"Toronto Takes Its Green Policy to the Roofs"
"'Green Roofs' Growing More Popular"
"Landscape Architects Tend to a Green Roof"
"Montgomery Drafts Green Building Plan"
"Area Firms Look to Plant Seeds in Production of Green Roofs"
"Greenery Grows as a Roof Solution"
"The Greening of Chicago"
"Building With Grass Roots"
"Greening a University's Roof"
"Turf Battle"
"Green Roofs Catching On"
"The Greening of a Landmark of Urban Blight"
"Boosting Energy Efficiency in Housing Is Focus of New State Initiative"
"Swooping Green Roof Highlights New Holl Design"
"Condo Strives to Meet LEED Platinum Standards"

Earlier this year, Toronto's city council approved a three-part strategy of education, incentives and regulation aimed at persuading more commercial developers to top off their buildings with "green roofs" that include everything from trees to shrubbery. Although the city has not included fast-tracking the permits for developers planning green roofs as Chicago has done, city planners are being urged to incorporate green roofs into the actual approval process for zoning and official plan amendments. Applications will be judged on a case-by-case basis and exempted if green roofs are deemed "inappropriate," such as when a roof has a steep-slope. The building industry's green standard-bearers in Canada include Tridel Corp. and Minto Developments, both of which have applauded the Toronto council's efforts. Tridel environmental consultant Jamie James notes: "I get the impression the city is looking at green roofs as an evolution towards a more holistic approach to improving overall environmental and energy performance in buildings. I'm looking forward to seeing what the next step will be." Green Roofs for Health Cities President Steven Peck adds that the higher upfront cost of green roofs can be more than offset by operational savings down the road. Green roofs can improve a building's resale value and reduce the size of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems, but Peck insists the benefits are site-specific and should not be generalized.
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The American Society of Landscape Architects has unveiled a new green roof at its facility in downtown Washington, D.C., to highlight a trend starting to catch hold in the U.S., where green roof space increased 80 percent in 2005. In Germany, where the model emerged, green roofs now cover some 50 square miles of space, compared to the 2.15 million square feet of North America as a whole. Chicago is the U.S. leader with Mayor Richard Daley making green roofs a vital component of his effort to make Chicago "the most environmentally friendly" city in the U.S. The mayor has backed his talk with regulatory incentives unmatched by any other North American city. China is also in the thick of the trend, launching an energy-savings building drive in March to ease fuel shortages and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
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The American Society of Landscape Architects has incorporated a green roof at its Washington, D.C.-based headquarters to promote efficient energy consumption. The building's green roof, which measures 3,000 square feet, cost $946,000. Supporters of green roofs have called for more North American cities to promote this feature in their buildings. However, Christian Werthmann, an assistant professor at Harvard's Graduate School of Design, believes that the best results are achieved through voluntary efforts. He adds that potential polices to require developers to use green roofs could reap poor results because of their resistance to a requirement. The use of green roofs in the U.S. reportedly increased 80 percent in 2005.
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A bill introduced in Montgomery County, Md. in late April calls for buildings of 10,000 square feet or more to be environmentally-friendly. These structures would have to score no less than 20 points on the U.S. Green Building Council's rating system and include such features as plant-covered roofs. The bill aims to lower energy costs, reduce pollution and make the county "a leader in the green building movement," according to Montgomery County Executive Douglas Duncan. Duncan notes that the Silver Spring-based Discovery Channel headquarters has a green roof, which minimizes runoff and lowers building temperatures. In the future, Duncan expects to see such roofs on new condominium buildings, among other structures.
