Solar panels stock photo from Okawa Photo/Shutterstock.

DC’s Historic Preservation Review Board’s (HPRB) recently forbade a DC resident from adding solar panels to the front roof of his house. This decision created quite a stir in GGWash’s comment section and on Twitter.

Commenters zeroed in on hollow quotes from board members trumpeting their deep concern about the climate crisis while being unwilling to take a small step to do something about it. The sentiments rang out as examples of the kind of entrenched priorities we’re going to need to invert in order to make real change.

The reality is that climate preservation IS historic preservation. We lose the forest for the trees if we preserve historic buildings for an ultimately uninhabitable future. Help us fix this misguided decision by signing our petition to DC leaders to change this policy.

Tell DC’s leaders to act!


The DC Council has already recognized this imperative. Earlier this year it set a goal of 100% renewable energy—including 10% from locally generated solar—for the city by 2032. With historic properties constituting over 20% of DC’s buildings, and growing, HPRB’s policy knocks out a sizable chunk of potential capacity to hit that goal from the start.

Some commenters argued that the board’s mandate under the law is more narrow, that it is only allowed to look at the impact of a change on the historic appearance of buildings and nothing else. HPRB member Brian Crane made a similar argument during the hearing to designate Bloomingdale a historic district last fall, saying, “Under the laws and regulations of the District is that our authority is very specifically limited, … We have no expertise in and have no authority to weigh concerns about the economic impact.”

If that were the issue, the board could have said they felt their hands were tied by the law and called on the council to fix it. More simply, they could have agreed with commissioner Andrew Aurbach (who cast the lone vote in favor of the solar panels) in saying the board should consider panels removable features as opposed to permanent alterations, since solar panels simply attach to the top of the roof without damaging or changing the original. Removable features generally get less or no historic scrutiny under the current policies.

After all, HPO staff are fond of highlighting that you can paint your historic house electric green and put as many pink flamingos in your yard as you want without appealing to their office for approval. Solar panels are far less unsightly and, in fact, having visible panels could inspire more people to add solar power and do their part to reduce our carbon emissions.

Our planet’s survival is too important to let six unelected board members block simple, common-sense measures. The DC Historic Preservation Office could simply say that solar panels are allowed in the next version of its sustainability guidelines. If it won’t, or if it really believes rules prohibit that, it should support new regulations from the Office of Planning or legislative change.

One way or another, city leaders need to step in and fix this. But that change will only happen if those leaders feel the political pressure from their constituents to do so.

This issue is broader than just our city, of course. Jurisdictions around the country are grappling with the exact same issue, and looking around for examples to follow. As the nation’s capital and a leader in historic preservation, the District has the opportunity to influence national policy with this decision. Let’s encourage them to do just that.

Sign the letter!