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'Green roof' research takes root: Vegetation to
help insulate building, cut utility expenses
May 3 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Adam Smeltz The Centre Daily Times, State College, Pa. This environmental movement starts at the top. The first big one, at the new Forest Resources Building along Bigler Road, spans more than 4,000 square feet atop a first-floor roof. Finished late last month, it combines a four- to six-inch soil layer with a variety of perennial plantings, including lavender and pincushion flowers. The effect, experts said this week, should help insulate the building, trim utility expenses and minimize impacts from stormwater runoff. "We are supposed to be an agricultural school; we are supposed to be leading the charge in making the environment more sustainable and more livable," said Rob Berghage, an associate professor of horticulture here. He has researched green roofs since 2000, exploring their effectiveness while encouraging the university to adopt them. Four small green roofs took shape on shed-type buildings in the horticulture department, Berghage said, before the large-scale green roofs emerged this spring. In addition to the Forest Resources Building project, installed by Scott's Landscaping Inc., a 1920s-era root cellar near Tyson Building is being capped by a 4,500-square-foot green roof. Students and faculty members are contributing to that one. Two more green roofs are planned for the Dickinson law school building, just north of Park Avenue, and the new student health center, now under construction along Bigler Road. "Certainly, if the idea is demonstrated well and has a good payback ratio, we'll see more of them," said Paul Ruskin, a spokesman for the Office of Physical Plant. "We are very interested. Our air-conditioning bills will continue to go up as the cost of electricity increases." In fact, campuswide electricity costs at University Park average about $1 million a month, peaking in the late summer. Berghage said a green roof can cut a building's air-conditioning expenses by 10 to 30 percent. The green-roof concept has been kicking around campus for several decades, Ruskin said. He credited the surging interest in global climate change with helping to give the idea "a new lease on life" here. Upfront costs can be steep -- as much as $18 to $30 per square foot, compared to about $14 a square foot for a conventional roof -- but advocates call the green roof a sound investment. A normal flat roof may last 15 to 20 years, whereas green roofs in Germany have held up as long as 50 years without any trouble, Berghage said. He said the designs have just started to gain leverage in the United States in the last seven or so years. Colleges and universities in particular can use the roofs in research and for course work. In Pennsylvania, Swarthmore College and Carnegie Mellon University are among the others that have bought in. Laurie Henry, a Scott's Landscaping project manager who worked on the forestry building here, said the approach also can dampen noise. The plants themselves usually require little maintenance, she said. "It's a good idea whose time has come," Ruskin said. "We're just looking to make it as cost-effective as possible." Adam Smeltz can be reached at 231-4631. |