For Immediate Release Contact: Wendy Fox
June 8, 2007 617-626-1453
GREEN ROOF HIGHLIGHTED IN GRAND OPENING OF
WHIPPLE RIVERVIEW PLACE
IPSWICH—The Department
of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) joined the Massachusetts Executive Office
of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) and the North Shore Housing Trust,
along with other federal, state, and local officials, project sponsors and
affordable housing advocates, for the grand opening of Whipple Riverview
Place. The event celebrated the North
Shore Housing Trust’s renovation and adaptive reuse of the former Whipple
School Annex, turning the building into 10 affordable apartments for seniors. The $2 million project utilizes a
variety of smart growth principles, including preserving a formerly vacant
historic structure, providing much-needed affordable housing, and using
environmentally friendly stormwater management
techniques to protect the nearby Ipswich River.
DCR worked closely with the North Shore Housing Trust to incorporate a “green roof” into the redevelopment plans. The building’s 3,000-square-foot roof is covered with specially engineered soil and a variety of hardy plants with succulent, water-storing leaves. The green roof is designed to filter and reduce the volume of stormwater that runs off the rooftop and into the adjacent Ipswich River. The soil and plants absorb rainwater, and the plant roots filter and remove pollutants. The green roof also adds thermal insulation to the building, decreasing heating and cooling costs and protecting the roof’s rubber membrane from ultraviolet radiation, abrasion, and other weather elements.
“I’m very excited by Whipple Riverview Place,” said DCR Acting Commissioner Priscilla Geigis. “In addition to being an excellent example of smart growth in action, the green roof promises to improve water quality in the Ipswich River, a technique that could be used to benefit other bodies of water elsewhere in the Commonwealth.”
Whipple Riverview Place represents a broad collaborative
effort, spearheaded by the North Shore Housing Trust, a non-profit organization
working to develop housing that is affordable to low- and moderate-income
people across the region. The green roof component, which cost
approximately $100,000, was paid for with grant funds from the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the Targeted Watershed Grants
program. DCR received the grant to
demonstrate and monitor a variety of techniques geared toward restoration of
the Ipswich River.
“With the help of EPA grant money, we are excited to see this green roof become a reality at Whipple Riverview Place,” said Robert Varney, regional administrator of the EPA’s New England office. “This is an excellent low impact development technique that brings us closer to a cleaner and healthier environment.”
Other financial assistance was provided by the Department of Housing and Community Development and a suite of housing consortiums, trusts, and lending institutions. The Town of Ipswich provided logistical and material support, including donation of the building. The general contractor on the project was BWK Construction Company of Middleton. K.J. Savoie Architecture of Ipswich prepared the designs, and Magco, Inc. of Maryland installed the green roof.
The U.S. Geological
Survey will monitor the green roof for one year, comparing the quality and
quantity of runoff to that of a conventional roof.
To learn more about this project, as well as other projects under DCR’s grant from EPA under the Targeted Watersheds program, please visit http://www.mass.gov/dcr/waterSupply/ipswichRiver/index.htm
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