Not long ago, I heard a presentation by a pro-environmental architect who understood the value roof systems can play in energy and environmental issues. During the course of his presentation, he told the group he had been brought in as a consultant for a three-building project. Two of the buildings were relatively tall; one was less tall and had a bigger footprint.

Rather matter-of-factly, he reported he specified reflective roof systems for the taller buildings and a vegetated roof system for the shorter one, suggesting it didn't take much thought at all to know those were the right decisions.

And perhaps they were. A truly informed roof system designer, however, understands there are few correct conclusions that come so easily. For example, what is the relative energy savings of a reflective roof system compared with a vegetated one? What is the optimum amount of roof insulation to include in a reflective roof system? What is the life expectancy of each of those systems? Is it more environmentally responsible to install a reflective roof system that will be in a landfill in 15 years than it is to install a heat-absorbing roof system that might last twice as long—and be recycled?

The roofing industry is just beginning to understand the implications of all the choices our customers are facing. We have to be careful to avoid the temptation of quick solutions and remember what H.L. Mencken once said: "For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple and wrong."

Best regards,

Bill Good
NRCA Executive Vice President

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"Zeroed Out"
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"Law School Growing Green"
"'Going Green Makes Green,' Utah Broker Says"
"Stunning Solar Building Will Generate More Power Than It Needs"
"Cool Roofs Can Generate Healthy Energy Savings"
"Grant Helps Turn Dream Into Reality"

