Green Roofs - Living Architecture Monitor - Spring 2011 - (Page 11)

Q: What are the obstacles green roof and wall designers might encounter when trying to design for deconstruction? Q: How might the issues related to DfD/A, material salvation and reuse, and designing for deconstruction help support the business case for green roof? BG: It might be that the business case for facturing the existing components to substitute for new materials. MG: I like to think holistically about developing a stronger business case for green buildings in general which may have a range of features including DfD, DfA , green roofs and other appropriate technologies and systems appropriate to that particular building. Often it can be more difficult to justify individual technologies but an integrated approach can be more fruitful. Q: Thank you to you both. BG: Since most green walls and roof systems to my knowledge are in effect applied over the structure and weatherproofing systems, they may already have inherent interdependence that would allow them to be repaired, adapted or removed separately and in ways to allow for the reuse or recycling of their components. They have great advantage whereby their growing medium and planted materials could be composted, etc. MG: The potential for deconstruction increases considerably when the building is considered as a kit of parts that can be assembled in layers, so that each component can be removed at the end of its useful life. Many green roof systems seem to have such characteristics as they need to allow access to the weatherproofing layer beneath. They also are expected to extend the lifetime of the weatherproofing layer thus improving durability. However, the process of removal of components off the roof needs to be considered carefully. green roofs and walls can support the business case for their design for adaptability and deconstruction. As noted above, passive systems such as green walls and roofs that use low-maintenance and native-adapted or nonirrigated plants can in effect help substitute for embedded insulation and mechanical system or utility services or at least the size or amount of these systems when the green roof is mitigating temperatures and reducing the flow and volume of stormwater runoff. Any system that reduces complex services will increase the durability and usability of the building systems and the building. The business case from reclamation and reuse is that if a system can be recovered cost-effectively for reuse on another project then the environmental benefits are obvious and the economic case is the avoidance of waste costs and reducing new systems costs by reusing and remanu- Caroline M. Nolan is the editor of the Living Architecture Monitor and principal of ThinkSustain®, a Toronto, Ont.-based consultancy that helps organizations become more environmentally, socially and economically sustainable through training, marketing & communications, and strategic planning. Brown, L. “The State of the World,” Worldwatch Institute, Washington, DC, 1990. 2 1 “Earth's Natural Wealth: An Audit," New Scientist, 23 May 2007 http://www.greenroofplants.com http://www.greenroofplants.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Green Roofs - Living Architecture Monitor - Spring 2011

Green Roofs - Living Architecture Monitor - Spring 2011
Contents
Adaptation Through Innovation
Award-Winning Leader
Living Building Challenge Update
On the Roof With...
The Black Arts
Green Walls
Stormwater Policy
Root Repellent Standards
Growing Media
Green Building Codes
New Corporate Members
The GRP Turns Two
Professional Calendar
My First Year as a GRP

Green Roofs - Living Architecture Monitor - Spring 2011