INTELLIGENCE
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olypipe, manufacturers of piping, water and climate management systems, has won a Green Apple Environment Award for its smart roof research project, installed at the company’s plant in Aylesford, Kent. The Smart Roof 2.1 research project has been underway since 2017 and aims to determine the hydrological, thermal and biodiverse functioning of blue-green roof systems in the urban environment. The prime goal of the system is to harvest and store as much rainwater for capillary plant irrigation as possible and only use potable (drinking) water in the case of extreme or prolonged droughts. The greening outcome is that the system
has a higher urban cooling capacity, reduces rainwater discharge run-off rates to sewers and enables a wider plant species selection due to improved water availability. The company took the decision to install a blue-green roof when re-roofing to test and demonstrate the viability of retrofit green infrastructure. Not only did the blue-green roof encourage biodiversity and prove a valued leisure space for employees; the intelligent, water-management system also optimised greening, increased water usage efficiency and reduced waste, and managed extreme weather events. It proved a micro-model of the water management challenges cities
face, along with the issues of suitable, sustainable urban landscaping.
Smart system The system comprises a drainage sub-base replacement with sedum top layer and an isolated instrumentation cell to automatically monitor and manage water supply to ensure optimum soil moisture, temperature and salinity conditions, which allows the bluegreen roof to flourish. The control and monitoring systems are operated remotely online via a smartphone, tablet or PC. Capillary cones – unique to the sub-base platform – draw stored rainwater upwards to irrigate the
JUNE 2020
Blue sky thinking Polypipe is acknowledged as a Green Champion for its intelligent, water-management roofing system
BUILDING ENGINEER
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