Bethany Blues - Lewes Delaware
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Lewes, DE
Fair
71 °F
Sat
Mostly Clear. High: 83 Low: 65
Sun
Scattered Thunderstorms. High: 82 Low: 70

Our "Green" Roof Top

Bethany Blues of Lewes Green Roof

On June 16, 2009, Bethany Blues of Lewes installed a green roof over a large portion of the restaurant structure.

Bethany Blues of Lewes owners Dick Heidenberger, Steve Montgomery, Kevin Roberts, and Jim Weisgerber have been interested in green roof technology since encountering the practice at Black Ankle Vineyards in Mt Airy MD.  Jim and Kevin actually assisted in the installation of a green roof at the Black Ankle Tasting Room building in 2008.

The installation of the green roof was incorporated into the architectural plan by Element Design of Lewes, DE. Consulting on the project was Sigi Koko of Down to Earth Design of Ambler PA.   The additional weight from the green roof was calculated and allowed for in the structural plan.  Parapet walls were created to retain the soil and plants.

The actual install will be performed by Bethany Blues partners working with Element Design and landscaper John Glen of American Hardscapes.

Why a Green Roof?

About Green Roofs
A green roof system is an extension of the existing roof which involves a high quality water proofing and root repellant system, a drainage system, filter cloth, a lightweight growing medium and plants.


Economic benefits of a green roof for Bethany Blues

  • Protection of roof membrane resulting in a longer material lifespan (it is estimated that green roofs will last  up to twice as long as conventional roofs), resulting in decreased maintenance and savings in replacement costs.

  • Savings on energy heating and cooling costs: Independent studies have shown that a typical one story building with a green roof and 10 cm (3.9 inches) of growing medium would result in a 25% reduction in summer cooling needs.   Field experiments in Ottawa Canada, found that a 6 inch extensive green roof reduced heat gains by 95% and heat losses by 26% compared to a reference roof.

Public Benefits of a Green Roof

  • Reduction of energy consumption decreases overall community dependence on fossil fuels.
  •  Cost savings from increased stormwater retention and decreased need to expand or rebuild related infrastructure.
  • Decreased cost of meeting greenhouse gas reductions and adapting to climate change by reducing the "Urban Heat Island Effect" and the need for interior building insulation.
  • Reductions in ground level ozone resulting from a reduction in the urban heat island.
  • Improved air quality through heat absorption, reduction of thermal air movement, and removal of air particulates. 
  • Temperature Regulation:  Through the daily dew and evaporation cycle, plants on vertical and horizontal surfaces are able to cool cities during hot summer months.

How our green roof was constructed.
  1. We installed a containment barrier on the low end of the roof.  This barrier will keep the green roof materials in place but still allow for excess water to drain off the roof as stormwater.
  2. We installed the drain and filter material. This material will be under the soil media and plants.  It allows water to drain without movement of soil media or plants.
  3. 12” wide perimeter of stones (4” to 6” in depth) was installed around entire roof to keep soil media and plants away from roof edges.
  4. Soil media was spread inside the stone perimeter 4”to 6” in depth.
  5. Plants were planted 2 per square foot

The Area of our green roof is 34’4”  X 29’4” 1006 square feet.  


What we need:

  • East Wall barrier
    We needed some kind of structure on the east side of roof area to hold stones and soil in place but still allow water drainage.  We purchased L shaped aluminum strip and drilled drain holes in it.  We put the stone perimeter and the soil on top of the “bottom” of the L to hold the aluminum in place.  This precludes any penetration of the roof.   We also bought roofing material mats to put the aluminum on.  This should prevent any damage to the roof from the aluminum strips.

  • Drain and Filter material:
    Sigi Koko recommended a material called EnkaDrain from Colbond
    www.colbond-geosynthetics.com 
    Material comes in 120’ rolls.

  • Stones:
    We need round stones to put as a  12” perimeter around the entire roof area.  Stones are round so they will not damage the roof membrane if they get through the filter somehow.   Around the perimeter is 124 linear feet.  If the stone is 6” high, we need approximately 62 cubic feet of stone.

    Stones were purchased locally.

  • Soil-Media:
    With stone perimeter, there is approx 884 square feet for the soil-plant media.  We wanted to place about 4”to 6” of soil  on the roof .  This means 442 cubic feet of soil-media (17 cubic yards).  The media was purchased from:

    Stancills Inc.
    www.stancills.com
    499 Mountain Hill Road
    Perryville, MD 21903
    877-536-9572
    Delivered price $2222.50

    Stancill’s SkyGarden Extensive Green Roof Media was delivered in 1.5 cubic yard “bags” These large bags weigh about 3,000 lbs each.  The were lifted to the roof by crane.

  • Plants:
    Plants required are specific varieties that can thrive on very little water and with no propensity to over grow and climb. We purchased the sedems from Emory Knoll Farms of Street MD. They specialize in this type of plant.  Plants were shipped via UPS