>Yesterday I was asked why people no longer put working shutters on their
>windows.
>I am at a loss on this one, and would like to know as well. More than
>that, I'd
>like to know what were the original reasons that seem to no longer occur?

Shutters or blinds were one element of a total package of environmental
control that was active and passive, as opposed to the mechanical systems
employed today (HVAC).  People actively operated them as needed for the
circumstance.  They helped to moderate the extremes of weather by providing
protection to the sash during inclement weather (big storms, heavy winds,
etc.).  They could also be closed to keep hot sun out of the interior to
keep the structure cooler: with louvered blinds, as opposed to solid
shutters, you could then open the sash and still get air movement (passive
ventilation, thermal chimneys, etc.), while keeping out the heat gain from
the sun's rays.

Today, they have been reduced to a decorative icon, much like the
omnipresent mansard roof.  People put them up mindlessly to try to
pretty-up banal architecture.  Rarely do they fit the size of the
opening...too tall for the opening, too narrow to fill the opening if they
could be closed.  Usually they are mounted in the wrong place, to the
outside of the window casing...when hinged, they cover the side casings.

Our historic district design guidelines require shutters to be operable, to
ensure that when folks put them up, they are the proper size.

Pretty much an open and shut case.

_______________________________________________
Dan Becker,  Executive Director       "Conformists die, but
Raleigh Historic                                 heretics live on forever"
Districts Commission                                   -- Elbert Hubbard

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