Nutmeg Homes Ready to Build Your Living Roof

Posted: Feb 14, 2012

The Comox Valley features a showpiece example of an environmentally friendly green roof on top of the newly-opened Vancouver Island Visitor Centre in Cumberland.
The innovative roof was installed by Comox new home builder Paul Witt of Nutmeg Homes.
Witt is an enthusiast for green roofs - or 'living roofs' as he prefers to call them - and on some stronger buildings he explains they can even extend to entire rooftop gardens, complete with trees.
"Everybody these days is 'greenwashing', claiming this or that is better for the environment, but living roofs really are significant in more ways than one," Witt told the Comox Valley Echo.
They cost more to create than a traditional shingle roof, but they can help conserve a lot of energy, add to the soundproofing qualities of a building, and can dramatically extend the life of a roof.
Existing roofs - even sloping ones - can sometimes be converted to living roofs without a huge structural overhaul, but most planted roofs are installed when a building is first constructed.
The total saturated weight of the roof is around 14 pounds a square foot, which in roofing terms is very light, Witt said. In fact, he added, almost any roof structure can take that sort of weight.
Witt is now on the lookout for anyone considering building a new home in the Valley who might be interested in installing a living roof of their own.
As a contractor for custom designed housing, he's obviously keen to be involved in the whole construction.
He's built 17 houses in he Valley so far, 11 of then using insulated concrete form construction for greater heat retention and soundproofing.
Such construction techniques also add huge strength to buildings, allowing even more ambitious roof gardens or patios on level or nearly-flat areas.