Cover the roof in a carpet of grass to save energy, says Irish Times headline
Testing Roof Performance
“Green roofs go back thousands of years – now modern vegetated roofs can save energy,” wrote Frank McDonald, Environment Correspondent in the July 8, 2010 issue of the Irish Times newspaper.
“GOING GREEN means more than just talk for Maureen Connelly, director of the Centre for Architectural Ecology in Vancouver, Canada. She’s a passionate advocate of 'vegetated roofs' and sees no reason why all flat roofs shouldn’t be covered in a carpet of sedums or fescue grasses to bring them alive.”
“At their green roof research facility in Vancouver, provided by the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT), they’ve been testing the performance of different roofs over the past eight years; one is a standard flat roof and it’s flanked by a roof covered in sedums and another in grass and fescues.”
“One day last summer, they recorded a temperature of 53 degrees Celsius on the standard roof, but only 27 degrees on the two green roofs. There was also a reduction of 80 to 85 per cent in the energy flowing through these roofs and, more surprisingly, they also cut the noise level inside the building by half.”
To Learn More:
To read the complete story published in the Irish Times, click on Cover the roof in a carpet of grass to save energy.
About the Centre for Architectural Ecology
In 2002, a stakeholder workshop identified barriers to the emerging green roof industry in BC, and agreed upon the importance of research and partnerships. A dedicated Green Roof Research Facility was devised with collaborative support from industry, government and academic partners. The Centre became the hub for green roof research and industry in western Canada.
In establishing the Centre, the goal was to examine and optimize the interface between the natural and built environment. The first phase of research (2002-2007) quantified green roof performance for stormwater mitigation, membrane durability and thermal efficiency in the climate of coastal BC. These results can be found in Information Resources/ Publications. The second phase (2007-2010) has expanded the research themes to embrace acoustics, living walls, biodiversity, and materials research.
To learn more about the Centre, click here.
Posted July 2010