[Vision2020] UI Green Roof Tour

Bill London london at moscow.com
Thu Oct 1 11:14:06 PDT 2009


Join us for a Green Roof Tour
Sustainable Idaho To Host Green Roof Tour at Student Union Building
  MOSCOW, Idaho - The Sustainable Idaho Initiative will host a tour of the University of Idaho's first green roof on Thursday, October 8 as part of its GreenHows speaker series. Participants will meet in the SUB Silver room at 12:30 for a brief presentation by project leader Mark Miller about the milestones and challenges of implementation, followed by a viewing from the catwalk overlooking the roof.

  The green roof was funded by a grant from the Sustainable Idaho Initiative in fall 2007. Miller and his team selected a tri-level 1,650 square foot section of roof at the southwest corner of the SUB for the pilot project. With partial shade, shelter from winds, easy access and structural soundness, the site supplied a solid foundation for the university's first earth and vegetation living roof.

  Miller and his team completed the project in spring 2009 by planting a variety of native sedums, a genus of hardy, drought-tolerant plants suitable for the long winters and hot, dry summers of the Palouse. 

  Green roofs provide myriad benefits: decreasing the urban heat island effect, reducing and improving the quality of runoff, microclimate control, insulation, habitat for insects and birds, re-oxygenating the air, beautification, and more. By reducing energy and sewer costs, green roofs provide an economic incentive as well.

  Miller hopes the roof will be used for applied research and other educational purposes, in addition to providing a point of interest for visitors to the University of Idaho campus. The green roof could be the first of many, supplying the university with a model that can be duplicated on existing roofs and designed into future building projects. 

  For more information, contact Alecia Hoene in the Environmental Science Program at hoene at uidaho.edu. 

  As increasing environmental awareness drives interest in sustainable practices, the University of Idaho continues to seek carbon reduction initiatives to meet the current and future needs of society and to contribute to the quality of life and the natural resources in Idaho, the nation and the world. The University of Idaho emitted some 38,981 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent greenhouse gases into the atmosphere in 2007, which is equal to 3.59 tons per student. The university has set a goal to be carbon neutral by 2030 and has begun the work to reduce carbon emissions across operations. For more information about the university's sustainability efforts, contact the University of Idaho Sustainability Center at uisc at uidaho.edu or visit www.uisc.uidaho.edu. 
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/vision2020/attachments/20091001/abb793b7/attachment.html 


More information about the Vision2020 mailing list