The Brownsburg East Middle School Green Roof is a student-led project, with the East Middle School Global Impact & Awareness Club conducting the initial project research and proposal to the school district administration and school board. The students submitted for and secured a grant from the American Forestry Association’s “Project Learning Tree – Greenworks!” program, with the school district and other local sources funding the balance of the project. The students developed the project to promote environmental awareness. The project is now being equipped with instrumentation to compare temperature and rainwater runoff data from the green roof and an adjacent identical area of traditional roof. Students from classes throughout the school district have and will continue to work on this project as data collection and analysis begins.

Students and staff worked closely with Carlisle Syntec and GreenGrid to develop and install the project. Over 60 students, staff, and parents installed the 196 GreenGrid trays, each 2? square and 4 1/2? deep, in three groupings over the school?s Media Center on the October 3, 2009 installation date. The location selected is a low-slope EPDM roofing system located over the East Middle School Media Center. The roof pitches away from a center ridge line. After verifying adequate load capacity in the structural system, the green roof was designed to be placed on one side of the ridge, with the opposite side remaining in the original, traditional roof system configuration. Data collection and instrumentation equipment is presently being specified and installed to measure rainfall and air temps above the roof, runoff from the green and traditional roof areas, and the impact of the green roof system on temperatures on the roof deck and the plenum space below. Documented positive results from this project may influence site and building design for future school buildings in the district.