Green Roofs - Living Architecture Monitor - Winter 2019 - 34

"BY MY ESTIMATE, AT LEAST 50 PER CENT OF GREEN ROOFS
SUFFER FROM SOME LEVEL OF NEGLECT. AT BEST, THE PLANT
BALANCE IS OFF, NUTRIENT LEVELS ARE LOW OR STORMWATER
COMPONENTS ARE CLOGGED."
- GREG RAYMOND

we see are green roofs that
are basically brown. They're
not performing at the level at
which they were designed."
This is a waste not only
of private investment, but of
public institution funds and
taxpayer money. Moreover,
it means that the benefits
supposedly accruing to the
building and city (stormwater
management prime among
them) are not in fact doing so.
It's not overstating the case to
say that people are being passively misled about the benefits
of green roofs in the absence
of maintenance.
This needn't be a permanent
condition, of course. It's perfectly feasible to revive green
roofs and turn them into thriving ecosystems, and to maintain
them in topnotch condition
from the beginning, but we
have to get the word out.
"Post-installation green
roof monitoring and maintenance support are essential
for long-term success," says
Clayton Rugh, Manager &
Scientific Director at Xero
Flor America. "To avoid
misunderstandings or pre- to
post-build transition disruptions, it is important to have
maintenance management
responsibilities included in the
project design specifications
and bidding documents to
ensure that a qualified service
provider will be involved from

date of installation completion
if not sooner."
Given that stewardship
contracts are in the interest
of both green roofers (who
profit off them) and owners
(who maintain the benefits of
green roofs), why aren't they
de rigeur?
Many reasons. I can't count
the number of people who
assume that green roofs are
"good to go" after installation.
Especially in the presence of
native plants, many owners
just assume they'll take care
of themselves. That's true, to
an extent. They're certainly
more tolerant of local conditions than exotics. Yet we
place harsh demands on green
roof plants in these created
environments. They often
don't have what it takes to go
it alone, native or otherwise,
and I'm not convinced we're
doing enough to convey that
reality to owners.
What's worse, says Michael
Furbish, President and Founder
of Furbish, "some industry suppliers claim green roofs don't
require maintenance. That is a
myth." This is a matter of communication. "Most specs call
for two years of maintenance,"
he adds, but we should "encourage owners to renew their
maintenance after the initial
two years is up."
In other cases, the green
roof only got the green light

LIVING ARCHITECTURE MONITOR / WINTER 2019 / 34

because it was required as part of new construction. It's much
likelier in this scenario that an owner simply won't care about
the state of the roof post-handoff. Which is where better mandates come in.
"We need to require a change in the laws and ordinances
that require the use of green roofs to have periodic inspection
as well as statutory required maintenance," Pizzo says. "Much
like if you're building starts shorting out with electricity, you're
required to maintain a safe workplace and fix the electrical
system. You could get busted for code violations. This would be
the same thing, a change to the municipal code."
With the right changes in place, I fully believe that we can
get to a place where green roofs simply don't die. The plants
remain healthy and diverse, they get the right nutrients, they
provide cooling and energy savings as promised to owners, and
they help to manage the diluvial rates of stormwater our cities
increasingly face.
That starts with better education, both of individual clients
and of the populace in general, who needs to understand that
green roofs are not self-sustaining systems. As one of our
Chicago clients, James Corirossi, points out, "it is not a job for
do-it-yourselfers. Installation and maintenance needs to be done
by someone trained for rooftop gardens." In the latter case, that
means regular inspections - between four and six a year - for
healthy green roofs, and more for those in need of rescue. It
means pest inspection, nutrient monitoring, and plant diversity
checks. When necessary, it might mean some replanting.
"With routine and competent maintenance, there should be
no total roof die-offs," Furbish says. "The expectation should
be zero."
Lastly, we need to provide better resources to the public later
in the lifecycle, both to help them understand their choices after
that two-year contract is up and to steer them in the right direction when they discover their green roof is ailing. If we do this
conscientiously, we can steward healthy green roofs into a long,
bright future.
Greg Raymond is the founder of Ecogardens and has 30 years of experience in the green roofing and sustainable landscaping space. He was
a member of the inaugural class of accredited green roof professionals.
Today he spends his time building and restoring green roofs, as well as
teaching others how to steward green spaces.
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Green Roofs - Living Architecture Monitor - Winter 2019

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