Rooftop garden, vegetable garden, ornamental plants provide beauty, health and environmental benefits

The Midtown, a new housing development located just five miles from downtown Denver, features purposeful gardens including a green roof on its community center, called the Garden Shed.

The aptly named Garden Shed has already earned kudos for owners Brookfield Residential. The community center, featuring the living roof, is a unique venue for art exhibits, community events and parties as it welcomes all who enter the Midtown community. An outdoor plaza invites lectures, live music and seating within the garden. Homeowners can rent private garden plots or participate in the professionally led AM Farmer program, too.

“A planted roof is a natural fit in the urban garden environment,” said Charissa Wagner of Intermountain Roofscape Supply, the grower for the Midtown green roof. “In this setting, the living roof provides both social and aesthetic beauty as well as environmental benefits such as heat island mitigation, storm water management, noise reduction, and even a habitat for local wildlife.

Schultz Industries of Golden, CO installed the 860-square-foot rooftop garden. Featuring LiveRoof Hybrid Green Roof System, the vegetative roof has soil depths ranging from 4.25” to 6” to support a diverse palette of plants suited to the rigors of the Colorado climate. The roof is planted with native and adaptive ornamental grasses and perennials such as rudbeckia, autumn joy sedum, feather-reed grass, yucca and bluestem.

The site is replete with a vegetable garden, ornamental plantings, a fenced, leash-free dog park and access to the 21-mile Clear Creek Bike Path. As part of the planned retail, the Brookside Residential development team recently announced Bruz Beers will be joining the Midtown community in the coming months.

For more information on the aesthetic, environmental, social and financial benefits of green roofs, see Sidebar 1 and Sidebar 2
Sidebar 1

Green Roof Benefits

• Better Stormwater Management: Immediate stormwater runoff reduced by 50-90 percent. Green roofs filter rainwater water and act as a buffer against acid rain.
• Longer Roof Life: Plants and soil serve as a protective shield and prevent UV radiation from degrading roof components. Fewer cracks and leaks. Waterproof membranes can last 200-300 percent longer.
• Energy Conservation: On a sunny 95°F day, conventional rooftop surfaces can hit 175°F. By shading and insulating the rooftop, green roofs bring these temperatures in line with the ambient air temperature. They reduce indoor temperatures and energy consumption, especially for air condtioning in summer. This decreases costs for building owners.
• Interior Noise Reduction: Lower indoor sound levels, as much as 40 decibels.
• Urban Heat Island Effect Mitigation: Plants release oxygen and evaporate water. Green roof soil also evaporates water. That makes a green roof function like an evaporative cooling system. The combination of the umbrella effect (shading and insulating) and evaporative cooling moderate temperatures at street level.
• Improved Air Quality: Every one square foot of green roof can filter about seven ounces of dust and smog particles per year. And through the process of photosynthesis, plants covert carbon dioxide, water and sunlight/energy into oxygen and glucose. This results in reduction of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
• Enhanced Aesthetics: Green space is visually appealing and inviting. People feel better and are more productive when they have a natural view. Barren rooftops become habitable spaces with walkways, patios and seating and thereby add useable space to buildings.

Sidebar 2

Business Benefits: the Main Drivers for Building Green

• Reduction in Operating Costs: On average, 13.6 percent for new buildings and 8.5 percent for retrofits.
• Increase in Building Values: On average, 10.9 percent for new buildings and 6.8 percent for retrofits.
• Increase in Return on Investment (ROI): On average, 9.9 percent for new buildings and 19.2 percent for retrofits.

Source: McGraw-Hill Construction, Green Outlook 2011: Green Trends Driving Growth

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With a focus on forward moving healthy, sustainable lifestyles, the Velocity apartment community installs rooftop garden to the delight of community residents.

To Imagine Housing, ‘”Velocity” isn’t just a trendy name for their new apartment community but an embodiment of the concept of moving forward. Velocity, and its neighbor Kirkland Crossing developed by Polygon NW, are located at the South Kirkland Park and Ride, just blocks from Lake Washington Boulevard.  The new community was designed with the residents and environment in mind by using technology to incorporate interaction, health and sustainability.

“Our vision for Velocity was to create a living, moving community for the area’s low income families to take an active role in their health as well as community sustainability,” said Sibyl Glasby, Director of Housing Development for Imagine Housing.  “The living green roof is a sustainable green feature that also provides a beautiful outdoor space for our residents.

Imagine Housing chose the LiveRoof® Hybrid Green Roof System for their 6,140-square foot living garden that includes walking paths, seating and a gas BBQ.  The vegetative roof provides significant benefits to the environment including reducing water run-off and turbidity into the storm water system.   The green roof was designed by Fazio Associates Landscape Architect and installedby Greening America.  Using drought-tolerant native and adaptive plants and locally-sourced engineered soil, the modular living roof was grown to full maturity by GreenFeathers, Inc. of Cornelius, OR.

Green Roofs Enhance Living Space

“We are pleased to have participated in this important housing community,” said Grace Dinsdale, founder and president, Blooming Nursery and GreenFeathers. “We provided fully-mature native plants grown in locally-sourced engineered soil for the Velocity living roof. Not only did this provide a beautiful, lush garden for residents to enjoy immediately, it also contributes to the sustainability of Velocity’s site.”

Velocity offers onsite parking, ready access to transportation, bicycle storage and repair station, a vibrant community area/library with a coffee house feel, a fully-equipped exercise center, and a roof top garden with walking paths, seating and a gas barbeque. A rooftop community room hosts a variety of activities and services designed to enhance our residents’ lives and promote opportunity for engagement within the community.

Velocity meets Evergreen standards for energy efficiency, saving valuable resources and contributing to a clean planet. The homes have been built with both the residents and sustainability in mind, achieving a balance between modern finishes and long-term durability with environmentally friendly materials.  The housing development was designed according to Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED®) standards.   LiveRoof systems can influence several LEED credits in areas of sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources and indoor environmental quality.  Due to potential cost impacts, the project did not pursue LEED accreditation.

Velocity is located at 10711 NE 37th Court, Kirkland, WA 98033