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A PR IL 2017 | 21 PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY FIRESTONE BUILDING PRODUCTS; ARCHITEK; NEDLAW LIVING WALLS; LIVEROOF Green Roofs & Walls Ron P. Schwenger at Architek says he has also seen a positive change in the indus- try, but that more work needs to be done on the West Coast. "The City of Vancouver should be looking to cities like Washington, D.C. and Toronto who are in a different league from a policy perspective," says Schwenger. Perhaps also an often misunderstood aspect of green roofs and facades is their versatility. One example of this is the often spoken about VanDusen Botanical Garden. "The structure had to provide against the green roof system build-up lip- ping off as it accommodates five to 50 percent slopes; shear barriers within the deck and membrane systems were installed. But there are particular challenges with steep slopes. You have to hold the soil and build-up system in place as it has a tendency to want to slide, and these force load and soil erosion challenges need to be dealt with properly," says Schwenger. Architek also installed two extreme steep slope systems, one on Capstan Way in Richmond and one at King George Station. Schwenger says whereas in the past architects have been tying the landscape into the building envelope, the future lies in new engineered systems that leave the suspended slab clean and a layered system is built with a roof barrier and pro- tection mat and draining board. Zinco's Floradrain FD60 for example allows land- scapers to pour their retaining walls and separate the hardscape and softscape elements without interfering with the building envelope. These and other Architek/ Zinco systems can also be seen on Jubilee House, the Tate on Howe and Richmond's International Trade Centre. When it comes to living walls and green facades, Schwenger says there is increas- ing demand for hybrid systems utilizing a combined green facade and living wall to save costs. "There are modular living walls that can be soil-based or hydroponic and then there are custom built-in-place living walls. As with roofs, there needs to be a commitment by the end user and owner to maintain and care for living walls." Last year Nedlaw Living Walls saw increased demand, with growing interest coming from sectors such as retail and residential. "While we've been recognized for many of our large scale projects, it seems designers and owners from many sec- tors are grasping the versatility of our systems. We are currently doing a wall at IKEA, which, due to its public exposure, is highlighting the benefits of living walls to a broader audience," says Randy Walden. Walden adds that the versatility of today's systems (plus the fact that Nedlaw's biofilter is a biological system that takes the air within a space, removes the pollut- ants and returns this cleansed air) means that these living walls are suited for any indoor environment. In the fall, Nedlaw Living Walls installed a living wall biofilter in the cafeteria at Dalhouise University that is about 14-feet off the ground. The idea is not just to improve esthetics, but to improve indoor air quality and building performance by supplying fresh air that doesn't need to be heated or cooled. Just last year Nedlaw Living Walls won the 2016 Green Roof and Wall Award of Excellence from GRHC for the 2,400-square-foot biofilter at the Edmonton Federal Building. The two-storey living wall biofilter covers multiple sides, incorporates a water feature and is a working element of the building's mechanical system. At that time it was the largest known indoor air biofilter in Alberta. "This biofilter actively removes pollutants from the air, generating over 1,500 cfm [700 litres per second] of virtual fresh air," says Dr. Alan Darlington, the technology's founder. As evidence of this technology taking off worldwide, Nedlaw Living Walls is cur- rently involved in installing 10 walls and close to 20,000 square feet of biofilter at the Sabah Al-Salem Kuwait University City. LiveRoof is another example of the growth being seen in the living architecture sector. With 20 locations in the U.S. and Canada, Kees Govers says business is brisk and he is starting to see more demand from the multi-unit residential (both mid and high rise), especially in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). Govers says that the increasing amount of data and new standards is undoubt- edly helping to debunk former myths and help advance the sector. One new standard in particular that Govers refers to is wind uplift performance CAN/CSA A123.24-15. "The Canadian Roofing Contractors Association [CRCA] put together a consor- tium to look at ways of testing green roof systems for wind uplift resistance," says Govers. "It's a technical standard that is long overdue. It provides the industry with a quantifiable standard." Like Hansely and Croteau, Govers says the focus on stormwater management is also driving the industry forward. And Govers adds that a number of manufac- turers are now looking to combine blue roofs that store rainfall with green roofs. LiveRoof's Integrated RoofBlue Riser is engineered to provide temporary water detention underneath LiveRoof systems. When used with control flow drains, RoofBlue expands the usefulness of a green roof system as a stormwater manage- ment tool. In the future, Govers says that attention to local conditions will become even more critical. "There's plenty of examples of the wrong product being used in the wrong climate. In downtown Toronto we see a lot of examples of buildings shading Earth Rangers Centre, Toronto, ON; King George Station, Surrey, B.C. Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS; Eleven Superior, Toronto, ON.

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