RCSGA will make proposal for green roofs on Gottwald

The Richmond College Student Government Association sustainability committee is working on a proposal to add green roofs and solar panels to the Gottwald Science Center.

Sophomore Jerry Giordano, RCSGA sustainability chairman and vice president of Green UR, the University of Richmond's environmental club, is in charge of creating the proposal with the help of two fellow RCSGA senators, junior Chris Repas and senior Gabe Gigliotti.

The green roofs and solar panels would be used to conserve non-renewable energy sources such as fossil fuels, natural gas, oil and coal, Giordano said.

There are three roofs on Gottwald: two lower roofs and one higher roof. Green roofs would be placed on the lower roofs and a solar panel would be placed on the higher roof, he said.

The difference between a green roof and a solar panel, Giordano said, was that a green roof would allow plants to grow on it. In addition, the green roof would keep the building insulated and purify and filter rainwater.

"More importantly, it prevents runoff, erosion and chemicals from reaching the ground," Giordano said.

Grass would be grown on the roof because trees and flowers cannot, Giordano said.

As head of financing for the proposal, Repas said he was looking at companies that grow grass for green projects.

GreenTech, one company of interest, specializes in green roofs and provided the grass for the Birds Nest Stadium at the Beijing Olympics, Repas said. Chris Scott, the co-founder and president of GreenTech, is a Richmond alumnus, Repas said.

A solar panel is different from green roofs in that it absorbs the sun's energy and brings it to the central grid that powers the building, Giordano said. The energy from the solar panel would then go into the same grid that is used by non-renewable energy sources.

But unlike the other sources that power the grid, the amount of energy produced from the solar panel could be measured, he said.

Gigliotti will focus on how the new roofing systems will be tied into the university's power grid, Giordano said.

Solar panels are very expensive but they pay for themselves, he said.

"Because [solar panels] require no input aside from sunlight, eventually the value of the energy they produce will outweigh their cost and then it will be essentially free and autonomous energy," he said.

Giordano said he expected the proposal to be 20 to 30 pages. He and his committee will also be applying for grants on the federal and state levels to cover part of the cost of the project, he said.

The RCSGA sustainability committee will present the proposal to Trey McDonald, the Richmond sustainability coordinator, who is overseeing the project, Giordano said.

McDonald will then take the proposal to President Edward Ayers and his chief of staff, Lori Schuyler, he said.

Because Green UR is focusing on recycling this semester, the proposal will be developed solely by the RCSGA Senate, Giordano said.

Giordano, Repas and Gigliotti said they wanted to finish their proposal this semester. If the roofs and solar panel are approved, they hope to see them installed this summer, they said.

Contact reporter Ryan Clark at ryan.clark@richmond.edu