At least it looked as though the test would proceed until the mat failed.
After all, the MetroVerde Green Roof had been sitting in the hot Florida sun, non-irrigated, 1" thick layer of engineered soil for 18 months at the University of Florida.
We are going into our fifth week of zero precipitation (no rain).
The plants looked brown.
The panel was fixed at a 3/12 slope just feet away from the large hurricane simulator.
The plants looked vulnerable. The engineered soil just waiting to be blown off the mat along with plants.
The large diesel engines fired up and the turbines spun.
50 MPH for one minute - a little dust blew off the roof.
70 MPH for a minute plus - not much happened.
90 MPH and the dust around the base of the testing platform flew and the plants bent backwards - almost parallel to the roof slope. Shingles on a shed 300' away began flapping.
We were all amazed, having seen other green roofs under hurricane tests blow away, soil and plants...
We took a break and looked at the panel. A small amount of the engineered soil had blown off the mat.
The 120 MPH for over three minutes.
The dead, brown material blew off the plants - like a good pruning. Even the large, tender Echeveria was still there, albeit leaning a little.
The nodding garlic - Allium canadense was beautiful.
The plant roots were so intertwined in the mat that 80% of the engineered soil remained.
Successful. The first Florida Designed Green Roof Panel to pass the 120 MPH wind uplift test.
Lots learned -
Will be working with UF more in the future!
Enjoy the video - I'll post the link as soon as YouTube finishes processing it - in the meantime here are a couple pics and happy Green Roofing!
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| MetroVerde Green Roof Passes 120 MPH Hurricane Testing |
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| 120 MPH Winds on Green Roof - Hurricane Testing |
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