June/July 2008
Green Roofs
C O N T E N T S
Sustainable Sites: The Role of Paving Systems in Sustainable Projects
Chapter Update: Avery Brewery Pours in the Support
Green Government: 2008 Legislative Session Supports Sustainability
Green Roofs : Denver Botanical Gardens New Green Roof
Executive Director Corner :The Benefits of Membership
VISION
Promote responsibility for Colorado's environmental legacy.
MISSION
Advance and promote sustainable planning, design, construction and operation of the built environment through education, improving industry guidelines, policy advocacy, and information and resource sharing.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Tom Hootman, President
RNL Design
Dana Kose, Vice Chair
M.A. Mortenson
Megan Christensen, Secretary
Bovis Lend Lease
Jim Bradburn, Treasurer
RMH Group
Mike Lowell, Advocacy Chair
US GSA
Mike Doody, Memberhip Chair
Herman Miller, Inc
Josh Radoff, Director At Large
YRG Consultants
Sue McFaddin, Director At Large
Seven Generations
Ted Caulkins, Education Chair
Cistern Solutions
Daniele Loffreda, Communications Chair
Plateau Enviro Associates
Conor Merrigan, EGB Chair
C2 Sustainable Development Consultants
Deb Kleinman
Executive Director
Colorado Building Green is the official newsletter of the U.S. Green Building Council – Colorado Chapter, and is published bi-monthly. If you are interested in submiting a story, ideas or other information for publication, please contact the editor at dgloffreda@msn.com
Practicing Sustainability: New Western Green Roof at Denver Botanic Gardens Features Drought Tolerant Plants
By Mark Fusco, Senior Horticulturist, Denver Botanic Gardens
Though the notion of gardening on a rooftop may seem a bit avant-garde to some city dwellers, green roof technology goes back thousands of years. The Vikings in Scandinavia grew sod on their homes for insulation, Mesopotamians created the storied Hanging Gardens of Babylon and sod roofs were popular with our country’s early pioneers.
Today, our built environment serves as a concrete barrier to the flora and fauna found outside its walls, often creating a distinct barrier between humans and nature. Thankfully, the trend is changing, and old lessons are being rekindled and modified to fit today’s constructed world.
Denver Botanic Gardens is doing its part to encourage this renaissance by creating a green roof that showcases drought-tolerant perennials and annuals from around the world that thrive in our Western climate. The rooftop garden was designed by Gardens staff, with landscape architecture assistance from Denver-based Civitas Inc. It is the first publicly accessible green roof in Colorado, featuring xerophytic bulbs, shrubs and herbaceous perennials arranged to provide year-round color and texture.
This isn’t just another pretty garden, however. A green roof is living architecture with a purpose. It filters and reduces storm water, reduces heating and cooling costs, increases (often doubling) the life of the roof membrane, and reduces the urban heat island effect. Green roofs have other benefits - studies suggest that people who can see or have access to a green roof in a work environment report fewer sick days and increased productivity.
For the last two decades, Europeans have reaped the practical benefits of green roof technology. Over the last 10 years, interest in these green roof systems has increased exponentially in North America. Cities like Vancouver, Montreal, Chicago, New York, Portland and Washington, D.C., have developed incentive programs and processes that promote the use of green roofs.
However, adoption of this technology has been slow in America’s more arid regions.
The time has come to embrace green roofs in the mountain West. They offer the same benefits found elsewhere in the world, and they are feasible to construct. The only real difference is the plant palette, which is comprised of more drought-tolerant, hardy plants that thrive in our arid climate.
The Denver Botanic Gardens is setting the bar for Western-style green roofs with its new addition, while also supporting its mission of sustainability by helping to bridge the rift between the natural world and humans’ built environment.