Greenroofs.com Projects - William Penn Charter School

William Penn Charter School

Project Name: William Penn Charter School
Year: 2009
Owner: William Penn Charter School
Location: Philadelphia, PA, USA
Building Type: Educational
Type: Extensive
System: Custom
Size: 10000 sq.ft.
Slope: 1%
Access: Accessible, Private
Submitted by: David Plechner, C.M. Jones, Incorporated

Designers/Manufacturers of Record:
Greenroof Consultant: David Plechner, GRP, C.M. Jones, Incorporated
Construction Manager/General Contractor: E. Allen Reeves, Inc.
Greenroof Design Consultant: Conservation Technology
Greenroof Design Consultant: Peter Philippi, Green Roof Service
Growing Media: Skyland USA rooflite?
Greenroof Components: Optigreen
Optigreen Supplier: Conservation Technology

The right side of the William Penn Charter School Bell Tower, 10 months after installation

Rear view of the William Penn Charter School 10 months after installation;

Ten months after installation; Photos Courtesy of David Plechner, C.M. Jones, Incorporated

"William Penn Charter School, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was established in 1689 by William Penn as a day school and is the oldest Quaker school in the world. It is an independent school that enrolls boys and girls in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade," (Wikipedia, see below).

The new Gold LEED-certified Performing Arts Building for the William Penn Charter School was originally designed for LEED Silver, but at the end of the project had received enough for Gold.

Waiting for the growing media to be placed on the roof; Photos Courtesy of David Plechner, C.M. Jones, Incorporated

The Performing Arts Building for the William Penn Charter School has an extensive greenroof system with a depth of 2.5" and a weight of 18-20lbs /sf. Weight restrictions dictated the shallow growing medium depth, and an irrigation system was essential. The team got the entire roof covered with all the components in one day in mid August, 2009, followed by three days for the irrigation system. The 17,000 plants were installed in late September, all in one day.

"The reason behind having to install all the components in one day is because the structural engineer had requested we load the structure before finishing welding the steel decking to the roof trusses because of the amount of deflection in the steel that the weight of the growing medium created. No cracked drywall when we were done," explains David Plechner, see contact info below. The after photos here show the greenroof almost fully vegetated after only 10 months with no irrigation (the owner never turned it on!).

Additional thumbnail photos:

Newly installed with irrigation, in mid September, 2009; Photos Courtesy of David Plechner, C.M. Jones, Incorporated

Front Bell Tower view of greenroof 10 months after installation; Photos Courtesy of David Plechner, C.M. Jones, Incorporated

View of the lower roof, 10 months after installation

Close up of the roof hatch 10 months after installation; Photos Courtesy of David Plechner, C.M. Jones, Incorporated

Visit the William Penn Charter School website here and see the Wikipedia profile here . For additional info, contact: David Plechner, Design Sales Manager, C.M. Jones, Incorporated, www.cmjonesinc.com; Office: 610.644.7224.

Learn about the following companies in The Greenroof Directory: Conservation Technology ; Green Roof Service LLC ; and Optigreen .

SPONSORS: