Building

GREEN Facility is a research and testing place for industry to enhance and develop green technologies and all other aspects involved in the construction and efficient operation of green roof systems, specifically targeted to cold regions.

Facility

Our outdoor laboratory on the roof of the College of Law Building at the University of Saskatchewan

Our testbed setup includes:

  • 8 customizable, outdoor, 3 m2 test roofs, exposed to local climate conditions
  • 1 customizable, indoor 8 m2 test roof with customizable climate control including freeze/thaw cycling and precipitation
  • Sensor networks to manage soil moisture, temperature, irrigation scheduling, soil water tension and Electrical Conductivity
  • Full weather monitoring indoor and outdoor

Services

  • Accelerate and mimic the strain from environmental factors in a controlled and closely monitored test slope
  • Precipitation inputs ranging from 3 to 45+ mm/hr with a state of the art rainfall simulator
  • Expedited cold regions testing of our 8 m2 testing beds with up to 15 freeze-thaw cycles each year
  • Precise measurement of hydrological partitions in the test slope, including: runoff, baseflow, infiltration, interflow
  • Year-round growing conditions for evaluation of cover revegetation periods utilizing LED grow lights of varying intensities
  • Soil physical parameters testing capabilities including: Particle Size Distribution (whole and fine fraction), bulk density, water content, soil water characteristic curves, saturated conductivity