ISSN: 1546-962X
Published Online: 22 October 2007
Page Count: 8

Retrofitting a Green Roof on an Existing Facility: A Case History
Lindow, Edward S.
Senior Vice President, Soil and Materials Engineers, Inc.,

Michener, Mark L.
Senior Roofing Consultant, Soil and Materials Engineers, Inc.,

(Received 7 February 2007; accepted 24 September 2007)

Abstract

Paraphrasing an old adage, anything worth doing, will be hard to accomplish. And so it is with retrofitting an existing building with a “green roof.” This paper presents a case history of funding, designing, and installing a vegetated green roof on the existing Public Service Building in Battle Creek, Michigan. Funding for the project included a grant from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality as well as capital investment made by the City. The State grant was tied to an Environmental Science and Services Division Grant, for a Storm Water Runoff Control Project. The paper discusses latent conditions encountered in the existing facility and other challenges overcome in the construction process. The end result of the project is a sustainable roofing system that was certainly worth doing right. In fact, the project is a 2006 recipient of the American Public Works Association national award for projects under two million dollars.

Keywords:
roofing, vegetated roof covering, storm water

Paper ID: JAI101048
DOI: 10.1520/JAI101048
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