Author: Caroline Dolan

GREEN ROOFS ARE NOT NEW: The Hanging Gardens of Babylon (c. 500 B.C.) were one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World and an early version of a green roof, with gardens cascading over scone pillars and roofs waterproofed with tar and reeds. Green, or sod, roofs have been around for centuries, ­think “Vikings” in Scandinavia and the sod roofs of American settlers on the Great Plains. A precursor for the modern green roof was unveiled in 1867 at the World Expo in Paris featuring a waterproofing and drainage system. The 1920s and the 1930s yielded innovations by Le Corbusier, Alvar Aalro, and Frank Lloyd Wright. Their installation has increasingly expanded in Germany as practitioners improved the technology to use on existing and new buildings to proactively reduce stormwater runoff due to development.

Green Roofs for Healthy Cities defines a green roof system as an “extension of the existing roof which involves, at a minimum, high-quality waterproofing, root repellent system, drainage system, filter cloth, a lightweight growing medium, and plants.” Basically, a roof that is covered or partially covered in plants.

Common concerns about green roofs typically focus on integrity, maintenance, and cost. Although any type of roof can leak if not properly installed, green roofs installed by experienced contrac­tors are much less likely to leak. While it is true that the first cost of a green roof installation, either for a new or existing building, can initially be higher than that of a typical single-ply membrane roof, the costs for a well-designed and site-appropriate green roof are often balanced by its long-term energy savings and the fact that the green roof will extend the life of the roof membrane.

Every green roof is unique, not only to the building and space it defines, but also to the local climate, and proposed use offering many benefits associated with such an installation. The most widely acknowledged ones are associated with environmental sustainability-specifically, stormwater management, water conservation, air quality, and mitigation of the heat island effect in dense urban settings. In addition to its benefit as an amenity, a green roof can also improve building performance through better mechanical performance and more efficient PV systems, as well as reduce acoustical transmission through roof assemblies.

The design of a green roof provides a blank canvas upon which to introduce biodiversity while contributing to the improved health and wellbeing of users. Many hospitals now include healing gardens on accessible, visible roofs because they can have such a positive impact on patient recovery. In the right setting, it can also serve as an effective educational tool, adding to its justification on new and existing school buildings.

As a practitioner of sustainable design promoting the responsi­ble use and conservation of natural resources, HMFH has had opportunities to leverage this expertise by helping three Massa­chusetts schools—Saugus Middle High School, Josiah Quincy Upper School, and Bristol County Agricultural High School­—make smart decisions that reduced energy and water use and enhanced learning while supporting the health and wellbeing of all users. Each school had different reasons for choosing green roofs.

Saugus Middle High School in Saugus, Mass., sited less than 300 feet from a busy six-lane highway, supports progressive education in grades 6 to 12 and celebrates the town’s rich history of innovation. The $160.7-million school brings together 1,360 students in a 271,000-square-foot, STEAM-driven complex outfitted for exploratory learning and innovation.

Inspired by the Saugus River’s fundamental role in the town’s history, the new school incorporates multiple water conservation strategies. A stormwater collection and reuse system combined with the green roof slows stormwater runoff, saving more than 1.5 million gallons of water annually and leading to Saugus becoming the first project state-funded to reach the highest level of LEED certification, Platinum. In tandem with the environmental benefits, the 12,700-square-foot third-floor green roof provides program space for science curriculum-based learning, yoga, and mindfulness classes. The roofscape is centrally located and easily accessed by students and faculty. The exterior door to the outdoor classroom is also adjacent to the third-floor classroom devoted to medically fragile students, offering chose with limited mobility more opportunity to be outdoors.

Currently under construction, the $146.8-million Josiah Quincy Upper School in Boston is a 175,000-square-foot, six­-story facility char will accommodate 650 students in grades 6 through 12 when it opens for the 2024-2025 academic year. The location of the one-acre site, near the intersection of the Massachusetts Turnpike (I-90) and I-93, presented a different type of challenge than Saugus or Bristol Aggie. Combined, the two highways carry about 300,000 vehicles per weekday through the city, resulting in transportation-related air pollution.

During the design process, the project ream and stakeholders placed a high priority on fitting a robust educational program on a small, urban site and creating spaces that advance health, wellbeing, and equity. Because no other outdoor space was possible on the site, a large portion of the roof will serve as an outdoor classroom and physical activity area featuring walking paths and native species gardens. An added benefit of the roof garden is the access to fresher air high above street level, while the plants also actively remove pollutants from the air. Based on the area of vegetation and native plantings, the green roof project will achieve a credit in LEED for restoring natural habitat. Planned PV canopies have been deleted due to budget constraints bur are possible to add back if funds become available.

While every green roof is unique to its intended purpose, size, local climate, budget, and maintenance constraints, successful installations are usually the product of an interdisciplinary team effort by an architect; structural, civil (for stormwater), and mechanical/electrical/plumbing engineers; landscape archi­tect; botanist; and possibly irrigation specialist. State and mu­nicipal agencies can be important allies because of the overlap­ping trades involved and as more political advocates press for features such as this to increase climate resiliency.

