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Michael Bucci might have found a solution to the area’s flooding-basement conundrum. To showcase his discovery, he ventured to a rooftop, not the sewer system.
Climbing a ladder to the height of 1313 E. Passyunk Ave. Monday, Bucci noted not only the beauty of the Center City skyline in the distance, but the greenery encompassing 500 square feet of roof space. Dubbed a green roof, it is similar to a patch of undeveloped land since it has soil (made from recycled corn cobs, as well as brick and concrete dust) that includes a variety of plants found in desert-like conditions and is extremely absorbent.
Its permeability means rainwater is soaked up, versus the drops simply rolling off a regular roof and making its way to — and potentially straining — the sewers.
The green roof "gets saturated and there’s a slow trickle out of the downspout, versus a rush of water," Bucci, president of G Space Design, 726 S. Hutchinson St., said.
If more residents placed these green spaces on the tops of their homes, Bucci said, flooding might subside into a mere memory.
But dry basements aren’t the only benefit of green-roof technology. Evident by its growing popularity in the U.S. and arrival to this area, these spaces have other advantages felt by homeowners and Mother Earth.
Bucci said he changed his company’s name (formerly MNB Architecture) this year to highlight its focus on green and graphics design. After anticipated renovations requested by the Passyunk site’s homeowner did not receive zoning approval, Bucci discussed other avenues — including the green roof. Both parties agreed on the idea, with the installation taking only a day on April 25. Typically, this type of greenery is placed atop already-existing roofs.
"We’re proposing [green roofs] to new clients, and we seem to be getting a lot of interest in this," Bucci said.
Supplying the material for the local project was Rochester-based Green Living Roofs, which Bucci discovered through research. Initially involved with landscape construction, the company’s CEO and majority principal George Irwin was asked years back by a client to install a rooftop garden. Noticing there was a market for green technology, he began his current operation about five years ago.
G Space is now Green Living Roof’s Philadelphia-based representative and the former also is responsible for installing the Passyunk roof.
Placed atop the rowhome’s existing roof are 3-by-3-foot squares arranged next to each other. Embedded in the square’s soil, which is set on a protective membrane known as a drainage carrier, are five different varieties of sedum, or plants known for their high-water retention. Also installed is an irrigation system equipped with a rain sensor, but Bucci said the greenery can last eight weeks without hydration.
Passyunk’s green roof is considered "extensive," or typically low maintenance and on a thin soil layer, but "intensive" roofs, which require more maintenance and soil, have the ability to grow small trees, bushes, vegetables and herbs.
No matter what type is used, all have the ability to double the life expectancy of a roof membrane, since the blocking of ultraviolet rays by the greenery prevents the expansion and retraction of seams that can lead to cracks or ruptures, Irwin said.
"A roof membrane exposed to UV rays during a hot summer day can reach up to 180 degrees," he said. "That same roof … during the evening can drop down to 80 degrees. That’s going to result in a severe expansion and retraction."
Without a green roof blocking UV rays, heat also "infiltrates into the building itself," Irwin added. "If we can maintain that internal temperature and prevent heat gain and heat loss, that means less time the air conditioner has to go on and off."
Irwin estimated energy savings for a building with a green roof is upwards of 50 percent.
The environment as a whole also benefits from this installation, since the roofs lessen the amount of polluted runoff. Acting as water purifiers, plant material also filters out metals possibly prevalent in water, Irwin added.
Bucci liked the idea of how these spaces oxygenate the air while reducing the heat island effect, in which urban areas are warmer than their surroundings due to the amount of pavements and buildings and lack of natural land.
"If everyone [installed a green roof], then this whole area would be much cooler," Bucci said while standing next to the rooftop greenery.
Building owner John Petralia, who grew up at 17th and Morris streets, was lured to the green idea, noting, "I’m very conscious of trying everything I can to maintain and preserve the environment."
The green roof, he added, "will minimize the amount of energy the house will be using."
These energy-saving benefits seem to be catching on with the general public, Irwin said, noting his company’s product is found in six other countries, the Midwest and along the Pacific and Atlantic coasts.
"Lots of people are starting to realize that we live in a society that has limited resources," Irwin said Monday on his cell while at a "Green Roofs for Healthy Cities" conference in Minnesota. "Everything has an X-factor, where eventually it will run out, and it may not run out in our lifetime, but in our kids’ future. There’s a general concern to at least conserve what we already have and become self-sufficient as communities."
Green roofs (averaging about $15 a square foot) are more expensive than a traditional roof (about $5 a square foot), but Bucci anticipates the price to come down once demand soars.
Councilman-at-Large James Kenney introduced legislation, enacted in March, that provides a tax credit of 25 percent of all costs incurred by green-roof construction, which is applied to the applicant’s business-privilege tax.
Urban areas like Chicago, Bucci added, have taken the lead with green-roof technology. Throughout the Windy City, 300 green-roof projects have either been completed or are under way — even City Hall has greenery atop its building. Chicago also is awarding $200,000 in grants to 40 recipients for the implementation of green roofs, Larry Merritt, spokesman for the city’s Department of the Environment, said.
Through his local action, Bucci hopes to set an example for larger developers. "If a small developer can do this, they can do a huge project that is green," he said.
