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F Lofty Ideas GREEN ROOF SYSTEMS BRING NUMEROUS BENEFITS AND ADVANTAGES by Laurie Jones For some people, the term green roof refers to the wide variety of vegetation planted on rooftops of buildings ranging from personal residences to hotels or manufacturing plants. For others, green roof installations include panels that reflect heat and cold to save energy and gain LEED credits. Terry McGlade, manager of green roofing at Flynn Canada Ltd., is an expert at this environmentally- friendly option. "According to the GRHC [Green Roofs for Healthy Cities], green roof growth last year was 200 per cent worldwide," he says. "The social benefits from green infrastructure are beginning to define our policies in urban environments, and it has long been suspected that man's involvement with nature has led to decreased stress levels and higher productivity." Can we deny that a walk in a park restores our sense of well-being and helps to deal with our high-speed lives? So too can green roofs. "Green roofers are always stressing stormwater management and heat island reduction, but sadly rarely mention the social benefits that come from interacting with a roof that is green," says McGlade. "Recently TD Bank evaluated the cost of a tree. Every aspect was covered including the esthet- ics and environmental benefits. By putting a value on a tree, TD has opened up the discussion to include societal benefits for all green infrastructures in cities, and especially green roofs." While not being accessible, green roofs have a role in the mental de- stressing that simply viewing a green space gives the viewer. The name ZinCo Canada Inc. has been synonymous with innovation and sustainability for many years now. As a pioneer in matters of green roofing, ZinCo has been consistent in treading the environmental path for over 40 years. "Our top priority is providing permanently reliable green roof sys- tems for all types of roof and to do so in an environmentally-compatible way," says Jelle Vonk, business manager and green roof professional. "ZinCo sys- tem substrates, therefore, are based on recycled, pure-grade clay brick. Where possible, recycling materials are also used for drainage elements and protection mats." ZinCo has now taken another inno- vative step. At the 3rd International Green Roof Congress in Hamburg, Ger- many, ZinCo introduced Natureline, the system build-up made from renewable raw materials. "In a time of increasing scarcity of fossil raw materials and of global warming, ZinCo has taken on the resulting challenge and is looking for suitable solutions for conserving natural resources," says Vonk. "The use of renewable raw materials is an obvious solution and one that promises huge potential as they are biomass sources from agricultural, forest or marine production. These materials are typically one or two-year-old plants such as grain, maize, sugar cane, oleaginous crops, wood and in the future possi- bly even algae." LiveRoof Ontario has been providing green roof modules in Canada for seven years. "I came across the product in 2006 when I was researching getting into the green roof business," says Kees Govers, technical sales manager. "At the time we were primarily supply- ing garden centres with perennials. LiveRoof has been a great product; it has been the leading modular green roof product in the Toronto market for the last six years. LiveRoof's ability to create a monolithic green roof from modules creates a horticulturally superior end product. This ensured installation on several high- profile projects, which in turn has led to more and larger specifications and projects." Govers says one of the big advantages of the LiveRoof system is that it is completely pre-grown in a nursery rather than being put together on the roof. "Being in modules means the window of opportunity for installation is a lot broader. This is one of the easier systems to install, especially when you're coming up against the beginnings of winter." He adds the majority of his clients are develop- ing new buildings, but there are also retrofits being done. "One of the challenges of retrofits, especially in Ontario, is the snow load changes in building codes. Buildings that had sufficient loadbearing capacity in previous times may not now." In 2009, the City of Toronto initiated the Eco-Roof Incentive Program that promotes the installation of green and cool roofs on Toronto's existing and new buildings. The program fits well into the plans for Snips Landscape and Nursery that installed, and has since maintained, three Xeroflor green roofs at a home in downtown Toronto: on the house, garage and shed. In addition to the pre-vegetated XF301 sedum mats, the green roofs each include six to 10 inches of engineered growing medium planted with perennials, sloping down to a lower profile by incorporating the Xeroflor sedum mats. "The idea was to create natural, This private residence (below) is located on a hillside in southern Germany and features living space above, a sauna in the middle and a pool below. Photo courtesy ZinCo Canada Inc. april 2014 /37 Green roof Systems p36-39Green Roof.indd 37 14-04-02 4:53 PM