This one-acre green roof located above a garage that serves an academic building and graduate student housing at Northeastern University will be toured as part of a conference in Boston this week. The green roof was designed by Cambridge-based Pressley Assoc.
Boston’s rooftops are getting greener. And this week, architects, landscape designers and engineers from all over the world will have a chance to tour some of the city’s best examples of roofs where lush gardens and leafy parks have taken root.
The city is co-hosting the annual International Green Rooftops for Sustainable Communities Conference, which starts Wednesday at the Hynes Convention Center.
The conference, organized by a Toronto-based nonprofit industry group called Green Roofs for Healthy Cities, will include sessions on policies and programs that support green roofs, examples of design and implementation, and research on green roof performance.
“Green roofs are a growing interest in the city of Boston. We’re looking to find ways to promote the use of green roofs as part of an overall green-building program,” said Bryan Glascock, director of Boston’s Environment Department.
The use of green-roof technology is becoming more popular across the country. A recent survey that Green Roofs for Healthy Cities conducted of its members revealed that green-roof square footage across the country grew to 2.5 million square feet in 2005, an increase of more than 80 percent from 2004.
With about 25 green roofs, Boston ranks as one of the top 10 cities nationwide utilizing green roofs, according to Green Roofs for Healthy Cities, a group with more than 2,500 members that strives to increase the development of green roofs across North America.
Incorporating green rooftops that include drainage systems, waterproofing and root-repellant systems as well as plants can be cost-effective for property owners, say supporters.
Cambridge-based landscape architect Bill Pressley said including trees, plants and soil can protect the roof membrane from the sun’s harmful ultraviolet rays, extending a roof’s overall lifetime. Where normal black rubber roofs wear out and must be replaced in 20 years, green roofs can last twice as long, said Pressley.
Pressley also noted that green roofs can provide effective insulation for typical buildings helping to save on heating and cooling costs. Grass in the city can be as much as 13 degrees cooler in the summer than pavement, Pressley said.
And in addition to being aesthetically pleasing, green roofs absorb rainwater – reducing storm-water runoff that can strain city sewers – and can improve overall air quality, according to supporters.
‘Successful Examples’
Local developers and property owners apparently are taking notice of the benefits. Green roofs are appearing on commercial as well as residential buildings in Boston.
The McAllen Building, a 149-unit condo property across from the MBTA’s Broadway stop on the Red Line in South Boston developed by Pappas Enterprises, is one of the first residential green buildings in the city with a green roof.
“When you talk about green roofs, [Boston] has some successful examples,” said Pressley.
Pressley’s firm, Pressley Assoc., has designed several green rooftops including the park located above the garage that serves Northeastern University’s Behrakis Health Sciences Center and the West Village Residence Hall. The park is included as one of at least 24 tours in the city that will be part of this week’s conference.
Pressley also designed West Podium Park, which is located between the Seaport Hotel and the West Office Building that’s part of the World Trade Center complex. The park is among more than 30 commercial and residential property green rooftops in North America that have been nominated for awards scheduled for presentation at this week’s conference.
Jennifer Sprout, director of conferences and special events for the Toronto-based industry association, said previous conferences have taken place in Chicago, Portland and Washington, D.C. – cities considered “leaders in the green-roof world” and sustainable development.
Boston was selected to co-host this year’s conference because of its interest and support of green roofs, said Sprout, who noted that Mayor Thomas Menino has been encouraging sustainable development through the Green Building Task Force he convened several years ago.
The task force issued recommendations that all newly built and renovated public properties, as well as privately developed buildings that are larger than 20,000 square feet and subject to review and approval by the Boston Redevelopment Authority, be able to demonstrate that they are eligible for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, certification.
The U.S. Green Building Council developed the LEED certification standard and rates buildings using a point system. Buildings can earn significant points for featuring green roofs.
“We think that at some point there will be a cache associated with green building and people will be demanding that in both residential and office space,” said Glascock.
Green-roof technology is part of the Boston’s vision for more green building in the city.
“We see green roofs as a tool or component in the overall effort to minimize the environmental footprint of development,” explained Glascock.
Chicago has the greatest number of green roofs nationwide, but Sprout said, “I know that Mayor Menino is anxious to challenge them for that title.”
This week’s conference is expected to draw more than 750 participants, including 43 speakers from 11 countries, according to Sprout.
Sprout said four new courses – which are part of an accreditation program that Green Roofs for Healthy Cities is developing and hopes will be in place by 2008 – will be launched at the conference.
A conference trade show featuring hundreds of exhibitors opens Wednesday night, and tours of green roofs and parks across the city will take place Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.
Awards will be presented on Friday to the best examples of green roofs in North America. Five nominees are in Boston – including West Podium Park and the Manulife Financial building on Congress Street designed by Sasaki Assoc. of Watertown.
