LiveRoof® Curved Green Roof Tops Seattle Maritime Academy's New Building, Protects Water Quality

The 6700 square foot LiveRoof® Green Roof Features Curved Design, Reflective its Location; Provides Natural Water Pollution Control

Seattle, WA (PRWEB) - The Seattle Maritime Academy (SMA) at Seattle Central College is delivering a smart, new education building to the maritime industry in the Pacific Northwest Region, and it features a 6700 square foot LiveRoof® green roof. The new 24,000 square-foot building is constructed to rigorous sustainability standards, including meeting the City of Seattle’s stormwater management requirements. SMA is applying for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design or LEED Certification __title__ LEED Certification] and anticipates earning LEED Silver Certification. It is expected to open in late 2016 on the Ballard campus.

Rooftop gardens serve a crucial role in protecting water quality while preventing and controlling pollution to waters throughout the state. The prevegetated roof provides natural benefits, absorbing as much as 90 percent of the rainwater that falls on it, cleaning the air of pollutants and deflecting water from municipal waterways.

In response to Seattle’s booming Maritime industry, SMA is more than tripling the capacity of its Marine Engineering Technology program. Up to 150 students are expected to enroll in an expanded range of programs. SMA is collaborating with the maritime industry and other maritime training organizations to address a growing labor shortage, hastened by its aging workforce. The SMA living roof also provides natural beauty. The new green roof will feature a softly curved design, reflective of the nearby waterfront and its maritime mission. A colorful mix of fully-grown sedums is sure to prove pleasing-to-the-eye in its prominent location.

“We believe both the SMA community, as well as residents of the greater Puget Sound area, will be impressed by the unique design of this green roof project,” said Naomi Morgan, of GreenFeathers, Inc., a LiveRoof licensed grower. “The curved design of this living roof, reflects the school’s relationship with water and the sea, while a custom blend of exceptionally colorful sedum plants will provide natural beauty as well as function.”

GreenFeathers, Inc. is working with several local businesses to design and install the green roof at SMA. Controlled Rain, LLC, a full service irrigation and landscape solutions company, will install the green roof at SMA. HBB Landscape Architects designed the vegetated roof, while Schreiber, Starling & Lane is the architect for the SMA building project.

The new LiveRoof® green roof covering the Seattle Maritime Academy is a patented, subterranean modular system that unites soil and plants creating a beautiful, meadow-like aesthetic. This green roof is cost effective, providing operational and maintenance cost savings from increased roof life, reduced energy use and stormwater management. The living roof will also reduce noise, protect air quality and provide immediate natural beauty.

Vegetated roofs provide numerous, significant environmental benefits: 

• Increases roof life; soil and plants provide a protective barrier reducing exposure to ultraviolet rays and extreme temperatures, along with a waterproof roof lining, to extend roof life by as much as 200-300 percent, or 40-50 years.
• Reduces energy costs; improved thermal insulation and reduced heat island effect provide heating and cooling savings.
• Reduces stormwater runoff by 65-90 percent in the summer and 25-40 percent during winter months.
• Lowers interior sound levels by as much as 40 decibels.
• Improves air filtration; one square foot of green roof foliage can filter seven ounces of dust and smog per year. Plant photosynthesis also reduces greenhouse gases in the air.
• Provides natural beauty; rooftop gardens provide a verdant, living space and habitable space when patios, walkways and seating is included in the garden design.

A planted roof also provides financial benefits including: the extension of roof life, energy conservation, and conservation of municipal septic systems. Green builders and remodelers can expect between 10–19 percent higher return on investment, as much as 10 percent increased building value, while enjoyed a marked reduction (up to 14 percent) in building operating costs. (1)

(1) Bernstein, Harvey M. “Green Outlook 2001: Green Trends Driving Growth through 2015” EcoCosm.com.http://www.ecocosminc.com/img/2011_McGraw_Hill_Green_Outlook.pdf (retrieved February 2016)

About LiveRoof® Global, LLC 
LiveRoof® Global, LLC is the leading horticultural science company in the green roof industry. LiveRoof’s natural function and natural beauty offer the highest level of green roof performance with ultra-low maintenance costs. Exceptional in design, function and endurance, the patented LiveRoof® Hybrid Green Roof System establishes a healthy, sustainable ecosystem that covers the rooftop with seamless, verdant vegetation. LiveRoof and its network of industry leading licensed green roof growers test and develop plants and soils designed to thrive in native climates and grow them in an environmentally responsible manner. LiveRoof has successfully installed over 2000 projects featuring more than five million square feet of green roofs in North America, Europe, Asia, and beyond. LiveRoof®. Natural Function. Natural Beauty. http://www.liveroof.com

About GreenFeathers 
GreenFeathers, Inc. is the green roof division of Blooming Nursery, Inc., one of Oregon’s largest wholesale nurseries with 100,000 square feet of greenhouses and more than 45 acres of growing fields. As the Pacific Northwest regional distributor and grower for LiveRoof, GreenFeathers has custom grown over 65 green roof projects in the states of Oregon and Washington since 2008. http://www.greenfeathers.info

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