Buildings Adopt Grant-Funded Green Roof Technology in Washington, D.C.

The fire stations of Washington, D.C., are investing in green roof technology known as Aqualok from Freedom Garden Products in an effort to reduce runoff and save money by enabling city buildings to lower energy costs. To help cover the cost of the investment, the fire stations received a $300,000 Innovative Nutrient and Sediment Reduction Grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s Chesapeake Bay Stewardship Fund.

Aqualok is a proprietary, patented growth matrix panel that provides a growing medium for plants. It prevents runoff by absorbing storm water, requires no soil and significantly less water and fertilizer. Because the material holds both oxygen and the absorbed water, plants can go longer without being watered.

“Before Aqualok, green roofs needed anywhere from half a foot to several feet of soil,” said Joe Byles, CEO of Freedom Garden Products and inventor of Aqualok. “Many old buildings can’t sustain the weight required for a traditional green roof, but a fully saturated and planted Aqualok panel only weighs about 15 lb per sq ft, and unlike many previously available materials, a wide range of plants can be used successfully with Aqualok.”

Specially engineered pores allow the plants’ roots to breathe even when the roof material is saturated. The energy efficient panels provide both an insulation value and cool/white emissivity, which allows consumers to save on energy costs, particularly during the summer months. Panels can be “planted” after installation, and even a panel that hasn’t been planted will absorb the water from a 2.5-in. rainfall event, thus providing a substantial reduction in storm water runoff.

According to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, these grants are awarded to support the most cost-effective and sustainable approaches to dramatically reduce or eliminate nutrient and sediment pollution to the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. Freedom Garden Products will carefully measure Aqualok benefits by tracking storm water management and the energy impact.

Source: Freedom Garden Products