A new school in Chicago - The Latin School of Chicago - is opening with an impressive green roof from American Hydrotech. The green roof atop the Latin School is among a growing number of schools nationally that have incorporated green roofs into their building designs. The 5,500-square-foot green roof combines a high-performance waterproof membrane with lightweight green roof technology. The green roof is also accessible to students and faculty as a learning environment.

"The plantings will be fully established in about a year and I'm excited to see what the classes can fully do with it," Deb Sampey, middle school director, says. "Its first connection with the curriculum will probably be with our 8th grade and high school astronomy classes. But classes might also come up here for creative writing projects and just sit in this space and be inspired on a beautiful day."

More details about the green roof were described in a press release:

The multiple components of the Latin School green roof include a waterproofing membrane, insulation, and drainage/moisture retention elements, which are all part of a Garden Roof Assembly supplied by American Hydrotech, Inc. Hydrotech, founded in 1977 and based in Chicago, is a leader in the development, production and distribution of premium waterproofing and related construction products. Last year, the company?s green roof for the Ballard Library in Seattle, Washington, was included in the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Top 10 Green Projects of 2006.

The Latin School's new green roof, in addition to its aesthetic qualities, offers multiple environmental benefits. Plants on the roof work to keep the structure's temperature down, save on heating and cooling costs, reduce stormwater runoff, extend the useful life of the roof and reduce the urban heat island effect.

"Chicago is at the forefront of the green roof movement in the United States and the Latin School is now an active participant in this movement," says Edward J. Jarger, regional manager of American Hydrotech. "We're very pleased the school selected our Garden Roof technology and we anticipate this will become a model for other schools nationwide."

Founded in 1888, The Latin School of Chicago serves a diverse community of 1,101 students in junior kindergarten through twelfth grade from Chicago and the surrounding suburbs. The school worked with the award-winning architectural firm of Nagle Hartray Danker Kagan McKay Penney to design a building that is in keeping with the feel of the neighborhood while providing first-class educational amenities and sound green design. In addition to the green roof, the building provides significant green space, including private gardens on the ground level. Recycled materials were used throughout the building when feasible and specially-treated windows and sunshades have been installed to reduce the building's use of natural resources to heat and cool the facility.

Green buildings are a growing trend. Eventually there will be many buildings that have green roofs. There will even be green skyscrapers that behave more like an ecosystem than an environmentally-unfriendly steel fortress.

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