July 29, 2009

Letter to the editor

Story on green roof insurance riles up readership

Re:Concerns raised over fire safety for green roofs JOC, July 20th

I couldn’t help but imagine what the motive and agenda was for Peter Kenter’s recent article on green roofs, insurance and, so-called, potential fire safety.

It appeared in the July 20 issue of the JOC.

I am really beginning to wonder what kind of Kool-Aid the insurance industry and anti-green roof lobby is drinking in Canada, as their approach to living architecture and green roofs in particular is so completely out of sync with the rest of the world.

If Mr. Kenter would have bothered to do just a little more research and get just a few facts, he would realize that properly engineered green roofs are not a fire hazard, but rather a fire deterrent.

It is a fact recognized by many building insurers in Europe, who offer premium discounts for buildings with green roofs for that very reason.

The mitigating issues on green roofs and how dry they can become starts with the engineering for the green roof build-up and water retention capacity of the combined layers of moisture retention/protection mats, drainage board, growing medium and plants.

Most qualified and experienced green roof experts always engineer and design the entire green roof system, including the plants and required irrigation, to suit the architectural and climate or hardiness zone circumstances.

Unfortunately, as is typical in North American construction practices, value engineers, unscrupulous contractors and developers, along with “Johnny-come-lately” opportunists in the green roof business, are always looking for cheap and easy short cuts.

This short-sighted approach always results in performance problems and ultimately more cost in the long term.

If we simply insist on following the successful models in Europe for living architecture, by building and engineering properly in the first place, we will realize the same overwhelming environmental and community beautification success that green roofs have created there and elsewhere.

At the end of the day, we will all be able to breath easier knowing that green buildings are cooling down our urban landscapes, providing oxygen enriched air, prolonging the buildings lifecycle and ultimately making our buildings less of a fire hazard – not more.

Ron P. Schwenger

Principal of Architek

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