Grantee Research Project Results
Final Report: The Value Of Steep, Green Roof Technology to Sustainable Cold Climate Communities
EPA Grant Number: SU834762Title: The Value Of Steep, Green Roof Technology to Sustainable Cold Climate Communities
Investigators: Westphal, Joanne M , Rowe, D. Bradley , Hursh-Eiken, Carly , Cronk, Erik , Campa, Hanque , Gravecloni, Hilary , Wichman, Indrek , Steward, Jake , Andresen, Jeffrey , Johnson, Jeremiah , Monsma, Jeremy , Krogulecki, Kevin , Sapienza, Kim , Getter, Kristin , Khire, Milind , Duraisamy, Saravana , Heutsche, Ted , Miller, Theresa
Institution: Michigan State University
EPA Project Officer: Page, Angela
Phase: I
Project Period: August 15, 2010 through August 14, 2011
Project Amount: $10,000
RFA: P3 Awards: A National Student Design Competition for Sustainability Focusing on People, Prosperity and the Planet (2010) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Pollution Prevention/Sustainable Development , P3 Challenge Area - Sustainable and Healthy Communities , P3 Awards , Sustainable and Healthy Communities
Objective:
This project falls under the research category of climate control and sustainable design (P3 Challenge Area-Built Environment) as part of the broad statutory authority of the EPA under the Clean Air Act—Sect. 103.
Phase I of the study proposed to establish baseline data on the ambient temperatures and moisture characteristics of an existing, extensive steep-sloped, green roof system; the purpose of this would fill in gaps in a data set being built to determine the feasibility of extensive green roof application to widespread residential housing in cold climates of the US. The overarching goal was to integrate earlier and on-going research from other studies with the data from the P3 study to provide practical insight to inherent limitations of commercially available, manufactured, green roof systems; and to use this combined data to improve the product design (which work well on flat-roofed structures), to reduce significant performance risks in a green roof system when applied to steeper sloped buildings, like residential structures. Data from the P3 study, along with other on-going studies, would permit the team to take a holistic approach to the redesign of current commercially available green roof products by considering enhanced delivery of ecological services (e.g., heat island effects, stormwater mitigation, air pollution reduction, biodiversity improvements, aesthetics) through green roof applications on residential structures in a community. Three objectives guided the study:
Objective 1: to gather data on the microclimate changes witnessed when applying a conventional, extensive green roof system to a steep roofed environment (using ambient temperature and relative humidity as the standards of measurement) and to develop recommendations for green roof product modification based on these findings;
Objective 2: to determine the structural requirements of residential buildings to maintain building integrity when adapted with green roof systems (standard of measure: weight per square foot, including structural components, green roof product & snow load):
Objective 3: to model the potential, overall public health and environmental effects that community-wide, residential green roof adaptation could generate using the data gathered in objectives 1 &2 in a case study scenario.
Summary/Accomplishments (Outputs/Outcomes):
Because of the short timeframe of the P3 study, Objective 1 & 3 advanced the most toward completion.
Objective 1: Once the monitoring equipment was in place, preliminary field data on ambient temperature and moisture change was integrated with data from other three sources: earlier literature reviews; field experiments by past undergraduates in the LA 492 Senior Research Seminar course; and on-going field research performed by current graduate and undergraduate students on the Green Roof team. This data allowed the team to piece together the likely dynamics in moisture and temperature regimes when an existing extensive green roof systems is applied to steep slopes and differing solar incidence. Examination of the Xeroflor product being monitored in the P3 study, along with other commercially available green roof products by the graduate students, resulted in the development of a prototype system that addressed what were perceived as deficits, limitations, and/or opportunities in current manufactured green roof products for application to steeper sloped, residential structures.
Objective 2: Because of the prototype developed by the students as a result of the P3 data and other on-going, green roof studies at MSU, Objective 2 was put on the back burner for several reasons. (See full project report for the specifics reasons for delaying work on this objective).
Objective 3: This objective shifted slightly to include engineering laboratory experiments that test current green roof component parts. This was done for two reasons. The first is that this baseline data will lead to more accurate predictions of performance outcomes as we adjust components of the new prototype—i.e., structural configuration, media composition & depth, plant selection, and irrigation system. Second the laboratory data, along with greenhouse data, will allow us to model likely performance outcomes for different types of ecological services that we may want to introduce through green roof adoption in a community-wide basis. (See full project report for the predictive model that is being developed). Therefore, the team is only part way through the original P3 modeling proposal. However, the team feels well positioned to roll the data from Phase I into Phase II, which will improve the green roof prototype, and the modeling activities that were originally envisioned for the P3 study.
The final outcome in terms of green roof adoption is to meet community objectives for different ecological services, and to predict the nature and extent of ecological service change as a result of converting different percentages of total impervious area (TIA) to green roofs. Thus, the project stays true to the P3 concept by address the needs of people, prosperity through product development, & protection of the planet.
Conclusions:
Work accomplished under the P3 Phase I effort has resulted in the following:
- Data collection resulting in a prototypic, modular green roof product.
- Information transfer via a variety of presentations, poster boards, and journal articles (See Publication. Presentations below)
- Additional grantsmanship to address other information gaps relating to widespread green roof adoption on a community-wide basis. (See full project report, section on conclusions).
- Engagement with the public through the Expo activities, digital media, and more traditional outlets, (e.g., school newspapers, magazines, journals)
Journal Articles on this Report : 1 Displayed | Download in RIS Format
Other project views: | All 4 publications | 2 publications in selected types | All 1 journal articles |
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Type | Citation | ||
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Rowe DB. Green roofs as a means of pollution abatement. Environmental Pollution 2011;159(8-9):2100-2110. |
SU834762 (Final) |
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Supplemental Keywords:
green roof systems, residential design, ecological service delivery, community sustainabilityThe 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.