Green Roofs - Living Architecture Monitor - Spring 2009 - (Page 26)

FEATURE Before After A RAISING A GREEN ROOF FOR ECO-LITERACY HOW DEDICATED PARENTS TEACHERS AND COMMUNITY SUPPORT HELPED TURN THE IDEA OF A GREEN ROOF TO COOL CLASSROOMS INTO REALITY AT JACKMAN PUBLIC SCHOOL By Camilla Troughton & Karen Whitehorn 26 LIVING ARCHITECTURE MONITOR SPRING t Jackman Public School in Toronto, Ontario, we like to think that any important change only requires two people to get started – one to say “I have an idea” and the other to say “how can I help?” Simply put, our green roof began in Spring 2003 when a small group of parents determined that they needed a new roof over two classrooms as they were really hot and they had heard of this new technology that makes the roof green and the rooms under it cooler and that it was called a “green roof.’’ Then others in the school – wonderful administrators, a visionary Parent Council, teachers and students – all responded with offers of help. We formed a committee to educate the school population, write grant applications and lobby the Toronto District School Board and, lo and behold, in November of 2005, construction of the Jackman Green Roof began. Of course there’s a little more to it. Jackman Avenue Public School, located at 79 Jackman Avenue in the downtown Toronto “Riverdale” neighbourhood, currently has about 30 staff and 600 students (junior kindergarten to grade six) as well as a Nursery School and a Community Daycare. Students, teachers, staff and parents have been actively greening Jackman since the turn of the millennium. In 2003, the school was designated as a “Super Pollinator School” by the Toronto District School Board in recognition of its leadership role in environmental initiatives and capacity as a mentor school. Award-winning projects, already undertaken, include widespread greening of the schoolyard, litterless-lunches and comprehensive recycling and composting programs. So, in contemplating a green roof, we already had a track record of being able to envision and successfully implement cost-saving, eco-educational projects adaptable to other schools – and therein lay our greatest incentive. Although small at 90m (about 969-square feet), we believe our roof is well situated as a demonstration project. Jackman serves as an illustration that schools – typically two and three story buildings with flat roofs – are ideal venues for green roof technology. Not only are they able to capture the private energy savings of the technology, but they also provide the public benefits of ambient cooling to surrounding residential neighborhoods. Finally, and unique to schools, the green roof becomes a dynamic teaching tool for eco-literacy with children and their families. Our green roof is located in the urban heartland, it is easily accessible, can be viewed at any time and is already in use as a learning tool for students of different ages. Fortunately our

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Green Roofs - Living Architecture Monitor - Spring 2009

Green Roofs - Living Architecture Monitor - Spring 2009
Contents
From the Founder
Opportunity Knocks
New Green Roof Incentive for Toronto
Bookshelf
The Role of Structural Engineer
On the Roof With...
Roots of Learning
Urban Farming
Pushing the Envelope on Community-Scale Research
Raising a Green Roof for Eco-Literacy
Soft-Benefit Valuation
What's New for Atlanta
GHRC Professional Development Calendar
Accreditation Milestone
Welcome New Corporate Members
Moving On

Green Roofs - Living Architecture Monitor - Spring 2009