It has been one year since Jim Mumford planted the first commercial green roof system in San Diego, and his business is now thriving in the area. As president of Good Earth Plant Co., he will spend much of this spring planting residential green roof systems in and around the city. Additionally, Mumford has agreed to serve as the exclusive green roof system contractor in San Diego County for Philadelphia-based Roofscapes Inc., a national green roof system design and installation company. Mumford installed the first commercial green roof system in San Diego atop his own company's building, replacing his old roof system with a waterproof membrane layered with several other layers. After experimenting with plant types and frequency of watering, the 16,000-square-foot roof is now full of grasses and native flowering plants. Mumford noted: "There is no code in California for green roofs. The early adopters are making it happen."
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Southern California Edison plans to install a huge patchwork of solar cells on more than 100 large rooftops throughout Southern California. The solar panels, covering more than 2 square miles of rooftop, will be able to generate 250 megawatts of electricity when the sun is shining. Edison's massive order is nearly equal to all the solar cells produced in the United States last year. Solar photovoltaic installations are increasingly being financed by companies that offer cheaper electricity or lease payments in return for the use of a roof. Facing strong growth in electricity demand, Southern California Edison is under orders from the state to produce 20 percent of its power from renewable sources by 2010. Completing the $875 million project will take roughly five years. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appeared at the announcement on March 27 on the roof of a warehouse in Ontario, Calif. He contends that more partnerships between commercial building owners and utilities could "set off a huge wave of renewable energy growth." Edison plans to control costs by focusing on relatively large installations with teams moving from building to building.
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Good to Go has announced plans to bring its ecologically friendly convenience store, car wash and alternate fuel station concept to at least 150 more Midwest neighborhoods by the end of this decade. The first of these Good to Go stores is on pace to open May 1 in Grand Chute, Wis. Built to the specifications of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program, the store will feature such environmentally friendly design elements as efficient LED lighting and a green roof system with plants and sod. The plantings will minimize absorption of sunlight that could heat the building and force overuse of its HVAC system. Energy savings during the warm summer months could be as much as 25 percent. The rooftop's soil will also act as a sponge to absorb rain and reduce stormwater runoff by up to 95 percent following a 1-inch downpour.
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Building owners and developers continue to go green in Nashville. The latest is Freeman Webb Investments Inc.'s new building, which is scheduled for completion this November. It will be the state's "greenest" office building, using recycled gravel and materials that come from the region. In addition, the building will boast a green roof system with 18 inches of soil to absorb stormwater runoff and heat. Freeman Webb spokesman Kent Burns remarks: "By reducing the temperature on [the] roof, it reduces the amount of energy it takes to heat the building. ... You can expect 30 to 35 percent energy savings." He adds that the building will use 25 percent less energy than an average office building.
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In Washington, D.C., a couple of student organizations are working with George Washington University administrators to raise $18,000 for the installation of a structure that could lower the university's electric bills. To date, Green GW and Net Impact have raised $7,000 of a needed $25,000 to place a green roof system atop the Elliott School of International Affairs. The vegetative structure would consist of soil, plants, a waterproof membrane and a drainage system. Brett Kaplan, a graduate student who has helped spearhead the project, is working with Net Impact to provide administrators with the research they need to sign off the project. The 2,000-square-foot green roof system, which would be installed on the City View room terrace in the Elliott School, would enable the roof underneath it to last up to two times longer and decrease stormwater runoff. Nearby American University recently installed a 7,000-square-foot green roof system. Other colleges that have gone this route include the University of North Carolina and Harvard University.
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Integrated Design Associates' (IDeAs) Z2 Building in San Jose, Calif., is the first commercial office building in the United States to achieve maximum energy efficiency and reach a net-zero energy/net-zero carbon emissions goal, using state-of-the-art solutions and technologies. Both a photovoltaic energy source and a novel HVAC system were utilized in the Z2 Building. The building's photovoltaic energy source converts sunlight into electricity using solar roof panels. The HVAC system was designed to produce maximum performance, indoor air quality and efficiency with the incorporation of a ClimateMaster geothermal heat pump system that pipes warm or cool water through the concrete floor slab to create radiant heating and cooling, in accordance with the season. A heat exchanger collects heat from the water in winter months and pulls the cooling effect from the water in the summer while the space is heated and cooled with the use of a radiant floor system with cross-linked counter flow tubing. Other energy-saving measures include the replacement of traditional computer monitors with LCD-flat screens and the installation of low-energy fluorescent bulbs.
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In Colorado, Chipeta Elementary School is set to become a model green school in District 51. When it opens this fall, students will have a school in which waterless urinals are standard and lights will be operated by movement sensors. An estimated 10 percent of Chipeta will be built with recycled building materials, and the building will feature a white roof system to reduce the heat island effect. Cal Clark, project planner for the school, believes this is the first of many such schools in the state. He remarked: "We're going to take the building components that work well and incorporate that in other schools plus we're going to continue to research other efficiency designs."
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A $19 million sustainable development has been established in Harlem for low-income households. The 85-unit building, the recent grand opening of which was attended by former New York City Mayor David Dinkins, is the first environmentally friendly affordable housing development in the borough. Features of the building include a sustainable roof system and energy-efficient appliances. Residential eligibility will be designated as households earning below $42,000 annually. Dinkins said he hoped the venture would serve as a precedent for other affordable housing projects in the future.
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Denver-based Ohlson Lavoie Collaborative (OLC) recently won a couple of 2008 Innovative Architecture & Design Awards from Recreation Management Magazine for the Aspen Lodge Recreation Center in Broomfield, Colo., and the Health and Fitness Center in Ann Arbor, Mich. The awards recognize new and remodeled recreation facilities that are models of excellence in the recreation community. The Aspen Lodge Recreation Center emphasizes the integration between indoor and outdoor spaces by using a raised roof, heavy timber, exposed beams and trellised walkways. The Health and Fitness Center, meanwhile, delivers the latest breakthroughs in sustainable design. Among the facility's unique characteristics are floors and carpets made of non-toxic renewable materials and a reflective white roof system that reduces heating and cooling requirements. The building is poised to become the first gold-certified Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) building for health-and-fitness west of the Mid-Atlantic United States.
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A building addition currently under construction at the Thomas M. Cooley Law School's new Auburn Hills, Mich., campus has a number of environmentally friendly features, including a seeded roof system that insulates the building and timers for the energy-efficient lights. In addition, the building's carpet is backed with recycled tires while the parking lot is made of a permeable material that soaks up rainwater. Although the inclusion of "green" features made the building more expensive, the move will save the school money in the long run. According to officials at the law school, the "green" features will help save $95,000 a year in electricity and water fees. Officials with the City of Auburn Hills are hoping that other new buildings will also incorporate energy-efficient features. In an effort to make those hopes a reality, the city held a green building workshop on March 20 for those in the construction industry.
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Green buildings dominated the discussion at the most recent meeting of Commercial Real Estate Women Utah. Corporate Realty Group broker Alexander Lofft was a featured speaker, and he reminded his audience that one of the main goals in commercial real estate is to reduce operating expenses in order to maximize net operating income. He remarked: "Any place you can suck out operating expenses—whether it's water use on your landscaping or interior lighting—that turns around and inflates the value of the building." Katie Noble, senior associate with Corporate Real Estate Group, added that another advantage of green renovations is an increase in a building's desirability. Companies are becoming more sensitive to such issues as their "carbon footprint" and the health of their workers, who can suffer from "sick building syndrome." Noble commented: "A green roof is an excellent way to go, [and] xeriscaping will save a lot of money in water. Replacing windows is big, [as is] adding insulation and replacing your light bulbs."
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Once completed, the Masdar Headquarters building in Abu Dhabi will generate more power than it needs. The building's solar roof system—one of the largest in the world—will be constructed first and will power the construction of the rest of the 1.4-million-square-foot building. Masdar Headquarters will also have integrated wind turbines and consume nearly 70 percent less water than a typical mixed-use building of its size. Designed by Chicago-based architecture firm Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill, the building will serve as the centerpiece of Masdar City—a $22 billion development in the United Arab Emirates capital that will be constructed over seven phases. It is on track for a 2016 completion.
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An increasing number of building owners and managers are turning to cool roof systems to bring energy costs down and help improve the environment. Cool roofing materials include membranes, metal roofs, tile and even asphalt shingles. The two main properties that govern cool roofs are solar reflectance and thermal emittance. The former, which has a greater effect on a roof's coolness, refers to the ability of a material to bounce the sun's infrared wavelength back out before the rays can be absorbed as heat by the roof and transferred into a building's interior. The latter is the capacity of a material to release heat it has already absorbed back into the atmosphere before it is transferred by convection down into the building. Different geographic areas and accrediting bodies have different definitions for how reflective or emissive a cool roof system must be. For instance, the California Title 24 2005 standard for such roofs requires the product to have an initial thermal emittance of .75 and an initial solar reflectance of .70, while Chicago's Energy Conservation Code requires low-sloped roofs to have an initial reflectance of .25 on new roofs through 2008. Cool roof systems are known to have a positive impact on the climate outside of buildings, too, chiefly by mitigating the urban heat island effect.
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In Connecticut, the Weston Historical Society confirms that it has received a $250,000 grant from the state to help it build an archive facility on the Coley Homestead. Plans are to erect the building adjacent to and incorporate the existing Cider Barn on the grounds of the society's headquarters. While preserving the look and feel of the 19th-Century-era farm, the new building will include such modern features as a photovoltaic roof system on the south side. Society treasurer Hal Shupack states: "Placement of a photovoltaic array is ideal on the property. It will generate about 10 kilowatts of electricity, enough to supply all the electricity in the [new] building and probably the [existing] house, as well."
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