Ever been up on a dark, flat roof on a clear summer day? Pretty hot, isn't it? The angle and the color absorb the energy of the sun's rays, creating a heat sink that shimmers in the bright light as it adds its warmth to the surrounding environment. During those summer days that heat sink also adds to the cost of cooling the building it's on. What if, instead of being a negative, there was a way to turn that absorption of solar energy into a positive?
At White Mountains Community College we try to tread lightly as we ride on this bright blue orb we call home. As humans, we can't help but affect the natural environment around us, but it is up to all of us to minimize that affect as much as possible. Doing so does not necessarily mean downgrading our standard of living. For instance, there are many innovative ways to incorporate simple technologies into new and existing buildings to lessen the need for both cooling and heating those structures.
This season we are partnering with Botanicals Nursery of Wayland, Mass. to create and plant a green roof at the conference and spa center of the Mt. Washington Resort in Bretton Woods. Our students will be preparing eight thousand square feet for plants from five different ecosystems. Some of the design work mimics views of subalpine ecosystems on the nearby Northern Presidential Mountains.
Mentoring our students as they work on the project is founder of Botanicals Nursery, Jeff Licht, who has taught green roof technology at Tufts University and Harvard University. Recently the company completed a green roof project at the Boston Children's Museum, working with young people from two years old to 20.
Before the scheduled late August planting, six students at a time will be on the roof getting the soil material to the landscaping specifications. Layers of special material will waterproof the roof, allowing, too, for the plants to use the precipitation that nature provides while engineering for the necessary drainage, too.
We are pretty excited about this project. With energy prices climbing every day, and the deep concern about global warming, our partnership with Botanicals Nursery and the Mt. Washington Resort couldn't come at a more opportune time. Our students will get hands-on experience as green collar workers while learning about many of the plants that survive and thrive in some of our more challenging local environments.
The climate above treeline in the White Mountains is unique, and the plants that can grow at these heights, battered as they are by some of the planet's strongest winds, are hardy survivors. These plants have adapted to harsh growing conditions. We are anxious to see how well the project adapts the roof at the Mt. Washington Resort's spa and conference center to the plants' needs, and anxious to see how the heating and cooling needs of the building are affected.
Green initiatives should benefit all concerned, and this one sure fits the bill!
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