Everything You Want To Know About Green Roofs - Roosevelt Island PS/IS 217 Green Roof Supporters Take Fantastic Tour Of NYC Parks Department 5 Borough Green Roof On Randall's Island With Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer

Supporters of the planned Roosevelt Island PS/IS 217 Green Roof project,

Roosevelt Island PS/IS 217 Reps join Manhattan Boro Pres @galeabrewer on Randall's Island Green Roof with @NYCParks pic.twitter.com/CuIsfiq2RL

— Roosevelt Islander (@Rooseveltisland) August 12, 2016

together with Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer and her staff,

Image Of Gale Brewer & Staff At Randall's Island Green Roof From Christina Delfico

Yissely Ortiz, BP Community liaison (left) and Deputy BP Matthew Washington (right), visited the NYC Parks Department Five Borough Green Roof on Randall's Island last Friday, August 12.

According to NYC Parks 5 Borough Citywide Operations and Technical Services Sustainable Facilities Division:

In the spring of 2007, the Five Borough Technical Services Division of the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation installed its first green roof system atop their headquarters, the Five Borough Complex on Randall‟s Island. Since then, the Technical Services division, in cooperation with the Parks‟ GreenApple Corps, has expanded the green roof program to encompass over 30 unique growing systems covering 30,000 square feet of our roof. As the fifth largest green roof in New York City, the 5-Borough project is not only a key component of the Parks‟ commitment to reducing its carbon footprint, but it also serves as a way to educate and inspire park staff and patrons, as well as supply a resource for peers in the field.

And:

The 5-Borough green roof distinguishes itself from others, as it is the only known green roof in the country to feature distinct systems side by side. These systems vary by type of growing medium, depth of growing medium, and plant selection. By using a variety of planting systems and monitoring their progress, we are identifying the types of green roof systems that will thrive in the NYC urban environment.

Background
A green roof is a thin layer of vegetation installed on a traditional flat or pitched roof. Although the specifics of green roof design may vary, all green roofs have the same basic components (Fig. 1 from the bottom up): waterproofing layer(s), a root barrier (to prevent the plantings‟ roots from growing through the roof), water retention/water drainage layer, growing medium, and plants.

There are two types of green roofs: intensive and extensive. Intensive green roofs are greater than 6" deep and allow for a greater variety of plants including shrubs and even trees to be considered. They are similar to traditional rooftop gardens and often provide social and recreational uses. Intensive roofs can require more maintenance than extensive roofs and may also be more costly to install. By contrast, extensive green roofs are much shallower; their growing media are typically less than 6". They are lighter weight systems that provide primarily ecological and economic benefits. Plants likely to flourish on extensive green roofs are more specific and include sedums, succulents, alpine type plants, and some grasses. Extensive green roofs contain fewer layers than those of intensive roofs and tend to require less maintenance....

Here's view from on top of the Randall's Island NYC Parks Department 5 Boro Green Roof Garden.



Roosevelt Island PS/IS 217 teacher Ursula Fokine, PS/IS 217 PTA's Olga Shchuchinov and Erin Olavesen, and iDig2Learn's Christina Delfico joined Borough President Brewer and her staff on the August 12 tour of the NYC Parks Department Randall's Island Green Roof.

 Image Of Roosevelt Islanders Green Roof Tour At Randall's Island from Christina Delfico

Ms Fokine said the purpose of the tour was:

... to be inspired by the work being done by the Parks Department. We are looking to design our roof, that we have now received such generous funding for, and we are looking to make our roof a combination of a space for our students and also to be environmentally exciting and sustainable.

We came today to see see the kind of plants and planting systems that are available and choices we have to now make to get our roof off the ground....

Image Of Ms. Fokine Examining Randall's Island Green Roof Vertical Garden by Christina Delfico

Manhattan Borough President Brewer added:

...I've never seen a roof like the school on Roosevelt Island in terms of size...

... Today is inspiring. What we learned is that we can do different things on the roof...  this roof is so large it could be a learning laboratory, you could have all the cultural/artistic but you can also have the real green roof stuff....

 Image Of Roosevelt Island PS/IS 217 Roof From Google Maps

The PS/IS 217 roof is approximately 6.700 square feet.



The Randall's Island Green Roof Tour was given by NYC Parks Department Assistant Commissioner for Citywide Services Artie Rollins

Image Of Artie Rollins (left) Showing Randall's Island Green Roof Vegetables From Christina Delfico

and Sustainability Project Development Coordinator Max Lerner.

Image Of Max Lerner Showing Randall's Island Green Roof Composting Bin From Christina Delfico

The Randall's Island Green Roof Tour began with an introduction and behind the scenes look by Max Lerner in the 5 Borough Complex Atrium



followed by a tour of the Green Roof by Artie Rollins. Here is the start of the Randall's Island Green Roof tour.





Mr. Lerner show us composting on the Randall's Island Green Roof



and Mr. Rollins show us a Vertical Wall Garden.



Mr. Rollins describes building code challenges for School Green Roofs and possible solutions.



Variety of native plants and soil systems.



Laying down Green Roof Trays and Ancillary Costs of Green Roof systems that include Certificate of Public Assembly, Fire Alarm and ADA Elevator.



Hydroponic Vegetable Plants,

Solar Energy,

Image From Christina Delfico

and

Image From Christina Delfico

Honey Bee Hives.



Mr. Rollins is thanked for the tour by Christina Delfico and presented with special Heirloom tomato seeds and a Roosevelt Island map.



It was a fantastic tour.

Check out more information on the NYC Parks Department Randall's Island Green Roof facility.

It's got everything you want to know about Green Roofs.