Qualifications
Roofscapes, Inc. is a premier green roof design and installation firm with a portfolio that demonstrates an unsurpassed experience with a diverse range of green roof systems in North America. Roofscapes, Inc. has earned six design awards and installed nearly 50 green roofs, ranging from simple 2-inch deep extensive assemblies to a 14-inch deep mesic prairie reconstruction. Most of our projects do not require irrigation and have been designed to minimize long-term maintenance requirements. You can review case studies of our projects at http://www.roofmeadow.com/projectlist.html. In addition to our installations, Roofscapes, Inc. is often frequently retained for its green roof design consulting expertise. Green roof assemblies designed by Roofscapes, Inc. include Premier Automotive Headquarters (Irvine, CA) University of Central Florida (Orlando, FL), Severn Bank (Annapolis, MD), Foothill College (Palo Alto, CA), and the Annapolis Police Station (Annapolis, MD).
Unique
Roofmeadow® Assemblies
Roofscapes, Inc. has long recognized that all green roofs can be characterized as one of five different Types, loosely ranging from thin, extensive designs to intensive plazas. To satisfy the diverse American market, Roofscapes, Inc. has designed Roofmeadow® assemblies of each Type. Each Roofmeadow® assembly can be modified to satisfy the most challenging architectural and engineering requirements and to provide specific benefits. For example, the thin, low-cost, lightweight RoofRug™ was developed primarily for “big box” type applications in which budget and load restrictions drive the green roof planning. Our Ultralite Plaza, a lightweight mix of lush landscapes and paving is ideal for retrofit applications demanding a stunning, green roof-top amenity space. Alternatively, the Oaklyn Branch Library (Evansville, IN), a Type IV Roofmeadow® Meadow I assembly, exhibits a 14-inch deep wet-mesic prairie meadow. The innovative “roof riffle” design facilitates the base trickle irrigation system, closely approximating natural conditions associated with shallow soil over shale bedrock. The intricate green roof on the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum (Chicago, IL), which includes both a Type III Roofmeadow® Savannah and a Type IV Roofmeadow ® Meadow I, progresses from a ‘pocket wetland’ through a meadow-like area, and finally to an ‘upland zone,’ complete with a tree. We have also designed and are currently installing 230,000 square feet of varied green roof assemblies on the Howard Hughes Medical Institute research campus in Dulles, Virginia.
Roofscapes, Inc.’s “Firsts”
Roofscapes, Inc. has established a reputation for providing innovative alternatives that can improve performance and/or save cost. Roofscapes, Inc. has already distinguished itself by being the first American company to successfully:
- Install a green roof using cuttings and seed,
- Install a German-style two-media system,
- Utilize blower trucks to place media,
- Install a base trickle irrigation system,
- Install a capillary irrigation system,
- Construct a green roof on slopes of 30 degrees (7:12),
- Install a thin green roof system designed to withstand sustained winds of over 90 mph, and
- Use of the EFVM leak detection method.
Roofscapes, Inc. also was one of the first two companies in the US to install a green roof using pre-grown vegetated mats.
Pitched
Roof Designs
Roofscapes, Inc. has frequently installed its Roofmeadow® systems on substantially sloped roofs. In fact, our installations on The Life Expression Wellness Center, Sugar Loaf, PA and the Asbury Woods Nature Center, Erie, PA are among the steepest green roofs in North America, with pitches up to 30 degrees or 7:12 (58%). Other examples of sloped Roofmeadow® systems include the Westwood Nature Center, Chagrin, OH (4:12) and the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium Hospital, Tacoma, WA (up to 3:12). Our German partner, Optigrün International AG, has installed green roofs at slopes of 60 degrees, which we can design and install in the U.S. as well.
Roofscapes, Inc. has employed a range of techniques for supporting sloped roof covers. We recommend methods that do not require penetrations of the underlying waterproofing layer.
Plant Selection
Selecting landscape specialists rather than roofing applicators to install our green roof designs emphasizes our focus on the vitality of the living layer in the green roof system. We cooperate with local landscape architects to suggest appropriate plants and to optimize their plant lists. We also routinely consult our green roof plant nursery and German horticulturalist specialists at Optigrün®. We have been instrumental in selecting the plant varieties on the vast majority of our projects, and we continually incorporate American natives in to our otherwise German-derived plant list. In cooperation with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Roofscapes, Inc. installed the first sub-tropical green roof proto-types near Fort Meyers, FL and Orlando, FL. These installations are providing valuable information on appropriate plant selection and green roof structure for extensive un-irrigated green roofs in this region of the country. Interestingly, one of these demonstration projects has successfully weathered two Category 3 hurricanes.
