Research
The Center for Cultural Sustainability advances community resilience through research rooted in historic preservation. Our work centers on understanding historic structures, documenting cultural resources, and planning for the long‑term resilience of heritage places. Through these efforts, we support communities, inform policy, and contribute to global conversations on sustainable development. Graduate students play an essential role, gaining hands‑on experience with preservation science, digital documentation, and community‑based planning.
Our research portfolio includes Historic Structure Reports, architectural drawings, digital models, analytical graphics, and other forms of documentation that illuminate the cultural, historical, and environmental contexts of the places we study. Each project reflects our commitment to protecting heritage while supporting the communities, sponsors, and institutions who help shape sustainable futures.
Mission San José Perimeter Buildings Historic Structure Report
Historic Structure Report, Mission San José Granary
UTSA-CCS researchers are studying the architectural chronology and assessing conditions of the Mission San José Granary, with an eye toward making recommendations for its continued care.
Best Practices in Stone Building Preservation Management
Guidance for leadership charged with caring for San Antonio Missions National Historical Park. The report was shaped in part by a 2021 symposium featuring experts from academia, government, and the private sector.
Blackwell School
Historic Structure including condition assessment and treatment recommendations for the Blackwell School, an early 20th century adobe building that was the place of segregated education for the Mexican-American population in Marfa, Texas, until its closure in 1965.
Historic Structure Report, Mission Concepción Convento
The Historic Structure Report for Mission Concepción offers condition assessment and treatment recommendations for the 18th-century convento structure. Photogrammetry used by the UTSA team is providing a never-before-seen level of detail in documentation of the building.
Historic Structure Report, Mission San José Convento
Employing state-of-the-art photogrammetry software and color-coded mapping protocols, CCS researchers have crafted the most detailed survey to-date of the convento structure at Mission San José. The location of every visible crack, every patch of deteriorating brick, etc., was recorded.
Of Various Magnificence
Center staff edited and completed for the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park a 500-page architectural history of the city’s five missions. The report’s original author, James E. Ivey, retired from the Park Service prior to the document’s completion.
Under 1 Roof: Performance Assessment of High-Solar Reflectance Roofs in San Antonio
Dr. Hazem Rashed-Ali and Professor William Dupont evaluate how changing a home's roof color from dark to light can impact energy efficiency. Results from the project's initial phase, which analyzed 30 homes in San Antonio's District 1.
Radiant Barrier Retrofits
The research team analyzed the energy-use impact and cost-effectiveness of one home-improvement project—installation of a radiant barrier—in small, historic, single-family homes located in hot-humid climates. A radiant barrier is a highly reflective film fitted into a house’s attic. It cannot be seen from the exterior of the house.
Sustainable Tourism Issues in the San Antonio Mission Historic District
Dr. Sedef Doganer analyzes the potential for opportunity that comes from sustainable tourism.
Lerma's Nite Club
The Center has prepared business feasibility plan in coordination with efforts to restore and transform Lerm'as Nite Club—the oldest live Conjunto music venue—into a cultural service site in San Antonio.
Energy Retrofits for Historic Homes in Hot-Humid Climates
The Center compared outcomes for a number of home-improvement projects, prioritizing which ones would most effectively result in greater energy-efficiency of historic homes in hot-humid climates.
NPS Historic Housing District Historic Structure Report
The Center developed a Historic Structure Report for Bryce Canyon National Park's “NPS Old Housing Historic District,” which includes eight historic cabins listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Disaster-Proof Texas Heritage
Researchers examined how to measure and enhance the resilience of historic houses of worship against hurricane damage. Informed by summary vulnerability assessments of nine case-study structures, the team developed a “Resilience Roadmap” and kit of tools. Philadelphia-based nonprofit Partners for Sacred Places was a key project collaborator.
Finca Vigia
William Dupont, leads a team of consulting experts in support of Cuban preservation work at Finca Vigía in Havana, Ernest Hemingway’s home for the final 22 years of his life. Project work commenced in 2005 and is ongoing.
Texas Dance Hall Preservation
Mission Espada Gate
