Greening BC Skylines Together...
GRIN is delighted to co-curate a session with the BC Society of Landscape Architects at this year’s BC Land Summit (May 8-10, 2024 in Nanaimo).
The Resilient Roofscape: Ecologies and Technologies for the 21st Century
When: May 10, 2024, from 10:30 am to 12:00 pm (Pacific)
Where: Vancouver Island Conference Centre, 101 Gordon Street, Nanaimo, BC, Room: VICC Duke Point
Session Description (as published in conference program):
On average, the ‘roofscape’ of urban areas comprises 25% of the landscape, providing a significant opportunity for ecological interventions and combating climate change. In this session we share leading- and cutting-edge practices highlighting the important role of resilient roofs.
Participants will come away with an understanding of new and emerging roofing technologies that can play a significant role in improving livability and wellness, while enhancing energy production through solar power, suppressing fire, cooling the urban heat island and cost savings from membrane longevity.
Featuring data and case studies, participants will be updated on current research on resilient roofing, they will engage with a diverse network of practitioners and experts, and they will be presented with tools for advocating and executing these technologies successfully in their projects.
What is a “resilient roofscape”?
Before anything, let’s clarify what we mean by a resilient roofscape.
Resilience (/rəˈzilēəns/), noun
- the capacity to withstand or to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness.
- the ability of a substance or object to spring back into shape; elasticity.
Roofscape (ˈruːfˌskeɪp), noun
1. a view of the rooftops of a town, city, etc.
Residential green roof in Naramata, BC. Image courtesy of Architek Group
This aerial view of Vancouver demonstrates a typical urban roofscape, dominated by conventional roofs, along with streets, parking lots, and other hard surfaces. While patches of green are visible, they are minimal compared to all the impervious surfaces.
The roofscape has impacts. Roofs occupy 20-30% of urban surfaces. Buildings account for 40% total energy consumption worldwide. Not all roofs are created equal, of course, and the worst impacts are caused by conventional roofs, which cause flooding, drought, urban heat, GHG emissions, pollution, health issues, and more.
The roofscape across BC is expanding with population growth. At the same time, the climate of the Pacific Northwest is projected to become hotter and drier; the glaciers that provide drinking water to BC communities will be gone by 2030. Two of the country’s fastest growing cities are in the fire-, heat- and drought-prone southern interior. We can hope for the best, but really ought to plan for the worst.
Avling brewery rooftop farm, Image courtesy of Danette Steel, Farm Manager
We can design BC’s towns and cities to be resilient to catastrophes like flooding, drought and fire, while incentivising decentralized renewable energy, food production, pollinator health and biodiversity, and public well-being. Collaboration and commitment between all sectors and discipline are essential if we are to rise to this moment, collectively.
Basel Messe installed this 1189.1 kW solar green roof in 2013. Image courtesy of Christine Thuring.
While green roof and related technologies are widely adopted in cities around the world, few BC municipalities are promoting or incentivising them. Green roofs are excellent tools for climate, social and ecological resilience, whose co-benefits extend beyond the building footprint when implemented on a large scale. Creating the conditions for nature in the built environment is fundamentally good, and this goodness can be enhanced when combined with other technologies, such as photovoltaics.
The image below zooms in on the 7 hectare Vancouver Olympic Village, at south-east False Creek. Look at all those green roofs and solar panels! This proves of the value of mandates! The Olympic Village comprises over 20 green buildings, under the LEED framework, with extensive implementation of green roofs and solar panels.
We can do this, but it needs to be collaborative. Many disciplines interface with roofs, land, water, air, people and nature, and all bring value to the quality of our designed future. Political will and leadership are essential, too, as new developments and projects benefit from guidance. Lastly, it goes without saying that the market and industry require investment and support, too.
This session presents up-to-date research and practice, all of which clearly show green roofs are the most sustainable roofing technologies for BC’s climate and economic future. We must all work to debunk the antiquated myths that are blocking green roof implementation on a large scale.
The BC Land Summit is a collaborative conference, by design, and we hope to establish more and stronger relationships with all players and practitioners.
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