Smarter roof

Researcher Greg Yuristy is a principal in a firm commercializing a green roof technology to be located in Hillier.

Investors see green in Huycks Bay Road property

We have known the merits of a roof of living vegetation for centuries. Yet it has taken steadily rising energy costs, concerns about how our energy is produced and a great deal of science to bring this form of roofing back to prominence.

Green roofs keep homes cooler in the summer and act as insulation in the winter. They capture carbon dioxide and serve as a natural habitat for a variety of bird and insect species. Green roofs also act as sponges—helping to retain stormwater after a sudden downpour—an important safety feature for municipal waterworks. A cluster of green roofs has even been shown to lower a neighbourhood’s average temperature.

More than 100 million square feet of green roofs are installed each year in Germany. But high cost and maintenance worries has limited the acceptance of green roofs in North America.

That is changing.

One group seeking to take the lead in this emerging market is Smart Green Technologies Inc. a new company formed by Mike Tulloch, Andy Logan and Greg Yuristy. They have formed a business to lower the costs of green roofs, simplify installation and automate maintenance and monitoring using methods and technology developed in research labs at GuelphUniversity.

Smart Green has agreed to purchase 200,000 square feet of greenhouses, once owned by WhiteRoseHome and Garden Centres on Huycks Bay Road, to nurture and grow their green roof product. The property is currently owned by a company controlled by Bob Hunter. Hunter’s application to sever the 30 acres on which the greenhouses are located was approved by the County’s planning committee and council last week.

The company has developed a product they say is priced competitively with metal roofs—but with all the advantages of a green roof. Rather than sod, their product begins with lightweight proprietary medium—about an inch and half thick by four feet wide. A variety of sedum plants are grown hydroponically in the weave of this medium, where their roots spread and take a firm hold. Meanwhile, the plants form a thick carpet of lush vegetation over the entire surface of the medium. In four to six weeks, each mat is rolled up, placed on pallets and shipped to a waiting rooftop. Or wall.

The product, unlike most green roof systems, can be used on a steep pitched roof or applied vertically on a sun-drenched wall.

Yuristy is reluctant to go further in describing the proprietary aspects of their product. It is an emerging field and they believe they’ve developed unique competitive advantages.

Tulloch told the planning committee last week that they intend to ramp up production to about 600,000 square feet of green roofing per year within five years. They expect to harvest and ship three times a year in June, August and October.

Greg Yuristy’s company, Smart Green Technologies Inc., is acquiring the former White Rose greenhouses from current owner, Bob Hunter, (left). They were joined last week by Councillors Janice Maynard and Alex Lunn after the planning committee agreed to sever the land.

Tulloch said that with their method, no soil will leave the County as part of the roofing system.

Some councillors queried the Smart Green investors about truck traffic to the site—but most seemed pleased by the prospect of positive development on the site of the former nursery.

Neighbours, too, are wary of development and recent activity on the site. Two Huycks Bay Road residents appeared at the planning meeting. Both seemed relieved once they heard Smart Green’s plans and intentions.

Hunter told the Times he had been using the warehouses to store biomass material, feedstock for a proposed biodigester he plans to construct on Wellington’s northern edge to generate electricity under a Green Energy Act FIT program. Asked if the sale of the greenhouse property would mean the end of the biodigester plan, Hunter changed the subject, returning to the positive potential of green roof investment and technology.

Yuristy’s team are also acquiring a lakefront lot across from the greenhouses where they intend to construct offices and a showroom— a place to bring architects and designers to showcase their green roof technology.

Despite being out of use for almost a decade, the greenhouses remain in good condition— complete with temperature sensors and motorized roof vents. The early challenge has been clearing the vegetation, including trees growing amid the greenhouses, some reaching more than 20 feet.

Yuristy believes Smart Green has both a competitive advantage and a time-to-market advantage. He says the technical know-how to develop the product, coupled with the electronic monitoring systems built to make it a user-friendly and a low-risk roofing alternative—gives Smart Green an important jump on the market. Much of this intelligence resides at the University of Guelph.

Yuristy intends to draw upon the talent and resources of the leading school in Ontario for agriculture and environment studies to grow this venture in Hillier.