Green Roof Reno

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October 21, 2008

Finally Planted!

So we finally got our green roof plant test plots underway – and to reiterate this is just our phase one installation: a chance for us to observe some different plants in action prior to planting roughly two-thirds of the roof in the spring. We’ll follow up with all the plant varieties and more of the process of installation soon . . .

In the prior post, I slammed the provider of the modules we bought, Green Roof Blocks, for sending us some modules that appeared to be dirty and used. Today, I want to commend them just as forcefully for their customer service. Getting good customer service these days is incredibly difficult – but this case, Green Roof Blocks handled the situation admirably. I received apologies from both the President and the employee responsible - in addition to receiving 20 new, clean, feet-in-tact modules within a week’s time. Amazing.

In the email from the President he explained that they rarely sell modules without the plants and soil, as I had requested. The employee in charge of packaging and shipping had assumed that “the focus was to be in what grew from the module and not the aesthetics of the module itself. Instead, he trained his efforts in getting your modules to you as quickly as he knew how.” Regardless, for me, whatever error they made on the first order was more than rectified by the way they responded to our complaint. I will look to use some of the used modules as samples in class I’m teaching this January at City Tech in downtown Brooklyn on green roof installation.

I intend to review other green roof products in the future. For starters, this website has a good breakdown of the different modular options - http://www.openecosource.org/roofing/modular-green-roof-information-us-suppliers

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Comments

green roof guy - have you mentioned in your posts how much this whole process costs?

Posted by: gkw at October 22, 2008 11:17 AM

Depending on your roof height, method of installation and product used your prices can range from $15 to $35/sqft . . . $20/sqft is a safe number to budget for . . .

Posted by: Green Roof Guy at October 26, 2008 10:43 AM

Green roof guy,

What did you use as your growing medium? Is it just soil? Is there a drainage layer in there or are these essentially just containers with soil? What is the added weight when these are saturated?

Thanks, I'm interested in seeing how everything turns out.

Todd

Posted by: otisbirdsong at October 30, 2008 4:40 PM

Hi Green Roof Guy -

Will the class you're going to be teaching be open to the public? I'm very eager to take a green roof class and would love to get information about yours. Thanks!

Posted by: twocats at November 3, 2008 3:00 PM

Yes - the class will be through CUNY - City Tech in downtown Brooklyn and open to about 20 people. There isn't a registration link online yet but I will post one when it becomes available - supposedly just after Christmas.

The class will focus on green roof design and installation. It will begin in January and run through early March. In addition to the hands-on classes, we will be taking a couple of field trips to local projects and nurseries.

Posted by: Green Roof Guy at November 6, 2008 1:06 PM

Todd - I've been meaning to post on the soil. Its a mixture of 90% expanded shale and clay and 10% organic content. There is no drainage layer in this system - which is definitely a negative. Still I like their flexibility and the weep holes seem to be draining things fine so far. The saturated weight is about 15 lbs/sqft.

Posted by: Green Roof Guy at November 6, 2008 1:11 PM

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Posted by: fasano313 at August 29, 2009 5:29 PM