Big Green: Canadian Green Roof Research (was RE: BigGreen Digest, Vol 34, Issue 6)

[Ian Theaker]

Big Green folk,

Jim Wise's post prompted me to point others to two Canadian green roof/wall
resources, which are nice wet/cold bookends to the hot/arid research by
UTexas/Austin:

1) British Columbia Institute of Technology's (BCITs) Centre for Advancement
of Green Roof Technology:
	http://commons.bcit.ca/greenroof/research.html
"Research Themes :: Phase 1 of BCIT's green roof research program
(2002-2007) demonstrated how extensive green roofs perform in the coastal BC
climate for stormwater mitigation, thermal efficiency and material
durability. The summarized results from Phase 1 can be viewed as a
presentation and in reports and articles. Expanded themes of research for
the second phase (2007-2010) will explore sound transmission and living
walls."

Research reports, presentations, case studies & photos.  Like UTexas/Austin,
BCITss CAGRT is researching a wide variety of roof planting modules with
different constructions, planting, etc.  Good people, good work.

2) Green Roofs for Healthy Cities (GRHC)
	http://www.greenroofs.org/
" Green Roofs for Healthy Cities' mission is to increase the awareness of
the economic, social, and environmental benefits of green roof
infrastructure across North America and rapidly advance the development of
the market for green roof products and services."

Their website has many resources, including recent media articles and an
online database of research papers available for sale. (GRHC *is* a
non-profit deserving - and needing - our support....) They too are also now
working on green wall approaches.

	
Warm regards,
Ian Theaker    P.Eng.
			LEED Technical Manager
			Canada Green Building Council, West Coast office
			319 West Pender St., Ste. 310
			Vancouver, BC  V6B 1T3



> -----Original Message-----
> From: biggreen-bounces at lists.biggreen.org [mailto:biggreen-
> bounces at lists.biggreen.org] On Behalf Of biggreen-
> request at lists.biggreen.org
> Sent: August 13, 2008 9:00 AM
> To: biggreen at lists.biggreen.org
> Subject: BigGreen Digest, Vol 34, Issue 6
> 
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> Today's Topics:
> 
>    1. Re: BigGreen Digest, Vol 34, Issue 5
>       (clarke at thinkgreenbuilding.com)
>    2. Interesting comparison study on Green Roofs (James A. Wise)
> 
> 
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
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> ------------------------------
> 
> Message: 2
> Date: Tue, 12 Aug 2008 17:02:22 -0700
> From: "James A. Wise" <jamesawise at earthlink.net>
> Subject: Big Green: Interesting comparison study on Green Roofs
> To: biggreen at lists.biggreen.org
> Message-ID: <77239C93-DF56-4610-B39B-4C6CDC0ACE04 at earthlink.net>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=WINDOWS-1252; delsp=yes;
> 	format=flowed
> 
> 
> Dear BG colleagues,
> 
> In case some of  you missed this from the Chronicle for Higher
> Education--not your usual GB source.....
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> Jim W.
> 
> Study of Green Roofs Finds Some Perform Better Than Others
> 
> Green roofs can vary widely in their performance characteristics,
> researchers at the University of Texas at Austin found in a study
> comparing six manufacturers products. For the study, the researchers
> created 24 experimental roof samples that used varying mixes of 16
> types of plants.
> 
> The study was conducted in 2006 and 2007 by the universitys Lady
> Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, and some results were described in a
> university news release. The researchers published a full account of
> their findings on the Web site of the journal Urban Ecosystems.
> 
> All of the green roofs outperformed traditional roofs in lessening
> the need for air-conditioning. At noon today, for instance, the
> center reported on its Web page that the outdoor air temperature was
> 84.9 degrees Fahrenheit. The surface temperature of a black-topped
> roof was 101.5 degrees, while the temperature below it was 101.6. The
> surface temperature of a white-topped roof was 89.2, while the
> temperature below it was 97.0. The surface temperature of a green
> roof was 82.2, and the temperature below was 89.4.
> 
> Where the green roofs differed significantly, however, was in how
> much rainwater they captured during storms, preventing the water from
> becoming runoff. Roofs with more plants native to Texas captured
> water better than those planted with sedums, which are more commonly
> used for roofs. The best roofs captured all of the water during a
> light rain and about half the water from a downpour, the researchers
> reported, whereas the least-effective roofs captured only a quarter
> of the water from a light rain and less than 10 percent of what fell
> during a deluge.
> 
> Lawrence Biemiller | Monday August 11, 2008
> 
> <http://chronicle.com/blogs/architecture/2311/study-of-green-roofs-
> finds-some-perform-better-than-others>
> 
> ------------------------------
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