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This Information pack is a collation of all the information on the Waitakere Central Civic Centre Green Roof that might be of assistance to those investigating establishing a green roof. The pack will be updated as new information and data becomes available. The Waitakere City Council website will also have updated information on the green roof available for download. www.waitakere.govt.nz Introduction Technical/Construction Details Plants Substrate/Soil Construction Photos Completed Green Roof photos Viewing Area and Signage Waitakere City Council design team: Monitoring Latest Updates Articles of Interest Architects: Research: Project Management: Green Roof Advise: Monitoring: Signage: Tony Miguel, Renee Davies, Peter Joyce Architectus & Athfield Architect Robyn Simcock, Landcare Research Suresh Nagaiya, NCompass Logan Whitelaw Landcare Research Dallow Boss Ltd
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Written and compiled by Renee Davies, Waitakere City Council. Published with assistance from the Waitakere Youth Council.
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F U R T H E R I N F O R M AT I O N
Useful Websites
www.greenroofs.net www.greenroofs.co.nz www.landcareresearch.co.nz www.livingroofs.org www.english-nature.org.uk/pubs/publication/PDF/LivingRoofs.pdf www.greenroofs.org www.greenroofs.net www.igra-world.com
The rst rule of sustainability is to align with natural forces, or at least not try to defy them - Paul Hawken The Waitakere Central Civic Centre Green Roof
30 October 2007 Photo: Renee Davies
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INTRODUCTION
This information pack provides guidance on how the Waitakere Central Civic Centre green roof was developed and contains all the technical information that might be of use to anyone investigating creating their own green roof.
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INTRODUCTION
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Other benets include improving the buildings thermal insulation and reducing the urban heat island eect. The vegetation on green roofs lters city air by absorbing carbon dioxide and helping to reduce air pollution. Such roofs create some habitat for birds, butteries and other insects and nally, they have the capacity to absorb a percentage of the rain that falls on them, thereby reducing the runo from impervious surfaces and alleviating potential ooding problems that plague many cities.
The native New Zealand plants we are trialling on this green roof are: Libertia peregrinans (NZ iris) Festuca coxii (Native tussock) Acaena microphylla (NZ bidibid) Pimelea prostrata (NZ daphne)
Project Location
Henderson is one of the three major town centres in Waitakere City and is recognised as a key centre in the urban strategy. It is the citys most centrally located town centre. It is located on the north western rail corridor and has the largest percentage of the citys retail oor-space and community facilities. The Waitakere Central site sits within one of the Twin Streams project catchments the Opanuku Catchment. The site is within close proximity of the Opanuku Stream (approximately 250 metres) at the lower part of the catchment. The Waitakere Central Civic Centre Green Roof, as well as providing stormwater mitigation in a key catchment within the City, provides a leading edge demonstration project of sustainable stormwater management, habitat and amenity value.
Selliera radicans Disphyma australe (New Zealand iceplant) Coprosma acerosa (Sand coprosma) Leptostigma setulosa, Dichondra repens piha (Mercury bay weed) Calystegia soldanella (Sand convolvulus) Muehlenbeckia complexa Muehlenbeckia axillaris Muehlenbeckia ephendroides
Ongoing Monitoring
Waitakere City Council is going to monitor how clean the the water run-o from the green roof is and compare that to a normal roof. We will also be monitoring the success of the native plants and the habitat value of the green roof. This information will conrm how much benet there is to using a green roof in New Zealand. This information will then be available to others who might want to build a similar green roof specically designed for New Zealand conditions. A self-seeding cabbage tree on the green roof
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Technical Details
TECHNIC AL DETAILS
A drawing showing the dierent layers that make up the green roof.
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CONSTRUCTION DRAWINGS Roof Plan of Civic Wing of Waitakere Central Civic Centre
Green Roof
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CONSTRUCTION DRAWINGS
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CONSTRUCTION DRAWINGS
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COSTS
The information below provides a preliminary assessment of the Civic Cetnre green roof construction cost over and above the normal cost for the waterproong and project management for a standard concrete roof. It excludes the research and development associated with building the rst green roof of this nature in Auckland. The cost also excludes the monitoring equipment and system. Water proong memberane $30,000 (excluded as this cost is required for any standard concrete roof )
Drainage cell and root barrier Growing medium - supply, cranage and installation Plants - supply and planting Preliminary and general (specic to green roof ) Area of green roof approx. Cost per square metre 510 square metres
Please note that this cost is higher than would be expected due to the unkown aspects of developing the rst green roof of its kind in New Zealand. Also, note that this squre metre rate wil not be directly applicable for other projects and it is dependent on the type of building, the structural design and system proposed for the building, type of roof construction etc.