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Two Cleveland-area roofing materials producers are at the forefront of the green roofs sector. W.P. Hickman Systems received the National Roofing Contractors Association's 2006 Excellence in Design Award for a roof system installation at Carnegie Mellon University, and Garland Co. was lauded by Green Roofs for Health Cities--an industry group based in Toronto--for its 13-roof project at Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wash. W.P. Hickman CEO David D'Anza is an enthusiastic fan of green roofs, pointing out his city benefits in regards to lessening stormwater runoff, reducing the heating effect big roofs have in summer and shielding the roofing surface from the elements. He notes, though, that green roofs have a long way to go before they take over the industry, mostly because of the fact that overall cost can be twice as much as typical roof construction or restoration. The Carnegie Mellon project included a half-foot layer of dirt, plants and gravel spread over almost 4,000 square feet. Evergreen State Assistant Director of Project Management Nancy Johns states that environmental concerns in the damp Pacific northwest were an impetus in the college's selection to implement green roofs on multiple buildings. She says the new roofs slow down stormwater runoff and serve as a biofiltration system. Although the green roofs sector continues to be a small portion of the roofing industry, executives at Hickman and Garland state it will expand as energy costs rise and builders are persuaded via tax breaks to consider energy efficiency.
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Many builders are using plants and dirt instead of traditional roofs to upgrade insulation and lower energy costs, as well as to reduce the amount of heat that would reflect off a building and into other areas. Besides serving as a good form of insulation, green roofs conserve water, lessen storm runoff and eradicate environmental pollutants. Supporters say there are broader environmental advantages, as well, such as lowering the heat-island effect caused by dense city areas that make them warmer in the summer than the nearby countryside. Large companies are also using green roofs, including Ikea at its new store in Stoughton, Mass.; Ford Motor Co. at its new assembly facility in Dearborn, Mich.; and a building at the World Trade Center Complex and the Manulife Financial building in south Boston. Stevens Roofing Systems in Holyoke, Mass., has been selling green roofing materials to overseas buyers for years and has started marketing its systems in the U.S. in response to burgeoning interest. Green roofs have a couple of disadvantages, though, including that not all low-slope roofs can handle the extra weight of dirt and plants and that the up-front expenses are nearly twice that of regular roofs.
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Chicago environmental commissioner Sadhu Johnston is trying to convert the Windy City into what he says will be the most environmentally friendly city in the country and the U.S. center for environmental design and the production of components for the manufacturing of alternative energy. If it works, Chicago's green movement is predicted to save the city possibly billions of dollars in energy costs and produce significant new business. Chicago initially attracted significant attention to its greening initiatives when it planted an abundant garden on City Hall's rooftop. Companies ranging from Apple to McDonald's to Wal-Mart wanting to loosen up density building regulations or funding to help build new offices are now being persuaded to install green roofs. To date, Chicago has planted or instigated the building of more than 2 million square feet of rooftop gardens--more than all other American cities combined. Chicago is currently among the biggest users of green energy in the nation with an objective of using renewable energy for about 25 percent of city operations.
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The City of Richmond in the Canadian province of British Columbia is home to more than two dozen structures with green roofs. The latest additions to the list are the Sea Island and Hamilton fire halls, whose multipurpose rooms will be topped with 600 square feet to 800 square feet of greenery. The project is made possible by a $500,000 sustainable design grant from the federal government. In 2005, the city enacted a policy that requires new civic buildings to be "LEED" (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified. Green roofs are being credited with lowering greenhouse gases, filtering rainwater, minimizing sewer runoff, conserving energy, and providing homes for birds and insects, among other things. Harold Steves, chair of the city council's planning committee, believes green roofs should be required to make up for the loss of land devoted to parks and farms in recent years. Richmond's City Hall has a trio of green roofs, which city facilities manager David Naysmith says perform well despite the added maintenance. Canada Green Building Council President Thomas Mueller acknowledges green roofs are expensive to construct, but he insists that they are long-lasting and put off costly sewer system upgrades.
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When University of Wisconsin assistant scientist Sandra McLellan was assigned the task of adding a green roof to school facilities, she was faced with a lot of questions from university officials--the answers to many of which she was not clear about. "We had to educate them--and ourselves--on just about everything involving green roofs," says McLellan. "We finally found the best way to do this was to produce our own Green Roof Booklet discussing each concern." The booklet covers everything from definitions of industry terms to costs and types to benefits. "There are many benefits to green roofs, but we feel the energy savings is probably our biggest," says McLellan. According to the university's calculations, the roof will pay for itself in less than 15 years as a result of reduced heating and air conditioning costs. Other benefits include a reduction in stormwater runoff, which can be hazardous to the environment and a burden on local sewer systems. In putting together the booklet, McLellan learned that choosing the right company for the project was key as green roofing is a relatively new industry in the U.S.
