Nov 12 2014
From a bird's eye view Toronto is getting greener by the day, especially with the current installation of a new green roof on the Sherway Gardens Shopping Centre expansion - the largest vegetated roof on a single, free standing commercial structure in the GTA.
Not only will the expansion offer a myriad of new stores, the 9,500 square metre Xeroflor vegetated roof puts Sherway on the cutting edge environmentally and makes it a living example of "being green".
"We chose the XF301 green roof system as part of the Sherway Gardens expansion because of the key benefits it offers," said Andy Traynor, General Manager at Sherway Gardens. "Our new 102,000 square foot green roof will help slow stormwater runoff from the roof, benefitting both the city and the environment. The green roof also played a role in ensuring that our expansion was LEED certified."
The XF301 Sedum Standard is one of the lightest green roof systems available with a high "water retention-to-weight ratio". Sherway's green roof is 12 pounds per square foot (59 kg/M2) fully saturated and retains 1.5" inch of rainfall (36L/M2). Optional stone mulch was added to the green roof adding to this weight and helping to further protect the plants and promote their growth.
The new roofscape is also aesthetically pleasing year round – green in spring, flowering in the summer, turning reddish purple in autumn and going dormant in winter.
Sherway is greening the grey with the installation of a 9500 sqm Xeroflor green roof.
One impetus for Toronto becoming greener has been the successful partnership between building owners and the City. In addition to the city's Green Roof Bylaw, the Eco Roof Incentive Program offers grants to install a green roof. For a building to qualify, among the things the City asks for is an engineering report to ensure the green roof meets construction requirements, specifically, wind uplift. As a German innovation, Xeroflor technology has proven itself under various conditions over the past four decades and complies with the necessary wind uplift requirement -- getting the stamp of approval from engineers and municipal authorities alike.
Source: http://www.xeroflorcanada.ca