by Brianna Crandall — October 17, 2014—Western Illinois University – Quad Cities (WIU-QC) at 3300 River Drive, Moline, Illinois, is the site of the newest green roof in the Quad Cities area. In addition to providing such benefits as water management and building energy use reduction, the green roof will give building occupants a gorgeous view, says system designer LiveRoof.
The new roof uses the LiveRoof Hybrid Standard System, with 4.25 inches of soil, and totals 9,720 square feet. The roof features a unique sedum base mixture with a variety of accent plants to add seasonal blooms and interest. The pre-vegetated modules were grown by Roof Top Sedums at its location in Davenport, Iowa, and then shipped to the building site and installed by LiveRoof Certified Installer Heritage Landscape Design, Inc.
Like Building One on the expanding WIU-QC Riverfront campus, Phase II buildings are sustainably constructed and operated, notes LiveRoof. Green amenities include geothermal heating and cooling, emphasis on the use of daylight, native landscaping, green roof treatments, and an emphasis on energy efficiency. WIU-QC will pursue LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold certification, which builds on the LEED Silver certification received for Phase 1.
Bill Brewer, WIU assistant director of the physical plant, says, “The green roof system not only assists us in acquiring LEED accreditation for this project, it serves as an ongoing demonstration to our students studying environmental sciences of the importance of storm water management and its effect on our waterways. We are even planning on coupling an educational kiosk with one of the visible locations of the vegetative roof installation. Lastly, the green roofs fit very well with the natural beauty of the site and surrounding landscape.”
Roxanne Nagel, co-owner of Roof Top Sedums, adds, “The campus buildings are situated near the Mississippi River, and the green roof will act as a sponge to capture and filter the rainwater. The green roof will help reduce and slow down the stormwater runoff from the site. We are excited to see the sustainable efforts by WIU as well as having another great example of a green roof in the Quad City area.”