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Officials in the District of Columbia want architects HOK Sport and Devrouax & Purnell to incorporate environmentally friendly features into its design of the new Washington Nationals baseball stadium, which is part of the redevelopment of the area along the Anacostia River. However, Washington, D.C. Councilman Jack Evans (D-Ward 2) was upset that the preliminary plans did not include a green roof. Green roofs are covered in vegetation that helps to cool building temperatures in the summer months, as well as reduce runoff by purifying rainwater. Including a green roof in the stadium plans could reduce the pollution of the nearby Chesapeake Bay, he and other proponents contend. "You can't complete the revitalization of Southeast along the river without a clean river," says Chesapeake Bay Foundation spokesman Dan Smith. The foundation was instrumental in the construction of green roofs at the Department of Transportation and American Society of Landscape Architects buildings in downtown Washington, D.C. The 68,000-square-foot roof garden at the transportation department building is one of the largest on the East Coast, funded in part by a $100,000 foundation grant. In regards to the stadium, Evans continues to pressure the designers and the D.C. Sports and Entertainment Commission for better eco-friendly solutions.
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Green roofs are catching on with firms concerned about energy, with EPA indicating that green roofs can be up to 90 degrees Fahrenheit cooler than neighboring conventional rooftops. Installing a roof with grass and other vegetation growing on it can last four times as long. Nearly all states offer tax incentives for building green roofs. For example, Portland, Ore., gives developers floor-area bonuses for using them.
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Nancy Biberman, head of the nonprofit Women's Housing and Economic Development Corp., is heading an ambitious $45 million effort to bring affordable housing to lower-middle-income families in New York City in an abandoned triangular lot at Louis Nine Boulevard and Intervale Avenue. And not only will the housing be affordable, it will be green, featuring, among other things, a roof system of shrubs and small trees planted in a layer of rooftop soil to reduce air pollution and absorb storm runoff. The $174 million complex will be funded by the city, state and federal government, as well as private donors in a part of the city where asthma and air pollution have been longstanding problems. The complex will be surrounded by trees and feature a sculpture garden designed by the Bronx Museum of Arts. Its tenants will "not have the money to take a break from city life and be in a place that's green and quiet and beautiful," says Biberman. "If people can't afford to go there, then we're going to bring it to them." The building, which will include commercial storefront space, is on track for a fourth-quarter 2007 grand opening.
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The New Jersey Department of Community Affairs (DCA) is launching a statewide energy-efficiency initiative in an attempt to lower utilities costs at a time when fuel prices are soaring. DCA Commissioner Susan Bass Levin says the DCA Green Task Force will issue a "green building" guide that focuses on the use of energy-efficient roofing, insulation and other materials in new commercial buildings, homes and affordable-housing units. The department also hopes to expand its Affordable Green program, which offers incentive grants to developers of energy-efficient affordable housing. Another goal of DCA is to use solar power to generate renewable energy.
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Steven Holl Architects will handle the design of a building project in Jutland, Denmark, which will use a green roof. The Herning Center of the Arts will house an art museum, an area for chamber music and the Socle du Monde biennale exhibition. Construction of the center is planned for completion in 2007. Other green design elements included as part of the center are a geothermal-powered HVAC system and a recycling system for so-called "graywater." Construction of the facility is expected to require a $19 million (USD) investment.
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The Meriwether condo complex in Portland, Ore., features 345 units in two towers more than 20 stories tall. Hoffman conducted a review of the curtain wall system to address concerns about potential water damage. Project manager Bill Drinkward noted efforts also focused on preventing water damage to the underground garage. The complex is equipped with green roofs and onsite stormwater treatment. Other features include use of recycled and renewable construction materials and automatic sunshades.
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