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Plants
PLANT
S E L E C T I O N A N D CO N S I D E R AT I O N S
Plant species suitable for green roofs depend largely on the local climate, type and depth (the ability to store moisture) of the substrate and maintenance expectations, in particular, whether irrigation is available. Plant species used for green roofs need to establish a dense, weedresistant groundcover in a drought prone and very exposed environment. For the Waitakere Central Civic Centre green roof, we chose to use native plant species. Trials were undertaken prior to the nal choice of plant species in order to conrm the species from the initial list of possible plants that it was considered would best respond to the substrate and climate conditions on the green roof. Plant selection had the following aims: to nd native plants with high survival and cover on the green roof in the absence of irrigation. In addition to survival and cover, Waitakere City specied that the preferred species would also: be sourced from those Native to New Zealand, and preferably the Waitakere Ecological District be able to be used to create an aesthetically attractive landscape, through variety of texture, colour and/or form and reect seasonal changes through fruits, owers or foliage changes. This was important as the roof is overlooked by an adjacent wing of the building be readily available from nurseries, so others could easily adopt the greenroof technology provide habitat or food (nectar or fruits) for native insects and/or birds
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The native New Zealand plants we are trialling on this green roof are:
Libertia peregrinans (NZ iris) Muehlenbeckia complexa Muehlenbeckia axillaris Muehlenbeckia ephendroides
Selliera radicans
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Example of Planting Specication for Plant Supply for Waitakere Green Roof
Scientic Paper Outlining Substrate and Plant Research Carried out for the Green Roof
Substrate/Soil
S U B S T R AT E S E L E C T I O N A N D CO N S I D E R AT I O N S
Waitakere modelled green roof runo (24mm storage 10 to 1500 kPa, 678 of 1298mm retained) The graph below shows the data modelled for the runo for the green roof, this was used to conrm the appropriate substrate mix from the substrate which was trialled.
The subsrate (soil) used in extensive greenroofs needs to balance: 1 2 3 The engineering requirement of light weight and rapid permeability (to prevent ooding). The ability to store water and nutrients for plant growth. Increased roof cost (structural and water proong).
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The substrate mix used for the Waitakere Central Civic Centre green roof was made up of a predominantly pumice based mix made up as follows: 20% 4-8mm grade expanded clay (Hydrotech)
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30% 4-8mm grade pumice 20% Perrys garden mix or Living Earth garden mix 30% 1 to 3mm or 1 to 2mm grade pumice The attributes of the substrate were: Pumice-based up to 150 mm deep: c.200 kg m-2 fully saturated >200 mm hour-1 inltration >15% v/v macroporosity
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store 24 to 30 mm of water supply major plant nutrients bearing strength supporting people without adverse compaction
Day in 2005
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Weight of the substrate - Figure 1 Depth varies across the roof 50 to 130 mm, mean 113 mm Along parapet 70 to 160 mm, mostly 100 to 140 mm Saturated weight below target of 200 kg/m2 Inltration of the substrate - Figure 2 Mean 2000 mm/hr Range 600 to 3600 mm/hr Well above minimum acceptable of 200 mm/hr Inltration is increasing as plants ameliorate (break up) compaction Inltration monitoring on the green roof.
Photo: Robyn Simcock
FIGURE 1
Roof loading
200 180 160 140 Saturated load "Operational" load
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Infiltration
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3000
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mm per hour
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Photo showing root growth of Libertia breaking up the substrate (ameliorating compaction).
