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A PR IL 2017 | 19 Green Roofs & Walls PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY SOPREMA New data and standards are helping debunk former myths about green roofs and walls by NATALIE BRUCKNER-MENCHELLI I t was Frank Lloyd Wright who was famously quoted for saying, "No house should ever be on a hill or on anything. It should be of the hill, belonging to it. Hill and house should live together, each the happier for the other." It would be fair to say that the architect who coined the term "organic archi- tecture" would have been inspired by the great strides being made in the world of green roofs and walls today. Innovation, new technology, data, studies and stan- dards; these are all areas that are driving the growth of what is now known as "liv- ing architecture." "The latest survey from the Green Roofs for Healthy Cities [GRHC] shows that the green roof and wall industry in North America alone grew 18.5 percent in 2015. That's a sharp contrast to the previous year's 12 percent shortfall," explains Roland Croteau, technical advisor at Soprema. While Washington D.C. is leading as the number one region for green roof instal- lations in North America, Toronto comes in close second. Croteau attributes this growth not only to increased awareness about the overall benefits of green roofs that include greater insulation, noise attenuation, stormwater management and its esthetic beauty, but also the introduction of new wind uplift resistance standards and rebates by many governments and cities. Living Colour "Washington, D.C. and Toronto are great example of how effective rebates and standards can be," says Croteau. "We have also seen increasing awareness about the use of green roofs for reducing the urban heat island [UHI] effect, especially as episodes of extreme heat are becoming more commonplace worldwide." A study by Santamouris found that green roofs applied on a city scale could reduce the ambi- ent air temperature by up to 3 degrees Celcius. For Soprema – that has developed several green roof systems that can be easily installed on all of its waterproofing systems and worked on sizable and innovative projects, including the most recent addition of a green roof on a IGA in Montreal that is used for urban agriculture – the recent focus on stormwater management is also having its impact on the sector. Thomas M. Hansely at Firestone Building Products, agrees, saying that an increasing number of municipalities are looking to leverage the green roof as a stormwater feature and elevating its use to manage water. Hansely adds that the issue of stormwater is a particular challenge on the east coast due to the aging infrastructure and that municipalities are now looking at buildings managing their own stormwater onsite. This is great news for the sec- tor not only because GRHC stated that the number of installations across North America in 2015 are estimated to help retain 76.3 million gallons of stormwater, but it is also encouraging greater innovation within the industry. "This elevates the technology we use to be performance based," says Hansely. "We have been looking beneath the biodiversity at such things as advanced engi- neered soils in order to maximize the water we retain on that roof, but still stay within the 20 to 40 lbs a foot range." Last fall, Firestone introduced the single source solution SkyScape Built-In-Place (BIP) Systems, which offers pre-designed options from extensive BIP Systems, through to semi-intensive BIP systems (which allow for deeper media), to intensive BIP Systems that allow for the most creative rooftop design and unlimited options. Firestone, like Soprema, understands the importance of education and as such installed a green roof on the Earth Rangers Centre in Toronto. The building not only features Firestone's UltraPlyTPO membrane roof but also a green roof that is divided into three sections for a total of 900 square metres. Les Terrasses Cap-à-l'Aigle, La Malbaie, QC.

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