On May 8, Center on Sustainable Communities (COSC) presents free green building seminars in Iowa City and Cedar Rapids featuring nationally recognized home and window restoration expert Bob Yapp.

WEST DES MOINES, IA (April 9, 2010) – Center on Sustainable Communities (COSC) brings window preservation expert Bob Yapp to Iowa for engaging training opportunities on May 8th in Iowa City and Cedar Rapids. Yapp’s "Old Windows Aren’t a Pane – They’re Green!" seminar teaches cost effective and energy efficient historic restoration methods for original, double-hung, wood windows. The first of two presentations of the seminar takes place Saturday, May 8th at 9:00am at the Carl  Mary Koehler History Center located at 615 First Avenue SE in Cedar Rapids. The second, beginning at 1:30pm the same day, will be hosted by the Iowa City Public Library located at 123 South Linn Street in Iowa City.

Bob Yapp is nationally recognized as one of the top experts in window restoration and has restored over 6,000 windows in his 36-year career. Yapp wrote a weekly column titled "The House Doctor" for the Des Moines Register in the 1980s and contributed to Meredith Publishing’s Wood Magazine and Renovation Style Magazine before producing the national PBS program "About Your House with Bob Yapp." Currently, Yapp co-hosts "About Your House with Bob  Pat Yapp" on NPR affiliate station WQUB in Quincy, Illinois and is dedicated to preservation education. His 1859 home in Hannibal, Missouri, is headquarters for Yapp’s school The Belvedere School for Hands-On Preservation and he helped found the Preservation Trades Program for at-risk students at Hannibal High School.

Whether a contractor, homeowner or preservation professional, attendees of "Old Windows Aren’t a Pane – They’re Green!" will benefit from Yapp’s knowledge of safe lead paint and glass removal, epoxy wood repair, glazing putty application, weather stripping and sash installation. "As a sustainable alternative to replacing windows, Yapp will demonstrate that it’s easy to disassemble, seal gaps and improve the performance of an existing window," explains Alicia Trimble, president of Friends of Historic Preservation.

COSC has organized these workshops with the help of Friends of Historic Preservation of Iowa City, ECO Iowa City and the Iowa City Historic Preservation Commission. Offered to attendees for free, "Old Windows Aren’t a Pane – They’re Green!" is an extension of COSC’s Re-Building a Sustainable Iowa statewide training program. Registration is required. Those interested in attending should contact Leslie Berckes at 515-707-2787 or Leslie@icosc.com.

About COSC

Center on Sustainable Communities (COSC) was established in 2005 as a nonprofit to serve as Iowa’s trusted educational resource for sustainable building. As the recognized leader in providing education and connecting resources, COSC empowers individuals and communities to make everyday decisions that promote sustainability, resulting in higher standards of living. Responding to the state’s disaster recovery efforts, Re-Building a Sustainable Iowa is COSC’s statewide training program supporting Iowa’s ability to rebuild durable, affordable, healthy and energy-efficient built environments. Re-Building a Sustainable Iowa’s free programming is made possible through funding from the Iowa Department of Economic Development and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. COSC’s schedule of residential, commercial and energy-specific programming can be found at www.icosc.com