Architect for New Library Selected | New Central Library Will be Green |Abundant Glass Offers Multiple Benefits

INNOVATIVE “GREEN ROOF” WILL CROWN NEW LIBRARY

MILFORD PA: March 5, 2007 --  The preliminary design for a new central library in Pike County presented by Frederic Schwartz Associates calls for incorporation of a “green” roof. A green roof is roof incorporating soil and vegetation that is planted over a waterproof membrane. Also called eco-roofs and living roofs, green roofs are a relatively new phenomenon in North America. First developed in Germany in the 1960s, the economic and environmental benefits of green roofs are now being realized in cutting edge construction throughout the United States.

Architect Fred Schwartz said, “Green roofs provide a marvelous, cost-efficient means to control storm water runoff while providing significant insulation that provides significant savings in costs to heat and cool a building.” “We have incorporated a vegetation-filled green roof in the design for the new central library, not only for its obvious economic benefits, but also as a dynamic means to reflect the county’s rich heritage of conservation and caretaking for the environment,” he added. Green Roofs for Healthy Cities, the national green roof association, reports that green roofs can retain up to 75 percent of rainwater, gradually releasing it back into the atmosphere via condensation and transpiration, while retaining pollutants in the soil.

According to the Center for Green Roof Research at Penn State University, green roofs are valuable not only in preventing damage from storm water runoff, but they also provide an array of other benefits to building owners as well as the communities in which these eco-friendly buildings are located. Such benefits include the reduction of the “heat island” effect of large buildings, filtration of pollutants and carbon dioxide from the air and rain water, lengthening roof life by two to three times, neutralization of the acid rain effect and environmental noise reduction, as well as the softer benefits of providing an aesthetically pleasing environment and a habitat for songbirds.

The typical composition of a green roof includes a vapor control layer to cover the roof structure. Successive layers atop the vapor barrier include thermal insulation, a waterproof membrane and support panels, a drainage layer, a filter membrane, the growing medium and vegetation. Green roof systems may be modular, with drainage layers, filter cloth, growing medium and plants in movable, interlocking grids, or each component of the system may be installed independently.

Charles Eible, President of the Pike County Public Library Board of Directors, said “We are excited that Frederic Schwartz Architects has recommended incorporation of a green roof for the new library. It is an innovative building feature that will benefit the library directly through ongoing cost savings while providing significant ecological benefits and aesthetic enhancement to the Milford community.”

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