January 2007
Crowd Control
It's not that we didn't think the topic was interesting, but standing room only?? Well, that's a bit of an exaggeration. It was standing room only at the Luncheon. I expected eighty-five, set up the room for eighty eight and ninety five showed up. Talk about eating on the hoof... The ninety five attendees downed their soup and sandwiches and then we hiked across to the Science Center (where everyone had a seat in our lecture hall) for a primer on living roofs.
I think many in the room were surprised that the living or green roof is not something new
in concept. Roof top gardens have always been a toy for the very rich living in their penthouse dwellings from the Babylonians to the present, but the principles of creating a living vegetated roof has some very practical applications for facilities managers in storm water management and preservation of the roof surface by protecting it from UV rays and heat build-up. As with many conservation technologies Europe (specifically Germany) has set the standard for design and application. Jeff Jabco, Director of Grounds and Coordinator of Horticulture for the Scott Arboretum, led the group through a fascinating look at what Germany has done in the application of green roofs. Flat, pitched or curved roofs are amenable to this technology and some of the roofs have been in place for forty years leak free.
Jeff also gave a detailed slide show on the application of a 5,000 square foot roof on the Alice Paul Residence Hall followed by a question and answer period and a tour of the roof for the winter hardy (the coldest day since December 9th). All in all it was a great gathering. I hope to see more of you at the next meeting.
Cordially,
Ralph Thayer, President DVAPPA
p.s. - A special plea to institutional members: We need to build up our membership so that we can remove the barrier that prevents patient and deserving business partners from joining our organization. We all know at least one school, college or university that may not be aware of the benefits of DVAPPA... for that matter may not even know we exist! I am throwing out a challenge for every Institution to bring just one new member into the fold this year. Please contact Bob Morrow with the name of a contact in an interested institution or plan on bringing a prospective member to one of the upcoming events.
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