Green Roof Environmental Literacy Laboratory Ready for P.S. 41 Students

When students returned to P.S. 41 in Greenwich Village for the start of the new school year, they found a wonderful resource finally ready for them. After six years of planning, fundraising, building evaluation and construction, the Green Roof Environmental Literacy Laboratory (GELL) at P.S. 41 has been completed. The school’s 9,000-sq.-ft. green roof, the centerpiece of GELL, was installed in August 2012 with the LiveRoof hybrid green roof system.

“The installation of our green roof fulfills P.S. 41’s dream of establishing a living learning laboratory to boost environmental literacy and enable our students to learn about their stewardship role in the health of the planet,” said Vicki Sando, environmental science program developer at P.S. 41. “With GELL, we enhance hands-on educational opportunities for our students on sustainability, environmental stewardship and urban gardening.”

“The green roof provides important benefits for the community as well as our school. It reduces storm water runoff, moderates the heat that builds up in urban areas, decreases the school’s carbon footprint and helps improve local air quality,” said Kelly Shannon, principal, P.S. 41. “It also shades and insulates the roof and lowers the interior sound level as well.”

P.S. 41 is a K-5 grammar school that serves about 800 students. Located at 116 W. 11th St. in Greenwich Village, P.S. 41 is at the heart of one of New York City’s high-density neighborhoods with little open space. GELL’s 15,000-sq.-ft. observational learning environment (set back six feet from the roof’s perimeter and protected by a fence) provides much needed green space. It includes a central outdoor classroom area and features a 9,000-sq.-ft. green roof—the largest municipal green roof on a New York City public school. In addition to ecological study, GELL is integrated into the curriculum to support lessons in science, mathematics, nutrition, literacy, art and aesthetics.

The LiveRoof hybrid green roof system was selected for the GELL project. Prides Corner Farms (Lebanon, Conn.), a family owned wholesale nursery that serves as a LiveRoof regional distributor and grower, cultivated the local plants for the green roof. It was installed by Harder Services (Hempstead, N.Y.). with the supervising assistance of New York Green Roofs LLC (New York, N.Y.).

“LiveRoof is the modular green roof system that creates a naturally functioning ecosystem on the rooftop. And once set in place, its modules are hidden beneath the plants and soil so that no edges of the modules are visible to disrupt the natural appearance of the green roof,” said Jose Miranda, associate, Murphy Burnham & Buttrick Architects (New York, N.Y.). “Its pre-vegetated modules are installed already dense with full-grown plants to create an instant green roof.”

The total project budget for GELL was $1.7 million, including $450,000 for the modular green roof system, the plants, system delivery and installation. New York City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn and Manhattan Borough President Scott M. Stringer allocated city capital funding for the project, which also received support from the state of New York as well as corporate and private donations.

“The opening of the Green Roof Environmental Literacy Laboratory at P.S. 41 is a landmark event, not just because it is the largest such roof at a New York City public school, but because it expands our commitment to making environmental study a fixture in classrooms,” said Stringer. “This laboratory will boost students’ knowledge of environmental priorities and also benefit the community by reducing storm water runoff and the school’s carbon footprint and improving air quality. Just as important, it shows that worthy projects like this can become a reality through community-based advocacy and governmental assistance."

Source: LiveRoof LLC