SYMBIOS
eco-tecture + design + build
Living Roofs
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New Wind Uplift Design Standard Approved for Green Roofs -
The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) has accepted a new Wind Design Standard for Vegetative Roofing Systems know as RP14. This standard, was created to provide a design and installation reference for green roofing professionals (GRP’s) to help eliminate the risk of wind uplift on vegetative /green roofs in high wind areas.
Green Roof Industry Grows 16.1 per cent in 2009
Despite the severe economic downturn last year, the green roof industry grew by 16.1 per cent over the course of 2009 according to a survey conducted by Green Roofs for Healthy Cities. Over 10,000,000 square feet of vegetative green roofing was installed across the US in 2009.
Green Roofs for Healthy Cities (GRHC) is a rapidly growing not-for-profit industry association of green roof experts in North America.
Carbon Sequestration Potential of Extensive Green Roofs- ScienceDaily (Sep. 26, 2009) Green roofs, those increasingly popular urban rooftops covered with plants, could help fight global warming, scientists in Michigan are reporting. The scientists found that replacing traditional roofing materials in an urban area the size of Detroit, with a population of about one-million, with green would be equivalent to eliminating a year’s worth of carbon dioxide emitted by 10,000 mid-sized SUVs and trucks.
Their study, the first of its kind to examine the ability of green roofs to sequester carbon which may impact climate change, is scheduled for the Dec. issue of Environmental Science & Technology, a semi-monthly journal.
Kristin Getter and colleagues point out in the new study that green roofs are multi-functional. They reduce heating and air conditioning costs, for instance, and retain and detain storm-water. Researchers knew that green roofs also absorb carbon dioxide, a major greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming, but nobody had measured the impact until now.
The scientists measured carbon levels in plant and soil samples collected from 13 green roofs in Michigan and Maryland over a two-year period. They found that green roofing an urban area of about one million people would capture more than 55,000 tons of carbon, the scientists say. That’s an amount “similar to removing more than 10,000 mid-sized SUV or trucks off the road a year,” the article notes.
Salmon Creek Falls School & Environmental Center- California’s First and Only LEED Platinum Public School
Salmon Creek Falls School, Occidental, California, received the maximum level of official recognition for it’s sustainable and environmentally friendly newly built school building. The K-8 public school was awarded LEED Platinum certification by the USGBC. This achievement grants the school the first platinum award to be given to any public school in the state of California (K-12). It is also the first and only LEED Platinum rated building within Sonoma County.
This new facility is an outstanding showcase of state-of-the-art green technologies and includes a green vegetative roof, designed and installed by SYMBIOS eco-tecture. The ‘living roof’, which contributed towards gaining points necessary for a platinum certificate, will help reduce storm-water runoff, improve building performance, conserve energy and provide a food source for local habitat. Biodiversity was emphasized in the planting scheme, which included 12 species of drought-tolerant succulents, three of which are native to California. In addition, the roof acts as a learning tool for the school’s environmental education program.
Other sustainable features of the building include passive solar design, daylight harvesting, 30 kw PV solar system, eco-plasters and floor finishes, FSC lumber and recycled content steel framing low-water use fixtures, LED and CF lighting throughout w/ IP sensors and rainwater retention wetlands to protect the near-by creek.
The building was designed through a collaborative process involving a community-based steering committee spearheaded by Victoria Johnston. Gaia Design produced the conceptual plans and Persinger Architects developed the design and was the architect of record. The entire process from start to completion of the building occurred over a six-year period.
An award ceremony issuing the LEED Platinum plaque happened on April 21, 2010, at the new facility located at 1935 Bohemian Hwy, Occidenta (Sonoma County, California)
GRP Accreditation Awarded – Kerrie Lee Cole of SYMBIOS, based in Sonoma County (Northern California) received a Green Roof Professional accreditation from GRHC (Green Roofs for Healthy Cities). She is part of the first national class to receive this professional designation in the industry.
She has successfully completed a multi-disciplinary exam encompassing five areas of concentration including pre-design, design contract management, quality assurance and support and maintenance. The GRP accreditation verifies that the individual has attained the level of interdisciplinary knowledge of best practices associated with the successful design, installation and maintenance of green roof systems. Congratulations to Kerrie Lee Cole!
National Geographic - Green roofs get national press covered in a recent issue of National Geographic (May 2009) Author Verlyn Klinkenborg writes a fascinating article that is supported by some astounding images of rooftops around the nation.
Verlyn explains the building movement in common terms and helps to bridge the gap between us industry fanatics and the general public. She writes, “ Think of millions of acres of unnatural rooftops around the globe. And now imagine returning some of that enormous human foot-print to nature – creating green spaces where there was once only asphalt and gravel.”
View the entire article at National Geographic
San Francisco Green Roof Symposium - Green Roof for Healthy Cities (GRHC) co-hosted this symposium to demonstrate the benefits of a green roof system and began to develop an action plan on how to establish a local green roof industry through research and policy development.
The workshop provided an opportunity for participants to learn from local and national experts about the general design and implementation of green roofs. Regional case studies were featured and afternoon focus group sessions allowed attendees the chance to identify with relevant city officials the local research needs and obstacles to implementation. Input gathered from participants of this workshop will help guide the further development of green roof policy options in the San Francisco area. Symbios will continue on the path of bringing more awareness to this relatively new (to the US) industry.