The GREEN Facility will be part of the Global Institute for Water Security (GIWS), University of Saskatchewan. The governance of the GREEN roof facility would follow a similar governance structure to our successful WD-sponsored MOST Facility. McDonnell will serve as the project lead and head. He will work with the Co-PI team to design and implement the many parts of the GREEN Facility pieces through 2017 and 2018. Dyan Pratt will lead the engineering design and assembly. The Co-PI team of Bing Si, Colin Laroque and Ali Ameli will meet with the team monthly to advise and develop ideas for proof-of-concept testing. The GREEN Facility will have strong industrial links woven in to the business plan from day 1. Michael Molaro (Accredited Green Roof Professional; Higher Groundwork HortiCulture Inc. (formerly in the FMD Planning Department UofS) is well connected to the green roof industry and will facilitate our connections to key firms in Winnipeg, Regina, Calgary, Edmonton and elsewhere who will use our services.

Our multidisciplinary team of engineers, green roof consultants, water, soil and plant scientists will create a new state-of-the-art facility at the UofS to test cold region green roof designs. This facility will serve as a research and green tech development platform that integrates fields of hydrology, soil physics, plant ecology, civil engineering, architecture and building science and provide a space to troubleshoot existing design challenges in this sector, enabling us to reduce the cost of new projects by providing proof of concept testing in cold regions prior to costly implementation.

Mission

Our mission is to help industry improve green roof design in cold regions, improve risk mitigation, troubleshoot design challenges, reduce costs and improve accuracy of green roof water retention assessments.

Who we are

Principals

  • Jeffrey McDonnell, Professor, School of Environment and Sustainability, University of Saskatchewan; Associate Director of the Global Inst for Water Security
  • Colin Laroque, Professor, Department of Soil Science, College of Agriculture and Bioresources and Professor, School of Environment and Sustainability, U of S
  • Bing Si, Professor, Department of Soil Science, College of Agriculture and Bioresources, University of Saskatchewan
  • Ali Ameli, Assistant Professor at the University of British Columbia
  • Michael Molaro, Accredited GRP and Principal of Higher Groundwork HortiCulture, Saskatchewan

Management