Green Roof?? A Great Start!

When students returned to MHS this past week they noticed something new when they used the stairwell on the far end of the building near the modular classrooms. It looked like this:What they noticed was the fruition of the senior project of recent alum Kjirsten Seiler, '10. During last school year Kjirsten researched the topic of the green roof, a roof (or a portion of a roof) that is covered with vegetation and a growing medium, planted over a waterproofing membrane. This type of roof has become more popular in the past 5-10 years, particularly in new urban construction. Its benefits include providing insulation, absorbing rainwater, reducing heat loss and energy consumption, and filtering out pollutants and carbon dioxide of the air.

While the scope of this project was small (only a portion of the roof to the modular wing was done), Kjirsten planned everything and constructed it over the summer with the help of some MHS friends. This includes the frame, the membrane, the drainage system, the medium, and plants. Interestingly enough, Kjirsten used a product known as GaiaSoil as the growing medium. This "soil" is an ultra-light, recycled foam that is enriched with nutrients so vegetation may grow. She also planted very low maintenance, ground cover plants such as sedum album and sedum pachycladus, ones that should flower in the spring.

With an increased emphasis on schools to be "green," this addition certainly is a timely one. More importantly, it was the culmination of one student's project-based learning. This topic is clearly one that Kjirsten is passionate about, so much so that she would like students from successive classes to continue the project, building their own sections. Perhaps that vision may be realized...

Many thanks also to MPS Director of Buildings & Grounds Walter Parker for his help with this project!