Media Formulation
Although the media fundamentally facilitates plant growth, it also plays a critical role in satisfying performance requirements for water management/conservation, durability, sound abatement, energy conservation, and maintenance. Roofscapes, Inc. maintains a performance-based approach to its media design, based on our own experience and upon that of our German partner, Optigrün®,. Additionally, all of our media blends meet FLL1 requirements using FLL testing methods performed by Penn State University. We custom design our media, as needed, to support the client’s objectives, including stormwater flow reduction, water quality, aesthetic value, energy conservation, recycled content, load requirements, etc. For example, the green roof playground installed atop the Calhoun School (New York, NY) included a specialized ultra-light growth media created to accommodate the stringent dead load restrictions. The media for the LEED Platinum Chicago Center for Green Technology (Chicago, IL) was specially designed to incorporate utility waste material to increase the recycled component in the blend. In addition to optimizing the media design to satisfy green roof objectives, Roofscapes, Inc. also is committed to locally sourcing media aggregates. Our media blends vary regionally, including base materials ranging from ceramicized clay, expanded shale, pumice, and scoria. Roofscapes, Inc. considers media research and development a high priority; we continually are working to improve performance and cost of our green roof media blends.
Irrigation
Roofscapes, Inc. is the first and only U.S. green roof designer to offer the highly efficient German-style base trickle and capillary irrigation systems that deliver water to the bottom of the green roof profiles. All other companies that design green roofs incorporate irrigation systems that deliver water to the mid-level or surface. Our base trickle irrigation approach improves plant vitality, reduces water usage, and reduces maintenance costs compared to conventional spray or drip. It also increases the service life of the irrigation system. The Oaklyn Branch Library in Evansville, IN is the first green roof in the U.S. to be outfitted with this type of irrigation system. Since that installation, nine additional Roofmeadow® projects have been designed with base-level irrigation, and six already have been installed.
Leak Detection
Roofscapes, Inc. was the first American green roof
company to pioneer the use of another German innovation, electronic
field vector mapping (EFVM). This method of leak detection has
already achieved a long success record in Europe. The cost-effective
EFVM method is compatible with a wide range waterproofing materials
and can quickly locate even a pinhole-sized leak. EFVM can also
be employed after installation and does not require the installation
of any special leak detection equipment or any upfront costs
prior to testing. Ordinarily, uncovering the roof to repair a
leak is quick an easy, requiring only that small portion of the
green roof cover (i.e., a couple of square feet) be rolled back
to expose the membrane 
and
make the repair.
Green Roof Monitoring Programs
Roofscapes, Inc. has been an integral member of the green roof monitoring program design teams for two major green roof monitoring projects designed to evaluate roof runoff discharge, temperature, humidity, wind speed, soil moisture, rainfall, water quality, and solar radiation. Roofscapes, Inc. designed both green roofs to accommodate the monitoring equipment and defined the monitoring program and protocols. The first is a demonstration for Florida DEP near Fort Myers, Florida. This facility incorporates three extensive green roof assembly types. Temperature, heat flow, runoff rate, and water quality are monitored. The second is scheduled to be installed this year on the Department of the Interior’s Main Interior Building (Washington, DC), where the emphasis will be on measuring runoff and soil-moisture relationships in two green roof assemblies.
Warranties
Roofscapes, Inc. works closely with waterproofing manufacturers, including providers of liquid-applied hot rubberized-asphalt, SBS modified bitumen, PVC, TPO, cold-applied polyurethane, and EPDM waterproofing systems. Roofscapes, Inc. coordinates its activities with the selected roofing manufacturers and applicators to insure compatibility, efficient construction sequencing, coordination of details, and comprehensive post-construction service. Roofscapes, Inc. offers strong long-term warranties for the green roof components.
Research and Performance Standards
Charlie Miller, P.E., President of Roofscapes, Inc., has written a number of green roof technical papers, which have been widely disseminated. He also has published numerous articles, including those appearing in Landscape Architecture and the Building Safety Journal. He is a member of the ASTM Green Roof Task Group (E.06.71) and is the primary author of four of the five published ASTM green roof standards2. Mr. Miller also participates on the advisory committee for the Center for Green Roof Research (Penn State University).
Optigrün®, our German green roof partner, has a 40-year history in green roof design and installation and is the world leader in ecological roof systems. Roofscapes, Inc. benefits from Optigrün’s ongoing research and development of all green roof types and has integrated Optigrün’s proven design elements and techniques into the Roofmeadow® systems, which are uniquely tailored to U.S. climates and building regulations. Unlike many other providers of vegetated roofs in the United States, Roofscapes, Inc.'s vegetated roof designs also conform to long-standing German guidelines published by FLL3.