Green Roof?

Project Title: Whipple Housing Complex
Location: 27 Green St Ipswich, MA
Size: 3,000 sq ft
System Depth: 4 inches
Maintenance Begun: 2009
Photo: courtesy of Apex Green Roofs

If anyone attended the Salem Chamber of Commerce's 5th Annual Living Green & Renewable Energy Faire this last weekend you may have run into a concept that has been growing in popularity in urban areas in recent years, the Green Roof.  A green roof, converts a regular asphalt or stone roof into one that is covered with living plants. One Massachusetts company located in Somerville provides this service. The link is here: http://www.apexgreenroofs.com
This has many potential benefits. It can extend the life of the roof, by protecting the waterproofing membrane from ultraviolet rays. It can help manage/absorb Storm and rain water, reduce energy costs, reduce the heat on the roof itself, reduce air, water and noise pollution, increase property value, create wildlife habitat for birds, qualify us for government grants and tax incentives, and increase the efficiency of solar panels (if we were to install them).
The installation of a green roof can bring cost-saving and environmental benefits in many areas.
Ok, so here is a crazy idea...a green roof for our building. Just think about it. Wouldn't it be cool to make an improvement to the building that would actually be good for the environment?

Gardening!

I did a post last June about the possibility of doing a small garden area on the Seven-11 side of the building. The original post is here. It is now the time of year, with spring fast approaching, when it is time to revisit the subject. We have located these affordable, and movable bins at UrBin Grower that may be the perfect starting package for the "eager urban gardener". The website is here.











The kit comes with (2) 20x20x12 inch self-watering containers as well as 2 soil separators, 2 watering trays, 2 gallons of pumice, a set of seed trays, 4 gallons of dry coir with trace minerals, 1 bag of coir chips, and 1 brick of coir mulch. In short everything you would need to start with a small urban garden in which you could grow herbs, flowers, or vegetables such as tomatoes.
If you are interested, please contact me, the author of this blog, or Markwood Management.

Gardening Anyone?

Several people in the building have expressed interest in the possibility of starting a small garden in the area on the west (White Hen) side of the building. As you can see in the picture it is partially paved and largely unused. Markwood management is open to the idea, but a lot of questions would need to be answered first. It would likely be modeled on one of those urban community gardens like you see in Boston.



















The condo association would provide the space only, the individuals involved would be responsible for purchasing pots, soil, raised beds, and whatever else is required for a garden and maintaining it. Herbs vegetable, or flowers, maybe some tomato plants. The pots or raised beds would need to be move-able so that maintenance can access that area if they need to. Don’t know what the pest situation would be like either. I’ve never seen squirrels or chipmunks around the building, but you never know. We also need to figure out how much sun that area really gets. It seems like it gets a lot of afternoon sun. Getting access water might also be an issue as there don't seem to ba any outside faucets. I’ll keep you posted if and when this develops.
If you are interested or have any suggestions, please leave a comment or contact me.