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A PR IL 2017 | 23 Green Roofs & Walls their neighbours, that's where finding and testing plant material to these dry shaded conditions is very important. Even the best laid plans may be thwarted by your neighbouring building." When it comes to wind uplift standards, Jelle Vonk, business manager at ZinCo Canada Inc. is pleased with the progress being made in North America, especially for built-in-place green roof systems. "Previously, wind testing had been done on modular systems, but built-in-place systems are not currently represented in the standard. However, we recently signed up for the testing of the built-in-place system with CRCA/NRC and we should soon have new data resulting in the systems being included under the standards – both sides of the industry will be represented," says Vonk. This year ZinCo, who specialize in built-in-place, will be introducing a num- ber of new systems to the market. These include the newly developed Stormwater Management Roof using the multi-functional drainage element, Floradrain FD 60 as mentioned by Schwenger. This drainage element creates a storage void of up to 80 litres per square metre underneath the green roof, without effecting the grow- ing conditions of the vegetation. The new Urban Climate Roof is specifically dealing with the UHI effect. With the Aquafleece AF 300, which combines a high-level cap- illary fleece with woven material for evenly distributed irrigation, harvested grey water can be used to supply the Urban Climate Roof with water. ZinCo is currently working on a number of large condo projects, including The Centro Condos in Vaughan that feature two towers with a large podium in between that will be covered with a 5,000-square-metre green roof and River City Condos in Toronto that has multiple levels of green roofs. James Klassen from the Roofing Contractors Association of BC (RCABC) agrees with his peers that municipal bylaws have had the biggest impact in terms of a posi- tive push toward more vegetative roofs. "These requirements provide developers and owners with incentives that make vegetative roofing less costly than it might otherwise be," says Klassen. But he advises that this is a "carrot and stick approach," and could likely change. "Naturally, vegetative roof systems cost more than the conventional roof; at least, they appear to cost more to install. But as building owners move toward keep- ing their investments, and move away from flipping them, we may see more people invest in vegetative roofs as a way of mitigating operating costs over the long haul," says Klassen. So what does the future hold for the sector? According to Klassen there will be increasing demand for rooftop gardening/farming and urban apiaries. "This is the new frontier, as land in urban centres becomes too expensive to own," says Klassen. "While urban rooftop farming is not new, it is a growing trend in some of the larg- est cities in the U.S., and has partially found some traction in Canada, especially in Toronto and Vancouver." He adds, consequently, this will demand better standards for waterproofing and present an opportunity for the roofing industry, landlords and aspiring farmers to forge new relationships. A PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY SOPREMA Québecor Média, Montréal, QC.

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