The roof of the Claudette MacKay-Lassonde Pavilion is taking on a greenish hue these days as flats of garden plants are assembled to help the so-called Green building live up to its name.
This week, workers installed the live roof on the east side of the building. Other areas of the roof will have a wind turbine and a number of solar panels to generate electricity.
Civil and Environmental Engineering lab technician Melodie Richards and master’s student Stephanie Drake check out the plants installed on the roof of the Claudette MacKay-Lassonde Pavilion, otherwise known as the Green building. The live roof was installed this week on the east side of the building.
Civil and Environmental Engineering professor Denis O’Carroll says the installation of the plants brings the building one step closer to becoming a living classroom.
“We are extremely excited about it, as are the students,” he says, adding once the plants are in place, instrumentation used for monitoring the green roof can be installed.
He hopes data collection can begin in September.
Unlike many live roofs started from seeds, Western is using mature plants growing in recycled plastic flats have been placed over a waterproofing membrane.
Stephanie Drake, a master’s student in Civil and Environmental Engineering who will be helping with research studies on the green roof, says researchers don’t have to wait until seeds sprout to see the impact the environmentally-friendly roof.
“One of the things about using mature plants is once it’s up there, it is acting as it’s supposed to,” she says.
The hearty sedum plants are drought-resistant and require minimal maintenance. The plant helps to reduce stormwater run-off and helps with energy conservation by transforming heat and soil moisture into humidity to create natural evaporative cooling. The plants also act as an insulator and can reduce noise levels.
Areas of the roof not covered by plants have been painted in a reflective white colour to reduce the heat-island effect – a difference in temperature caused by building heat absorption that contributes to smog, ozone and dust.
Everything from soil moisture and temperature to water flow will be monitored by a variety of probes throughout the roof.
The building will be the first certified as LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) on Western’s campus.
On the ground level north of the building, workers began drilling Wednesday to install sensors for geothermal heating for the atrium.
Construction workers began drilling Wednesday on the north side of the Claudette MacKay-Lassonde Pavilion (Green building) to install sensors for geothermal heating of the atrium.
As the summer winds down, workers will be putting the finishing touches on the building, which is scheduled to be completed this fall.