Photo: Robyn Simcock
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Expanded Clay
Expanded clay was selected as the major inorganic component of the Waitakere Civic Centre green roof growing medium due to its proven performance both overseas and in the test trial plots that were located on the Civic Centre roof from November 2005 to February 2006. The ideal substrate has to achieve the seemingly miraculous combination of being highly ecient at absorbing and retaining water while at the same time having free draining properties (Dunnet & Kingsbury, 2004). It also needs to be able to store and supply nutrients over time and provide a stable base for plant roots to attach to. Expanded clay is widely used as a large component of growing media for greenroofs throughout North America and Germany due to its light weight, ability to store and provide nutrients for plants, ability to retain moisture while also being free draining and its durability. In all of these functions it out performs scoria as a suitable component for a potential greenroof substrate. It would seem that expanded clay is the perfect inorganic component for the use in greenroof growing media. Scoria is a naturally occurring aggregate that is quarried in New Zealand while expanded clay is a man-made product that is created by kiln ring clay pellets at over 1000 degrees Celsius. A large amount of energy is consumed in this process resulting in expanded clay being much higher in embodied energy than scoria. This raised the question whether expanded clay should be used despite its high embodied energy? Much advice from individuals from both New Zealand and internationally was gathered on this issue. Many believed that it was a chance to set a precedent in New Zealand
greenroong by not using this material due to its less sustainable nature. They believed if we did not use expanded clay, future projects would not be likely to use it as alternatives would have been shown to work. On the other hand, experts that had used expanded clay in successful projects encouraged WCC to include it in any potential mix due to its unsurpassed performance as an inorganic component. It was felt that it would be unwise not to use expanded clay as a component of a potential substrate due to its impressive performance in overseas greenroofs. The priority is that the roof performs well and provides the anticipated environmental benets. By using expanded clay as opposed to scoria, or any other inorganic component, the risk of the roof not performing as eectively as hoped is reduced. It makes sense to use what is regarded by many in the overseas greenroof industry as the highest quality inorganic substrate component. It was considered that a successful demonstration model would provide more cumulative benecial environmental eects than the use of a more sustainable substrate component on this roof. However, research should be undertaken in the future to identify locally available natural aggregates than can be used eectively in greenroof applications in New Zealand. This should allow a more long term sustainable selection of inorganic substrate components to be identied. Overall, expanded clay was deemed to be the most suitable organic material to be used in the growing medium due to its proven performance in greenroof systems. The use of this component will ensure that the growing medium provides the most favourable growing conditions for the vegetation whilst still being light enough to be accommodated on the roof structure.
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Example of the Contract Specication for the Substrate used on the Green Roof
Scientic Paper from Landcare Research on Results of Substrate and Plant Selection Trials for the Waitakere Central Green Roof
Construction photos
The Waitakere roof was divided into four zones, each with a dierent planting plan: the parapet edge with a high proportion of screening plants; upstands with plants tolerant of foot trac; pergola edge containing Muelenbeckai complexa; and bulk planting. The water-proong layer of the Green Roof is applied.
Photo: Robyn Simcock Photo: Renee Davies
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Filter & root barrier fabric laid over drainage layer 2006
Photo: Renee Davies
A crane delivers substrate in bags weighing about 1 tonne each to the Waitakere Civic Centre Roof
Photo: Robyn Simcock
Substrate must be unloaded without bags resting on the roof (the bags are too heavy). In the foreground interlocking sections of a rigid drainage board can be seen. An overlying lter cloth protects ensures substrate does not block up the drainage board.
Photo: Robyn Simcock
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Photos taken July 2007 showing the growth and spread of plants
Photo: Renee Davies
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P H OTO S O F G R E E N R O O F V I E W I N G A R E A AT WA I TA K E R E C I T Y CO U N C I L
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Monitoring
MONITORING
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MONITORING
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There is a small but growing body of evidence from around the world that indicates green roofs can provide valuable wildlife habitat. Green roofs can support a range of plants and animals and this sort of building-integrated habitat design may well play a vital and important role in the biodiversity of towns and cities. The green roof at the Waitakere Central Civic Centre is being monitored to see if there is habitat created that enables a range of wildlife species to survive on the roof. To date the results of the monitoring have been positive and show that the green roof is providing habitat. Observations have identied: Steatoda & hunting spiders, seasonal molluscs Bees, bumblebees (Selliera & pimelea .), butteries Hunting spiders also living in plant bases & gravel Weeds on the green roof have been limited. Observations have identied: Legumes & common groundsel initially the most common adventive weed between plants Oxalis spp & Epilobium ciliatum which arrived on plants from nursery these being the most common plant weeds Common weeds that are similar to English greenroofs (weeds of pastures) The green roof is also showing signs of colonisation by adventive native plants such as: Bird-dispersed species: Coprosma robusta, Cordyline australis Wind dispersed: grasses, rushes, pohutakawa (1) Unknown source (akeake (1)) Examples of invertebrates found in rst year
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Notes from Landcare Research Outlining Aims of Habitat Monitoring for the Waitakere Central Green Roof
Waitakere Greenroof invertebrate sampling Landcare Research We want to quantify the development of invertebrate fauna on two greenroofs in Auckland as the roofs mature to 3.5 years-old, as international research indicates plant cover tends to stabilize when a complete cover has been through one or two summers at this stage the least competitive species are self-thinned and annual weeds find it difficult to establish. We want to know: the role extensive, wild (low disturbance and low maintenance) roofs can have in creating invertebrate habitat. where the invertebrates are likely to come from how they got to the roof the potential to use extensive greenroofs to support native invertebrate and vertebrate species (e.g. skinks, geckos) the best methods for quantifying invertebrates on extensive greenroofs This means we need to use methods that allow comparison with international and New Zealand literature, while also ensuring we capture the range of invertebrates likely to be on the roof by using a range of methods. international greenroof and NZ we are expecting spiders (in refugia and gravels), flying insects that are blown across the roof (moths, butterflies, bees, flies, flying ants) and animals brought in on plant material (slugs and snails).
