Grantee Research Project Results
Final Report: The Evergreen Roof Project: Standards, Methods and Software for Evaluating Living Roof Systems
EPA Grant Number: SU831857Title: The Evergreen Roof Project: Standards, Methods and Software for Evaluating Living Roof Systems
Investigators: Perkins, John , Josephy, Alvin , Newton, Benjamin , Osborne, Elizabeth , Bowcutt, Fredericka , Stroh, Jim , Runnells, Joanna , Nelson, Matthew , Knapp, Rob , Abercrombie, Steven , Winchell, Tyler
Institution: Evergreen State College
EPA Project Officer: Page, Angela
Phase: I
Project Period: September 30, 2004 through May 30, 2005
Project Amount: $9,966
RFA: P3 Awards: A National Student Design Competition for Sustainability Focusing on People, Prosperity and the Planet (2004) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: P3 Challenge Area - Sustainable and Healthy Communities , Pollution Prevention/Sustainable Development , P3 Awards , Sustainable and Healthy Communities
Objective:
The Evergreen Roof Project is an interdisciplinary project undertaken by seven Master of Environmental Studies students at The Evergreen State College to create a decision support software system to assist procurers of living roof systems. Living roofs are systems where a veneer of living plants and soil are installed above waterproof roofing layers. These systems are also referred to as green roofs, eco-roofs, vegetated roofs, roof meadows, or roof gardens. The Evergreen Roof Project has chosen the term “living roofs” because it precludes the non-vegetated roofs that are marketed as ecofriendly, but is inclusive of any roof surface that supports an active ecological plant community.
Verification and clarification of the benefits asserted by living roof proponents will create two tangible benefits: (1) improvement of system functions of installed roof systems and (2) higher adoption rates for living roofs. It is the ultimate purpose of the Evergreen Roof Project to provide decision support software to a range of end-users interested in procuring living roofs. A web portal will to provide information to people interested in living roofs and to spur interest and awareness amongst other visitors. Our team had four related deliverables during Phase I of the P3 project period: (1) the “www.evergreenroofs.com” website, (2) compilation and synthesis of data on (regional) existing living roof systems, (3) compilation of all major methods for evaluation of and development of proficiency in selected methods of evaluating living roofs, and (4) a conceptual software design to facilitate green roof procurement based on compilations of data and methods.
To facilitate the decision support capabilities of the software, data on living roof benefits were required. This process involved research, literature review, networking with practitioners, experimentation with and evaluation of methods of data collection, web development, and software design.
The project was organized into five functional areas that appeared to be logical breaks in subject area and appeal to group members’ backgrounds and interests. The areas were (1) habitat, (2) water quantity and quality, (3) economics and cost benefit analysis, (4) urban heat island effect, and (5) materials and performance. These categories were not discrete, in fact, the relationships between categories is one of the most important intellectual developments to arise from this project.
The geographic scope for this project was defined by the maritime Pacific Northwest ecoregion, defined by latitude, topography, and marine-terrestrial interface. ‘While this project focused on this region, existing data from other regions in the United States and Europe was used to inform research and draw tentative conclusions.
The scope of the project was to perform a literature review of all available information pertaining to living roofs and the functional area, specifically to identify information relevant to our ecoregion, categorize existing qualitative and quantitative data, identify data gaps and develop a visual representation of research that will drive schema and algorithm design.
Summary/Accomplishments (Outputs/Outcomes):
The Evergreen Roof Project set out four objectives for Phase I of our project and has made sufficient progress on all of those objectives to qualify this phase as a success. Through an extensive literature review and discussions with researchers, designers, installers, policy makers, and vendors we have identified gaps in stormwater quantity and quality data, economic data, habitat corridor data, lifecycle data, urban heat island data, and policy coverage as they relate to living roofs in our region. We have also identified critical gaps in basic information related to urban heat island effect impacts, climate change impacts, and habitat fragmentation impacts necessary to compare to standards for sustainability.
We have successfully developed monitoring designs and protocols for stormwater runoff (quantity and quality) on two residential roofs in Seattle. We have developed a materials matrix listing components, component properties, and vendors. We identified the future research necessary to quantify habitat benefits that are possible from the creation of living roofs in the urban environment. We coordinated our activities with numerous partners and established two formal partnerships. We have accumulated an extensive database of English-language literature related to living roofs. We have started and are populating an inventory of living roofs in Western Washington State.
Our research has shown that stormwater retention and detention appear to be the largest and most easily quantifiable benefits of living roofs. This is particularly due to the ample amount of existing primary research, our climate, and the importance of endangered salmon to our ecoregion. Habitat creation by living roofs provides restoration and green space for faunal and human use, and is an emerging area of public policy, particularly in the United Kingdom, but requires more basic research to demonstrate its significance locally.
Standardized testing methodologies and data presentation tools for all areas of living roof systems are a priority item, as identified during Phase I. The team is developing user interface (UI) guidelines that will incorporate how to display data reliability, resolution, and certainty to end-users. Development of the research methodology and test processes for testing real-world systems combined with data accessibility will be necessary to further market adoption of living roof systems.
Our data collection and literature review have led us to conclude that living roof systems appear to offer solutions for some environmental problems associated with the built environment. Most particularly, living roofs offer demonstrable benefits to stormwater retention and detention. For benefits associated with the urban heat island effect and habitat, large-scale application of living roof systems will be needed to transform the urban environment.
Conclusions:
Our team has concluded Phase I with significant evidence to suggest that increased adoption of living roof systems in our ecoregion has a strong likelihood of mitigating some harms directly related to ongoing patterns of human development. Continued development of systems that support decision making through information dissemination and verification of ecological performance is necessary. Ecological informatics systems of this type should serve as prototypes to improve product development and procurement, as well as inform policy-making. The Evergreen Roof Project faced a number of challenges relating to the development of a proof of concept for one such system. The team has been successful at facing these challenges and meeting the objectives set out at the beginning of Phase I. The team also went beyond the original scope of the project to establish permanent connections amongst a multitude of groups involved with living roofs. The challenges of implementing a fully developed system of the scope proposed by the Evergreen Roof Project are significant. Overcoming basic and applied data gaps will require a concerted research effort by a motivated interdisciplinary team.
Proposed Phase II objectives and strategies:
The Evergreen Roof Project is not seeking Phase II funding at this time.
Supplemental Keywords:
living roofs, green roofs,, stormwater, land, ecological effects, innovative technology, decision making, cost-benefit, Northwest EPA Region 10,, RFA, Scientific Discipline, INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION, Air, Sustainable Industry/Business, POLLUTION PREVENTION, Sustainable Environment, Energy, climate change, Air Pollution Effects, Technology for Sustainable Environment, Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Atmosphere, energy conservation, environmental monitoring, cleaner production, alternative building technology, ecological design, environmental conscious construction, green building design, green roof, alternative materials, energy efficiency, pollution prevention design, architectureThe perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.