Green Roof Fiesta in Queens
Queens has generally lagged behind Manhattan in high-profile, high-rise green development for a variety of reasons- from lack of developer interest to its comparatively low-density. However, the borough’s origins as a manufacturing base for the rest of New York have left behind numerous low-rise former warehouses and factories with flat roof profiles.
I had wondered when Queens would get into the green building act.
Project Name: Queens Botanical Garden Visitor and Administration Center
Year: 2007
Owner: Queens Botanical Garden
Location: Flushing, NY, USA
Building Type: Park
Greenroof Type: Extensive
Greenroof System: Single Source Provider
Roof Size: 8000 sq.ft.
Roof Slope: 8%
Access: Accessible, Open to Public
Finally, arborboy reviews the roof and provides some pictures too.
Last weekend I was researching green roofs in New York City and finally got the chance to go see the new visitor center at Queens Botanical Garden in Flushing, Queens. It was raining that day so I could really see how their rain water harvesting system works. The shelter over the visitor center entrance is essentially a massive gutter to catch rain. The harvested water drips over the lowest corner and into a bed of river stones which feeds into the biotope. The biotope is a system for cleansing fallen water and using it for both watering plants and water features around the garden so that QBG can rely less on the city’s water supply….
Very interesting details about the water. Anything about the succulents?
But the results are that you get to look at amazing plants instead of plain gray rooftop that isn’t helping anything. Above is a kind of Sedum. Sedum are probably the most utilized genus of succulent plants used in green roof technology in the northeastern U.S. They come in a number of colors, shapes, and sizes, and the bulk of them are excellent drought tolerant species that spread well and are easy to maintain.
Well, I guess that’s enough for today.