Green roofs provide many benefits, from increasing a roofs lifespan, promoting biodiversity, and improving building energy performance to improving the efficiency of solar photovoltaic systems. While directly benefitting the school community, green roofs are also benefitting the broader community by cooling the immediate environment and reducing storm water runoff. Designing green roofs for schools offers even more opportunity: they can enhance the learning experience, improve health and wellness, and connect with a school’s curriculum and program goals.

A project team of education stakeholders in Massachusetts gained tremendous knowledge about inclusion and student engagement as they worked to complete a 196,000-square-foot construction project. Bristol County Agricultural High School (Bristol Aggie) already had a strong reputation for its hands-on, skills-based education with programs in natural resource management, agricultural mechanics, animal sciences, floriculture, arboriculture, environmental engineering and landscaping. But an overhaul of the campus provided a perfect opportunity to articulate a new vision and rethink the delivery of career and technical education (CTE).

The project scope involved constructing four new buildings and renovating two others on the 220-acre rural campus with a working farm in Dighton, Massachusetts. New buildings include the Center for Science and the Environment, the Student Commons, a net-zero energy ready dairy barn, and a lab shared by the landscaping and arboriculture departments. The central academic and agricultural mechanics buildings were renovated. To connect the old and new components, a newly created pedestrian thoroughfare and nonformal learning areas unite the formerly siloed programs and foster cross-disciplinary collaboration.

Bristol Aggie’s new facilities represent a significant civic investment in high-quality CTE. The multifaceted nature of a project this size deserves thoughtful planning. And to ensure long-term success, should include input from all stakeholders. Three important steps contributed to a successful outcome.

Solicit active participation from staff, students, families, and community members. Because diverse perspectives are so important. Finding time that works for all parties can be a challenge, but it’s possible with careful planning. You might consider the benefits of asynchronous design feedback.

Ask questions about how the school has operated in the past and how it should operate in the future. Certain topics are crucial, such as admissions, student engagement and creating a welcoming place for all. At Bristol Aggie, this approach sparked an important discussion about balancing a skills-focused CTE program with academics embedded to create greater appeal for a diverse student population.

Further, an effective visioning process engages participants in the whole project from design through to occupancy and future use. These efforts can generate renewed investment in high-quality program development and a supportive culture. Most importantly, input from diverse sources helps prioritize and build consensus around project goals.

For Bristol Aggie, stakeholders agreed upon five goals to shape the character of the buildings, campus, culture and learning experience.

• Design facilities that enhance hands-on learning opportunities while serving as learning tools themselves.
• Strengthen academic achievement through tighter integration of academic and skills-based programs.
• Create a hub for students within the school to encourage greater social and academic interactions.
• Develop a welcoming, accessible and unified campus where the outdoor environment is an integral part of the social and academic experience and the student motto — “Cultivating Excellence” — is manifest.
• Integrate sustainability, resiliency and student well-being into every aspect of the physical campus and educational programs.

With goals established, the project team asked: How can we turn the design process into a learning opportunity for students? And they worked in collaboration with faculty to make it happen. Bristol Aggie students participated in several different ways, which reinforced their academic work and helped create a sense of agency.

Landscaping and arboriculture students met with the design team early on to learn about the process. In turn, they familiarized the designers with the on-site arboretum that hosts a range of tree and plant species. With help from the students and faculty, the landscape architects came to appreciate the diversity of tree and plant species on the campus. Later, as initial designs were generated, students discussed how they might contribute to the installation of new trees and plants.

The design team returned frequently to faculty and students for ideas, and to better understand their needs.

Then as the construction documents developed, students learned about specifications and installation details and provided input. In the future, landscaping students will learn how to install benches along the main pedestrian walkway, while arboriculture students will plant trees around the campus. And floriculture students will maintain planting beds near the classrooms.

Substantial project benefits were realized by bringing in outside experts from a variety of disciplines to consult on the design of the new school. This happened most notably at the dairy barn. Although the campus already had a knowledgeable dairy herdsman on staff, advice from specialists in robotic milking, manure removal and cow health was necessary to design a facility for the future. The herd gained a modern, comfortable home. And students now thrive in a technologically advanced learning environment. The skills they develop by using, gathering data from, and maintaining the equipment will better position them for employment and professional growth.

Additionally, public safety officials and building inspectors must provide input on every project. So the project team reached out early to Dighton officials, both for guidance and to foster transparency around plans and goals. This created a culture of open communication in all project phases. For instance, the town’s plumbing inspector worked with the team to get approval from the state for the composting toilets that were installed.

Bristol Aggie is also home to community-based activities that use the campus throughout the year. Agricultural groups such as 4H and the regional Beekeepers Association meet regularly in the school, so their input was valuable. Including local groups such as these in the process of high-quality CTE facility design will build support, trust and a sense of community.

Cohesive and inclusive teamwork was necessary to plan, design and construct this campus-wide improvement project. All stakeholders share in its ultimate success. At the ribbon-cutting ceremony held on May 23, 2022, former school Superintendent Adele Sands echoed this sentiment. “Bristol Aggie is an extraordinary place,” she said. “The students deserve school buildings that support the education they receive every day. And now we have them, thanks to all of you.”