GreenSage E-zine 02/2008

UCF & Students Oversee Florida's Showcase Green Envirohome's (FSGE's) Green Roof Design & Installation

The Stormwater Management Academy, with the aid of University of Central Florida students, will begin FSGE's Stormwater Design implementation with a multi-phase green roof installation to help FSGE (Florida's Showcase Green Envirohome) become a “Near-Zero Runoff Home™”.

Germany has 13% green rooftops, and FSGE, a hurricane rebuild and educational awareness project open to the public at no charge for one year of scheduled walkthroughs starting March 11, 2008, will increase awareness of this practice through the added outreach assistance of UCF, the 6th largest university in the U.S.

Green roofs have living plants on the roof keeping the building warm in the winter and cool during the summer rendering lower energy bills. Similar to the human body, plants maintain a constant temperature, and so green roofs minimize the range of thermal contraction and expansion of the roof throughout the year extending the life of a typical roof from 15 to 50 years.

Green roofs also help cool down cities from heat caused by increased urbanization known as the Urban Heat Island Effect, which lead to hundreds of deaths in Chicago in the 1990s. This effect is due to fewer plants that help lower temperatures through evapotranspiration, increased concrete and asphalt that trap heat, and the presence of smog - all reasons why Mayor Bloomberg of NYC recently announced his green roof directives.

As an added benefit, plants naturally help filter out dust particles and other pollutants in the air. Also, the aesthetic view from green roofs has been shown to improve the health of patients at certain healthcare facilities. And solar PV panels are optimized on cooler green roofs.

FSGE's cisterns were installed in December, 2007 to store rainwater harvested by Englert's highly reflective, 90% recycled, all-aluminum metal roof chosen not only because it can withstand 175mph winds and the most hostile salt air environment in North America, but also because it increases the quality of captured rainwater as well as the quantity by 10 to 15 percent as compared to asphalt, tar, shingle or concrete roofs. Englert's patented Gutter Tunnel System, FSGE's conveyance system for captured rainwater, will minimize leaves, pine needles, and other debris from entering the cisterns.

Having the first “whole house” graywater reuse system approved in the entire State of Florida, which is from BRAC Systems, FSGE will use shower and clothes washer water to flush the toilets. American Standard bathtubs, FloWise 1.5gpm showerheads, and FloWise 1.28gpf toilets, as well as Home Living Solutions walk-in bathtub, and Mr. Steam 1.1 gallon per 30 minutes steambath will all tie into the graywater reuse system helping reduce water consumption and associated septic waste by at least 1/3. Any overflow from the showers, steambath and clothes washers will be directed to the cisterns.

FSGE will demonstrate 5 green roof areas on three different types of roof underlayments, including:
• Armoroc - “structural” cement board providing resistance to fire, mold, moisture, termites, impact, weather & sound with 28% recycled content and Zero-VOCs.
• BluWood coated plywood - provides resistance to fire, mold, moisture, termites, and hardware corrosion with Zero-VOCs, the ability to be applied to any species of wood, and a limited lifetime warranty.
• Reinforced concrete pneumatically installed and engineered for structural integrity by United Shot-Crete.

Since green roof areas typically have shallow beds that can dehydrate readily, irrigation is necessary, which in FSGE's case, will be sourced from the cisterns. So the underlying waterproofing system is crucial. Grace Construction Products, with 40+ years as a leader in the advancement of waterproofing technologies for virtually all above grade and below grade applications, provided a superior green roof waterproofing solution for all three of FSGE's roof underlayments.

To ensure proper drainage of the green roof beds, KBI Flexi™-Pave, a 100% recycled tire rubber, Zero-VOC, pervious product, has been installed, which will also be used for the pool deck, driveway, and walkway to help eliminate toxic runoff, assist in groundwater recharge and provide flood mitigation as it is more porous than grass even after a decade of testing. Melbourne, Indialantic, Florida.

The Florida Showcase Green Envirohome is the dream of two people outside Melbourne Florida, building their vision of the future. The home will be a hurricane resistant, environmentally friendly house,
which they will open to the public in March after it is completed.