"Vegetative Roofing Passes 120 MPH Wind Test"

A monumental breakthrough was achieved by my dear friend and colleague, Mr. Kevin Songer, on his amazing high wind resistant vegetative roof system. Folks, this is no mean feat, and Kevin has worked (by himself, and without funding, I might add) exhaustively, and tirelessly, on it for years. Where multi-billion dollar firms have failed, he's succeeded.

Kevin's mat system is reported on his blog today, and I would encourage any of you considering vegetative roofing to contact him. It could not happen to a nicer man, or family.

Friday, October 29, 2010Green Roof Hurricane Uplift Testing 120 MPH for 3 Long Minutes
We started off today referring to the Green Roof Wind Uplift Test duration as "until failure".

At least it looked as though the test would proceed until the mat failed.

After all, the MetroVerde Green Roof had been sitting in the hot Florida sun, non-irrigated, 1" thick layer of engineered soil for 18 months at the University of Florida.

We are going into our fifth week of zero precipitation (no rain).

The plants looked brown.

The panel was fixed at a 3/12 slope just feet away from the large hurricane simulator.

The plants looked vulnerable. The engineered soil just waiting to be blown off the mat along with plants.

The large diesel engines fired up and the turbines spun.

50 MPH for one minute - a little dust blew off the roof.

70 MPH for a minute plus - not much happened.

90 MPH and the dust around the base of the testing platform flew and the plants bent backwards - almost parallel to the roof slope. Shingles on a shed 300' away began flapping.

We were all amazed, having seen other green roofs under hurricane tests blow away, soil and plants...

We took a break and looked at the panel. A small amount of the engineered soil had blown off the mat.

The 120 MPH for over three minutes.

The dead, brown material blew off the plants - like a good pruning. Even the large, tender Echeveria was still there, albeit leaning a little.

The nodding garlic - Allium canadense was beautiful.

The plant roots were so intertwined in the mat that 80% of the engineered soil remained.

Successful. The first Florida Designed Green Roof Panel to pass the 120 MPH wind tunnel test.

Please see video and additional technical descriptions on his blog, at:
http://www.kevinsonger.blogspot.com/

That's two very uplifting stories for me to share, and I hope you are energized by both of them.

Okay, for those of you with children, I will now share my semi-hilarious jokes:

1.) Why don't Vampires bite Snowmen? Frostbite.

2.) Do Zombies eat popcorn with their fingers? No. The fingers are eaten separately.

You're welcome.

RRS