Sustainable Florida! Green Roofs! UCF Orlando October 21, 2008

I attended the Collin's Center Sustainable Florida Conference this week hosted by UCF. The event was eye-opening and inspiring. Our panel presented on the urgent need to restore vertical green to the Urban Core.

Benefits from vertical green in the Urban Core include; A. Stormwater cleansing, B. Creation of Wildlife Habitat, and C. Reconnection of humans to our connections with nature - A Sense of Place Reality in an otherwise electronic world.

Check out the Sustainable Florida Website!

The new Florida Green Roof Project - Next Episode - Installation of the Liner!

New eUrbanism! Green Roofs everywhere! We are refining the available technology - now doing things only dreamed of before.... So we'd like to think.. Our ancestors and those before us had vertical green techniques so much more refined - even though they lacked the polymer and synthetic materials we have today...

Hanging Gardens of Babylon! and also check out Wikipedia's write up...

IFAS at UF has a great virtual field trip website that provides more info on vertical crop growing and hydroponics.... see previous blog...

OK but back to the new vegetated roof. Today was the 20 mil PVC liner installation day and unfortunately it was real windy - a front is coming through -

Normally on a TPO roof there is no need to put a root barrier down - you always can if you want to but the TPO and the PVC root barrier are one and the same material practically and you end up just duplicating efforts.

But hey! If you want another liner over the TPO - put one there. The black pond liners you can find a Lowe's and Home Depot work great!!! These come in various stock sizes. You can get 13' x 20', 13' x 10', 8' x 10' and others. Watch Craigslist for great buys on pond liners as there are many people who buy the liners thinking they will get a 'round-to-it' and build a backyard pond. It is amazing how many pond liners I see for sale on either e-bay or Craigslist!

For sure you would want to put a liner over asphalt shingles - as we are doing here... Otherwise the roots would devour the asphalt shingles eventually...

But over TPO - well - if you are in doubt build a trial panel! See for yourself!

So since we have a asphalt shingle roof on this project - we are installing a PVC liner. (Always follow OSHA safety guidelines when working above ground)...

Folded up, PVC is heavy and will stay put on the roof. Unfolded the liner is like a waiting sail, ready to leap into the air and follow the breezes. Moreover, liners are slick, slippery and a fall hazard on the ground and especially on a roof or raised platform!

Even over rough - friction heavy asphalt shingles, PVC liners will 'slip and slide'!

MetroVerde's belief is that any vertical penetration through a roof will cause a failure or maintenance issue, sooner rather than later, in Florida's harsh environment!

Today's project roof has a 5/12 slope - moderately steep slope...

And today was WINDY! With the front coming through, as soon as I started unfolding the liner - the wind would pick it up and throw it down over the edge...

See the photo's...

But using MeroVerde's patented attachment system, once you get the mat laid out in a roughly positioned posture - then quickly attach the mat and the roof with the first fastener - usually the highest corner in the direction of the prevailing wind.

Install another fastener ever three feet on both the x and y axis. Carefully move across the roof area, installing all fasteners until the entire liner perimeter has been attached to the existing roof. Make sure the liner is stretched tightly across the roof and there is no obvious buckling or 'air bubbles' in the liner.

Usually the weight of the liner will press down and form against the existing roof. Once the MV GRP vegetated panels are installed the weight should be easily sufficient to hold the entire system in place.

See the photos! The final installation photo shows the liner stretched and attached - ready for the mats!

Watch for the next episode! Until then - Happy Green Roofing! - PS - Feel free to call me anytime you wish to discuss Green Roofs! 904-294-2656... :) Kevin

Brown Curly Q's on the Alliums. It has been a while since we've had a rain event...Florida Green Roofs

Other than the tale tell sign that the alliums are aware that it has been a good while since rain has moistened their roof top beds, the MetroVerde Extensive Green Roofs I've been following are looking good.

The Semps have really enjoyed the respite from the humidity and are looking perky and green! Though you do not see them here. I'll post a pic of them tomorrow.

I was out most of the day today taking the International Society of Arboriculture's certified Municipal Arborist exam - I thought it was a hard test - but as I was reviewing the questions, several key phrases jelled in my mind about adding small trees to the MV Extensive roof panels and after consideration all afternoon - I think it will work!!! But of course, as always, we will vet in the field through many tests. Please be sure and stay tuned for more info as the field trials take shape.

Back to the alliums in a second - but first - we are going to develop a spreadsheet for the blog that will allow us to post temperature readings of on deck asphalt, on deck vegetation, below deck asphalt and below deck vegetated sampling points on a set of Jacksonville, Florida roofs. We will keep the readings posted year around for our interests and comments. Right now I am seeing October mid-day below deck under asphalt readings averaging 128 degrees F while below deck under extensive vegetation mats of 81 degrees F.

We are also running LC-50 tests on straight rainwater and then rainwater runoff from an asphalt shingled roof and a vegetated roof. It looks like the only roof that doesn't kill the fathead minnows is...well - we need to wait for the final data.

OK alliums. As you can see in the photo - the alliums are feeling the semi-drought. Though only a trained eye would probably see the stress indication in the leaf blade tips - it is there. But this is how alliums respond to drought. We will keep posting pictures until we experience a decent rainfall event. Never fear for these plants though - they are tough, tough, tough. Judy and I have worked with these plants for years and years. You cannot kill them and when you trim the blades back you can almost see them grow back out!

Can you tell from the photo? Lots of lush green - but look for the thin brown tips. It has been three weeks since a solid rain. If this was a roof with a modular tray system - here in Florida my bets are that you'd have a dead mess. Mat systems are so much better suited for the three Florida H's - Hurricanes, Heat and Humidity...

Until tomorrow! Happy Green Roofing Dreams! Kevin :)

The 3 C’s of Sustainability: Communication, Community Involvement, and Campus Environment," the 3rd Annual Campus & Community Sustainability Conferenc

This conference, held in Orlando will be a premiere event to attend if you are interested in learning the details of Sustainability and Green Roofing in Florida!

Visit The 3 C’s of Sustainability: Communication, Community Involvement, and Campus Environment," the 3rd Annual Campus & Community Sustainability Conference hosted by the University of Central Florida and the Council for Sustainable Florida website for more details.

I will be moderating a panel discussing the Importance of Restoring Green to the Urban Core and will be joined on the panel by Dr. Marty Wanielista, P.E. of UCF, Catherine Burkee of Breaking Ground Construction, and Rob Overly of Rink Architecture. We will focus on the big three benefits of Restoring Green to the Urban Core: 1- Treating Stormwater, 2- Providing a Sense of Place, and 3- Recreating Habitat for Wildlife.

Examples of Dr. Wanielista's Green Roof systems and more will be discussed.

Join us for this fantastic opportunity to look at Green Roofs and More!!!