Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/493534
A PR IL 2015 | 35 PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY VERTICAL LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS INC.; LIVEROOF ONTARIO INC. Green Roof Systems Jason Rokosh, founder of Vertical Landscape Architects, is a landscape architect and contractor specializing in the design, installation and maintenance of green roofs and living walls. "We create green space on roofs and walls to make living in an urban environment better and more enjoyable," explains Rokosh. As the trend toward urbanization continues and clients expect more from smaller spaces, Rokosh expects the demand for green roofs and living walls to grow. Prior to launching Vertical Landscape Architects, Rokosh researched the industry and undertook green roof training to become a certified Green Roof Professional (GRP) by Green Roofs for Healthy Cities. "I'm very glad I did this to distinguish myself as an expert in the field and to eliminate costly mistakes that could have adverse impacts on my business or on the industry." Rokosh provides both green roof design and installation services to best meet client expectations and exert greater control over each project. "In my opinion, it's important to deliver exactly what the client has been promised and by doing design and installation we can do just that. We work closely with manufacturers and every- thing we learn on site is passed onto our next project and informs our next design. It's the ultimate feedback loop." As founding members of Green Roofs for Healthy Cities and one of North America's leading roofing contractors, Flynn Canada understands what it takes to not only meet the needs of the clients, but of the company as well. Flynn has worked on a number of high-profile projects including the TD liv- ing roof, which is the first historical green roof in Toronto, and the Vancouver Convention Centre's 4.6-acre green roof. The Toronto-Dominion Centre's green roof is laid out in a grid pattern, with Pennsylvania Sedge Grass, while the Convention Centre is composed of native grasses and perennials. There are over 800,000 plants with 56 degree slopes atop the Convention Centre, which makes it both a horticultural and engineering marvel. Back over at Vertical Landscape Architects, the team provide consulting services to acquire green roof permits and potential grants for smaller green roofs. "I think it's great that there are now environmental policies requiring green roofs on new, large buildings as well as the financial incentives available to help offset costs for smaller green roof projects." Green roofs represent an upfront expense but provide a return on investment over time. "Public and private awareness of the economic, environmental and social benefits of green roofs and living walls is one of our greatest obstacles at this point, but we and other organizations are trying to change this," Rokosh admits. Green roofs also provide good value in urban settings. "With green roofs we can create another level of usable space on top of buildings that would otherwise not exist. Developers can market this value-added amenity and pass on green roof costs to future tenants. In an urban environment where green space is often lacking, this strategy represents a win-win situation," adds Rokosh. Vertical Landscape Architects recently designed and installed a semi-intensive green roof on a residential LEED project in Toronto. The green roof combines low- growing groundcover and a raised curvilinear planting bed with native perennials to achieve esthetic objectives while respecting structural loading limitations. The multi-zone irrigation system will utilize stormwater that has been captured in a cistern from roofs on site. Even though small when compared to some of the larger green roof projects today, Rokosh describes this as "a great project that serves as a model for what others can achieve with green roofs on their homes, businesses, or institutions." In coming years Rokosh expects to see more green roof gardens that take advan- tage of the sunniest real estate available and focus on local food production. "There are wonderful examples of successful rooftop agriculture ventures in the United States by food producers and by some 'foodie' restaurants who want to provide ultra-local produce to its guests." Ivan van Spronsen, executive VP at Roofing Contractors Association of British Columbia, agrees that industry players should strive to be at the top of their game as the demand for green roofs intensifies. "There are a thousand ways to do a roof wrong and very few ways to do them right, so design and maintenance is crucial, and ideally in new builds the green roof contractor should be involved from the inception of the project," he says. Van Spronsen points out that leaks resulting from a poorly designed, installed or maintained green roof is only the beginning of a building owner's problems. "The insurance consequences can be devastating, and the same applies if a green roof dries out and becomes a fire hazard." Such considerations have led the City of Toronto, which is believed to be the fourth-largest market for green roofs in North America – thanks to a bylaw requir- ing all new builds of a certain footprint to have green roofs, combined with the availability of an Eco Roof Incentive Program – to develop safety requirements per- taining specifically to this kind of installation. "For example, every green roof in the city has to have access for firemen," says van Spronsen. As a result of Toronto's diligence, the Sherway Gardens shopping centre last year unveiled the largest green roof at 102,000 square feet on a free-standing commer- cial structure in the region. It was installed by Xeroflor, an international green roof leader that got its start in North America when Ford Motor Co. retained it to create a green roof on its Rouge assembly plant in Michigan. Sherway is hardly Xeroflor's only notable Canadian project of late. The company has also installed green roofs for a new Coquitlam water treatment plant in B.C. and for a Toronto IKEA store. About 50 installations were performed altogether in 2014. The roof for Sherway Gardens can retain 1.5 inches of rainfall in a fully satu- rated state, yet it is one of the lightest green roof systems available, weighing only 12-pounds per square foot fully saturated. 2014 was a banner year for green roofs, according to Kees Govers from LiveRoof Ontario, whose company supplied 38 projects last year alone. "Demand from com- mercial, institutional and the multi-unit residential clients continues to grow, how- ever we are seeing an increase in private residences too," explains Govers. He attributes last year's spike not only to the Toronto Green Roof Bylaw but also to the Pan Am Games. One of LiveRoof's stand-out projects was the Toronto Pan American Aquatics Centre, which features five roofs in total covering around 30 per cent of the facility at 57,000 square feet. The facility posed a challenge because of a 12 per cent slope on two of the roofs and limited access. "The installation company had a lot of planning to do upfront," explains Govers. "They had to work in serpentine from the bottom up to install everything properly." The LiveRoof Standard System was used on the project which Residential garage green roof project by Vertical Landscape Architects. LiveRoof's Pan Am Athletes' Village green roof install in Toronto, ON + Pre-vegetated sedum mat install and growing bed for native perenials on top of a residential LEED project by Vertical Landscape Architects; The undulating roof of the Southeast Collector York- Durham water treatment facility installed by LiveRoof.