The Green Roof Gets Green

July 27 – July 31

View at Picasa 30-Jul-2009 15:49, NIKON COOLPIX P80 , 5.6, 11.9mm, 0.005 sec, ISO 64

The end of this week marked the beginning of the end for us in this program.  With one month remaining on the build it is really time to kick it into high gear and begin finishing off some of the projects that will make the building both unique and sustainable.  One such feature is our green roof which this week was planted with a variety of local plant life including strawberries.  I guess this is our version of agriculture although allowing the children to attempt a harvest may pose some safety risks.  All joking aside, it is really rewarding to see those sprouts peaking up over the roof as they signal our commitment to being an environmentally conscious building.

View at Picasa 30-Jul-2009 15:48, NIKON COOLPIX P80 , 5.6, 4.7mm, 0.004 sec, ISO 64

Elsewhere on site the real push has been on getting some finishes going.  The shingling has really ramped up and it shows.  The amount of work involved in cutting, staining, and then placing and installing each one by hand, in perfectly straight rows of course, is enormous so my hat goes off to all those who have been a part of it.  I think everyone  is very pleased with how things are turning out so far.  The building looks truly outstanding. 

View at Picasa 28-Jul-2009 14:24, NIKON COOLPIX P80 , 5.0, 5.8mm, 0.009 sec, ISO 64

The first coat of earthen plaster on the north wall has had time to dry sufficiently so it was also time to get the finish layer on.  It is a little different than the last mix in that it contains no straw and a finer sand, as well as some rice flour paste.  This is a little trick that has been traced back to the Chinese and their Great Wall so it’s hard to argue with that success.  It is applied in a much thinner coat than the first as well.  For those of us that hadn’t had much or any experience with plastering it proved a bit of a challenge at times but we seemed to get the hang of having trowels as hands and the break neck pace eventually. 

View at Picasa 30-Jul-2009 12:54, NIKON COOLPIX P80 , 5.6, 4.7mm, 0.004 sec, ISO 64

Another exciting development this week was the installation of the two big poles that will support our photo voltaic panels at the south of the building.  The centre is not going to be off-grid since we don’t want to have any problems with winter energy woes.  Instead, we have sized the renewable system in hopes of being a net zero energy building which means that in peak times we will be producing more power than the loads in the centre require and selling that energy back to the grid while there will also most likely be times when the energy produced is not sufficient to run everything inside the building.  The hope is that annual production will exceed consumption which will result in some nice financial benefits through the feed-in tariff program that will hopefully soon be up and running. 

View at Picasa 03-Aug-2009 07:26, NIKON COOLPIX P80 , 2.8, 4.7mm, 0.017 sec, ISO 400

Another really cool accent in the building was also started this week.  A large circle was left in the middle of the floor during the concrete pour in anticipation of some creative tile work.  The floor team has outdone themselves by creating a lovely mosaic of a compass.  We are hoping that this image reminds everyone how important it is to pay attention to your orientation when planning and designing a building.  Passive solar design is something that we will be relying on and that comes basically free of charge.  It seems that conventional constructors long ago decided to ignore the sun as a free and easy source of heat we are eager to remind everyone of our connection to the main source of this planet’s energy.