Peterson adding cost-, earth-friendly green roof

Published Oct. 16, 2007
By Corey Dahl
21st Space Wing Public Affairs

PETERSON AFB, Colo. -- Crews will start installing a new roof on Building 845 this month, but they won't be using anything close to shingles.

Instead, workers will be laying down roughly 1,200 panels full of plants, creating an environmentally-friendly green roof. Slated for completion in November, it will be the first green roof on an Air Force base in the contiguous United States.

Randy Hawke, facilities excellence architect with the 21st Space Wing's Civil Engineer Squadron, said the roof is a major step forward for Peterson and the Air Force, allowing both to catch up with other Department of Defense agencies' green initiatives. Pennsylvania's Tobyhanna Army Depot already has a green roof.

"This shows that we're making a really big effort to go green," Mr. Hawke said, noting that the roof will help Peterson achieve several Air Force-mandated green requirements well before the 2009 deadline. "We've got our foot ahead of the race."

Developed in Germany in the 1960s, green roofs are typically building tops that are partially or completely covered in plants, flowers or vegetables. Green roofs lower heating and cooling costs for buildings by providing an extra layer of insulation in the winter and providing evaporative cooling in the summer.

The plants also reduce storm water run-off, filter pollutants and carbon-dioxide out of the air and can increase a roof's lifespan.

Green roofs have long been popular in Europe - it's estimated that 10 percent of all German roofs are green - but the technology is just beginning to catch on in the United States. In recent years, high-profile buildings such as the Library of Congress and Chicago's City Hall have greened their roofs. In Colorado, the U.S. Bank and Environmental Protection Agency buildings in Denver have green roofs.

Peterson's roof will be Colorado Springs' first "green grid" roof, using a system of lightweight planted modules that can easily be moved around for maintenance or other needs, said Heidi Brothers, project manager for Weston Solutions. The roof will be planted with eight different types of sedum, a relative of the cactus that thrives in drier climates.

Funded by the Air Force Civil Engineer Support Agency, the roof will be installed by Weston Solutions, a contractor specializing in green roofs, and will be monitored for effectiveness over the next year. It's estimated the roof will cut Building 845's energy costs - especially cooling costs in the summer - by 40 to 50 percent and more than double the life span of the building's roof.

If Peterson's green roof - a Secretary of the Air Force-level interest project - is successful, it's possible roofs at other bases could be greened as part of the secretary's push to adopt green initiatives at bases Air Force-wide.

"We've got to do things smarter throughout the Air Force," Mr. Hawke said. "And this is one of those simple ways that we can conserve energy and save money."

But a lot of the roof's value won't be measured in dollars and cents. While the roof will be closed to everyone but civil engineers and building managers for now, it could eventually open to the public, lending an aesthetic value to Building 845, Ms. Brothers said. The new roof will also reduce noise for people who work in the building, and - most importantly - the roof will provide invaluable environmental benefits.

"A lot of the roof's value is hard to quantify; it goes beyond energy savings," Ms. Brothers said. "If you could measure all of that, I'm sure the value would be much more significant."