Profile Story

Nestled into a hill on the Palouse Clearwater Environmental Institute’s campus in Moscow, a new artists’ studio is taking shape that blends into this landscape more than it stands out.

The building is part of the international trend of green building and, particularly, green or living roofs. Last Saturday, PCEI hosted a workshop to plant sedums and other vegetation on the roof of the artists’ studio.

“Every year, we try to make [our campus] more environmentally friendly, and we invite people to help,” PCEI Membership Coordinator Alycia Lamar said.

Cities and organizations are not installing green roofs just for aesthetics or carbon offsetting, supporters say. The bigger benefits for the building owner are are reduced insulation costs, extended roof lifespan, said Luke Sheneman, Nora Creek Timber co-owner and PCEI green roof installer.

Environmental benefits are water holding and filtration, reduced temperatures in cities, and creation of insect and animal habitat, he said.

“Other roofs destroy habitat,” Sheneman said. “We have just created more habitat than there was before.”

As of yet, green roofing is not a trend in residential building or in the Palouse at all, said Peter Oswald, Nora Creek Timber co-owner and PCEI green roof installer. Part of the reason is that green roofs require more engineering to hold the weight of the plants and soil.

Green roofs, like many sustainable features, also cost more, even though the benefits pay off over time, Lamar said. The artists’ studio’s roof cost $3,000.

While larger U.S. cities are embracing it, towns in the Palouse may not have the means or awareness to offer incentives yet, she said.

“Price, knowledge and availability are probably why people don’t install green roofs,” Lamar said.

PCEI is hoping to change that by offering a series of workshops like the artists’ studio roof, so that locals value and know how to use sustainable techniques, she said.

“You too can do things in an environmentally-friendly way,” Lamar said. “We want people to walk away with a sense of ‘we have to save what is important to us.’”

Green roofing is mostly a European movement currently. Germany and Switzerland are particular proponents of green roofs, Oswald said.

Germany is a “global leader” of green roof technology and installation according to Earth Clinic Planet, a Web site that reports international environmental legislation. Both Germany and Switzerland have incentives and requirements for green roofing in their cities.

While the artists’ studio joins only a handful of green-roofed buildings in the Palouse, green roof companies are scattered across the U.S., and cities as close as Portland and Seattle are implementing the technique as well, Oswald said.

Portland has municipal building requirements and tax and building incentives, according to the Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability Web site.

Seattle developed the Green Factor, an ordinance to increase the amount of vegetation in the city. It requires builders to implement any of the methods on a long list, including green roofs or walls, rainwater harvesting, tree preservation and others, according to the program Web site.

Being the only environmental organization in the area, PCEI feels a special responsibility to use, promote and educate people about the latest ways to go green, Lamar said.

“With every decision, choosing the least expensive option is never the direction we go,” she said. “It’s doing what’s best for the environment.”

Sources
http://planet.earthclinic.com/initiatives/green-roofs.html
http://www.portlandonline.com/shared/cfm/image.cfm?id=112682
http://www.portlandonline.com/bps/index.cfm?c=ecbbd&a=bbehci
http://www.seattle.gov/dpd/Permits/GreenFactor/Overview/
In-person interviews:
Aly Lamar PCEI Membership Coordinator (208-882-1444)
Luke Sheneman and Peter Oswald, Nora Creek Timber owners, PCEI green roof installers