a more sustainable, greener built environment.
Old windows, with outside 
storm windows, are much 
better than no windows at all.
