Greenroofs.com Project of the Week: 9/26/16

Amy Joslin Memorial Eco Roof at the Multnomah Building
Portland, OR, USA
11,893 sf. Greenroof

Project of the Week Description & Details

The seat of Oregon’s Multnomah County Government, the Multnomah Building is also home to the Amy Joslin Memorial Eco Roof.  Completed in 2003 and originally known as the Multnomah County Multnomah Building Eco Roof, the green roof is a powerful educational opportunity with public accessibility, interpretive activities, and free sharing of data.  Upon exiting the 5th floor, the greenroof panorama of meadow-like wildflowers, grasses, and sedums is immediately visible. Created as Portland’s first public green roof demonstration garden, descriptive signs offer greenroof information.  Designed by Carleton Hart Architecture and Macdonald Environmental Planning with consulting by Marie-Anne Boivin and Tremco, the major portion of green roof is not accessible but the adjacent rooftop plaza serves as the demonstration area.  In 2005 it was renamed the Amy Joslin Memorial Eco Roof in honor of the late Multnomah County Sustainability Manager who gained respect and county-wide awareness for her environmental leadership.

In 2009 partners created the “Hope Garden” in six inches of lightweight growing mix in the accessible serpentine raised bed and planted organic vegetable gardens to recognize the growing community interest in local food systems and to inspire residents to plant their own edible gardens.  In 2014 a small demonstration edible living wall was installed by Green Living Technologies.  Planted with a variety of herbs and vegetables, the green wall and the rooftop Hope Garden grow donations for the Oregon Food Bank.  The roof also serves as a laboratory for experiments conducted by Portland State University, the City of Portland’s Bureau of Environmental Services, and others to quantify green roof benefits and increase public knowledge.  The County says the green roof evaporates about 25% of the building’s rainwater and reduces the air conditioning load between 5-10%.  The Amy Joslin Memorial Eco Roof stands as a Portland icon as one of the first municipal green roofs, a symbol of remembrance for a beloved county leader, and a source of pride for Multnomah County’s commitment to sustainability.

NOTE:  The Amy Joslin Memorial Eco Roof at the Multnomah Building was part of the inspiration for starting GRiT – the Green Roof info Think-tank, and GRiT’s four founders were involved in the project in one way or another. GRiT is the organizer of the upcoming Portland Ecoroof Symposium:  See the Agenda for the Portland Ecoroof Symposium 2016 on October 2-3 & GRP Course on October 4 and I hope to see you there!

Year: 2003
Owner: Multnomah County
Location: Portland, OR, USA
Building Type: Municipal/Government
Type: Extensive, Test/Research
System: Single Source Provider
Size: 11893 sq.ft.
Slope: 1%
Access: Accessible & Inaccessible, Open to Public

Designers/Manufacturers of Record:

Principal: Brian Carleton, Carleton Hart Architecture
Project Manager: Julie Wells Proksch, formerly with Carleton Hart Architecture
Design Team: Karen Pearson, Carleton Hart Architecture
Principal: Laurel Macdonald, Macdonald Environmental Planning
Landscape Architect: Jason King, formerly with Macdonald Environmental Planning
Structural Engineering: KPFF Consulting Engineers
Green Roof Design Consultant: Marie-Anne Boivin
Mechanical and Electrical Engineering: Interface Engineering
Surveyor: Ztec Engineering
Monitoring Consultant: Portland State University
Roofing Consultant: Tremco
General Contractor: Anderson Roofing
Green Wall System & Installation: George Irwin, Green Living Technologies (GLTi)

View the PROJECT PROFILE to see ALL of the Photos and Additional Information about this particular project in The International Greenroof & Greenwall Projects Database.

Project of the Week Video Feature

Watch the Amy Joslin Memorial Eco Roof at the Multnomah Building Project of the Week Video below or see it on our GreenroofsTV channel on YouTube:

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By Linda S. Velazquez, ASLA, LEED AP, GRP
Greenroofs.com Publisher