DOWNLOAD A COPY OF: “Living Water Smart in British Columbia: Looking at green roofs through a water balance lens” – released by the Partnership for Water Sustainability in April 2023
Note to Reader:
Waterbucket eNews celebrates the leadership of individuals and organizations who are guided by the Living Water Smart vision. The edition published on April 11, 2023 featured Harvy Takhar, an enthusiastic young professional who is the Utilities Engineer with the City of Delta. Harvy is following his passion in unexpected ways because it was happenstance that led him down the green roof pathway to international recognition.
Looking at green roofs through a water balance lens
This edition of Waterbucket eNews is an abrupt change of pace from the recent 3-part series on the Riparian Deficit. We shift our spotlight from the natural to the Built Environment with a feature on green roofs. But not from a technical perspective!
Rather, we feature the story behind the story of Harvy Takhar, an enthusiastic young professional who is the Utilities Engineer with the City of Delta. Harvy is following his passion in unexpected ways because it was happenstance that led him down the green roof pathway to international recognition.
In his quest to make a difference in the local government setting, Harvy Takhar has advanced the state of the art for green roof design. He looked through the water balance lens to conceive and demonstrate what he describes as the connected blue-green roof concept.
Fast forward to last December in Philadelphia. Harvy received the prestigious CitiesAlive International Research Award. Other types of green roofs collect and slowly release rainwater to drainage systems. His “big idea” is a novel way to transform the city environment through its roofscapes. Truly impressive.
In a nutshell, Harvy had an epiphany when he recognized there was a gap in green roof engineering. What did Harvy do? He seized the moment and that is our story behind the story. His story is fascinating.
TO LEARN MORE:
To read the complete story, download a PDF copy of Living Water Smart in British Columbia: Looking at green roofs through a water balance lens.
Research on water balance performance of green roofs
“The idea was to harvest the benefits of green roofs, while keeping them healthy by storing water considering most green roofs adversely affect building systems during the drought. So we added a water cavity, known as the blue roof component, that will feed the green roof portion with capillary irrigation, and it can draw water when it needs it,” says Harvy Takhar.
Dr. Rodrigo Mora’s renderings for the green roof research assemblies with instrumentation. This version has been constructed at BCIT
DOWNLOAD A COPY: https://waterbucket.ca/wcp/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2023/04/PWSBC_Living-Water-Smart_Connected-Blue-Green-Roof_2023.pdf