TEMPLE UNIVERSITY AMBLER TO EXHIBIT GREEN ROOF TECHNOLOGY WITH HELP FROM PECO ENERGY
It’s
difficult to imagine a less natural setting than urban centers such as
Philadelphia and New York. It is rare to see any vestige of the natural
environment amidst the mosaic of steel, stone, and glass.
At
the 2002 Philadelphia Flower Show, Temple University Ambler Landscape
Architecture and Horticulture students exhibited a technology that changes
the gray shades of the urban landscapes to a vibrant green. The Green Roof
Technology exhibit proved a great success and garnered a Best of Show
Award in the Academic Educational category.
Now
that technology will find a lasting home at the Ambler campus.
With
the help of a $50,000 grant from PECO Energy, Temple University Ambler is
in the planning stages of building a green roof right on campus.
“Following the successful presentation on green roof technology at the Flower Show, we knew that we would like to offer a permanent educational exhibit of this concept as part of the campus landscape arboretum,” said Temple University Ambler Dean Dr. Sophia T. Wisniewska. “We approached PECO Energy with the idea because we believe the environmental, energy-saving aspects of the project fit nicely with the their mission and with ours.”
According
to company president Denis O’Brien, PECO and its parent company, Exelon
Corporation, “support and value advancements in environmental
engineering.”
“Green roof technology can play an important role
environmentally and we are proud to sponsor the Green Roof Garden at
Temple University’s Ambler campus,” O’Brien
said. “The education and research opportunities this green roof garden
will highlight PECO’s
continued commitment to our region and the environment.”
Green
roofs are essentially a living biological community of plants and
microorganisms growing in a lightweight medium that provide an
environmentally sound alternative to a traditional roof system. The
technology was pioneered in Germany and is now emerging in the United
States.
The
new green roof component, according to Dr. Wisniewska, will tie directly
into the mission of the Landscape Arboretum of Temple University Ambler to
serve as a living, learning laboratory that promotes an understanding of
the relationship between people and the environment and “awareness of
both the need for and the means to achieve greater environmental
responsibility.”
“We
believe that roof gardens can have a beneficial effect on the environment,
but we’re not going to reap that benefit until there are more people who
understand and are willing to embrace the technology,” she said. “A
physical demonstration that people can see and experience will help answer
many of the questions they might have and, hopefully, alleviative some of
the resistance there might be for this concept.”
The
green roof garden will also provide substantial educational and research
opportunities for both students and faculty on campus.
Horticulture
Assistant Professor Sinclair Adam has already begun research into the
types of plants that would be most viable for green roof plantings in the
mid-Atlantic region.
“We are doing research in our greenhouse to determine plants that can endure the elements, such as greater extremes of heat and cold. Currently we’re checking sedums and experimenting with growth rates,” he said. “It’s an opportunity for our students to observe how this technology is moving forward and will essentially act as a ‘lab’ building for us to conduct actual measurements. We are planning to monitor for PECO the thermodynamic properties of the building with the green roof system in place to determine what the energy savings are over time.”
Nearly
50 percent of the world’s population and 220 million Americans live in
densely developed urban environments “characterized by a seemingly
endless sprawl of rooftops, asphalt roads, and concrete parking lots,”
Adam said.
“This transformation of the earth’s surface and termination of its biological processes has resulted in a deteriorating air quality, degraded water and devastating urban heat islands that affect the quality of life for the people inhabiting the world’s urban centers,” he said. “By their nature, green roofs mimic the natural processes that the buildings replace. It is a new and exciting technology that has the ability to improve our air and water quality.”
During the spring semester, students in the Department of Landscape Architecture and Horticulture will be involved in conceptualizing potential green roof designs.
“My hope is to have our students completely engaged in this project,” Adam said. “I think it will be an innovative challenge for them.”
For more information on the Green Roof garden project at Temple University Ambler, call 215-283-1290.
Temple University Ambler College is dedicated to promoting sustainable communities, effective land use, and environmental awareness. Students can choose from a B.S. and M.S. in Community and Regional Planning; B.S., A.S., or credit certificate programs in Horticulture; or a B.S. in Landscape Architecture. Students may begin over 100 Temple undergraduate programs and complete a variety of degree programs on the Ambler campus in areas such as liberal arts, business, education, communications, and nursing. For more information on Temple University Ambler’s undergraduate programs, call 215-283-1500.
CONTACT:
James Duffy, (215) 283-1290, duffyj@mail.temple.edu,
release available by e-mail