Proposed Methods We are quantifying the invertebrate fauna of two extensive roofs constructed in winter and spring 2006 in Auckland; the Waitakere Civic Centre greenroof and the research greenroof on the School of Engineering building. The Waitakere greenroof was planted entirely with native species and tops a 3-storey building on Henderson Valley Road about 200 m from the Opunuku Stream which has extensive native and exotic vegetation. The Auckland Unviersity greenroof was planted with native and exotic sedum species and covers a 12 storey building on Symonds Street native and exotic vegetation is present as plantings along the sides of the Grafton Gully motorway, Auckland Domain and mature street trees (London Plane trees). Monitoring extensive roofs requires methods that are resistant to high winds and require minimal anchoring, as pegs or stakes cannot be used this ruled out Malaise traps. Because the roofs have not reached 100% vegetation cover we also excluded suction sampling (blowervac), as the pumice and expanded clay substrates are so light they would probably be sucked into the blower. Beating or sweep netting was also rejected as relatively inefficient with low vegetation established on these roofs most of the plants are less than 150 mm tall. It is also difficult to quantify and replicate the effort involved in beating or sweep netting. Five monitoring methods were considered suitable for the two sites. Refugia. Wooden discs of radiata pine were put onto the Waitakere greenroof and adjacent conventional roof in November 2006 these act as shelters or refugia for invertebrates (photo above). The rounds are lifted quarterly and their occupants counted, photographed and identified. This technique is nondestructive, non-invasive and rapid, however, because insects are not captured, identification to species level is often not possible, and what lies under the refugia is unlikely to be representative of the general invertebrate community because they are enhanced habitat. The refugia have also sometimes been moved by roof visitors (creating uneven data)
Invertebrates on greenroofs Overseas literature on greenroof invertebrates is nearly all post 2000. The most comprehensive has been done by Dr Stephan Brenneisen of 'Dozent Hochschule Wadenswil (University of Basel)' and postgraduate students at Royal Hollaway college, University of London working with Mr Dusty Gedge, Director, Livingroofs.org. I visited both Stephan and Dusty in 2007, and saw some of their key research sites. Most of the European invertebrate monitoring has been done using pitfall traps (often uncovered). In contrast, US studies have tended to use vacuuming or sweep netting but these have usually been one-off studies. There is no NZ literature, however, relevant NZ studies include those investigating invertebrate colonization of minesites with non-vegetated gravel overburdens and rehabilitated areas (Richard Toft, Carol Curtis). Recent monitoring of invasive ants (Darren Ward and Richard Toft) using baits can also provide comparative data. We need to search literature on invertebrates of urban wastelands. Based on the
Pitfall traps. Pitfalls are the most common method used to monitor invertebrates in greenroof studies. They are part-filled with a preservative and lined with a slippery paint to increase capture rates. Like emergence traps, pitfalls are employed over 4 week trapping period over summer and are emptied weekly. Pitfalls on the conventional (control) roofs had to be built with ramps. 10 pitfalls were deployed on the Waitakere greenroof (approx 1 per 20m2) and 2 on the adjacent conventional roof the latter were installed by building a sandcastle around the pitfall (it couldnt be sunk into the roof surface!) Sticky traps. Sticky traps catch near-ground and above-ground flying insects. Two heights allow separation of insects blowing across the roof (vagrants) and insects likely to be emerging from the greenroof plants and substrate. These were trialled and proved effective, but a lack of resources meant they were unable to be deployed in summer 2007. If deployed, they would be serviced weekly over the same 4 week trapping period as pitfall and emergence traps. Servicing consists of wrapping glad wrap around sticky bottles, removing them to a freezer for later identificaiton and counting.