Businesses and organizations struggling to stay in the black during tough economic times are less likely to spend money to go green.

That, according to Mary Gattis-Schell, senior environmental planner with the Lancaster County Planning Commission, is why the county's green-roof initiative has been slow to get off the ground.

"It's an economy issue," Gattis said recently. "That's really putting a damper on some of these projects."

That leaves the county scrambling to find new participants for the program.

School District of Lancaster, however, has stepped up and plans to get involved in the green-roof program in a big way.

Several local businesses have withdrawn plans to turn their roofs into year-round sedum gardens, touted as  an environmentally friendly way to reduce heating costs and stormwater runoff problems, particularly in landlocked urban settings.

"We had one partner who was trying to justify putting up a green roof when they're having to lay people off," Gattis said. "It just didn't make sense."

The Bare Building at 39 E. Chestnut St., Box Company Flats at 225 E. Grant St., Penn Stone at 190 W. Ross St. and Two Dudes Painting at 750 Poplar St. all withdrew from the green-roof program for a variety of reasons, from an economic crunch to simple conflicts in timing, she said.

The YMCA opted out for its new Harrisburg Avenue building because officials decided to go white instead of green, she said. Reflective white roofs also are being promoted as a way to reduce the heat inside a building.

And Columbia Borough withdrew its municipal building from the program because of structural issues with its roof, Gattis said.

That leaves only one of the original partners still in the program. Rick Seavey, owner of National Novelty Brush at 505 E. Fulton St., had a green roof installed on a warehouse in May 2008.

"He loves it," Gattis said, "and he's become a great advocate for green roofs and all the benefits they provide."

Seavey said, "The building is definitely cooler than you would expect. It's probably about 10 degrees cooler than comparable warehouses. And there's no cost — it's a passive system.

"If I was building a new building, I would definitely do it again."

Gattis said the initiative has gotten a new, high-profile partner: School District of Lancaster, which is planning to construct green roofs on three city elementary schools.

Greg Collins, coordinator of capital projects for the district, said Lancaster is in the midst of a "multiphase project" that will address needs at 16 district buildings.

An administrative directive urged school officials to adhere when possible to LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) standards, Collins said — and the availability of funds through the green roof initiative was a perfect fit.

"Sure, we were interested," he said. "There are a lot of benefits overall. It's a good fit for the city, and we would consider doing this on almost all of our buildings."

Washington Elementary School was too far along in the design process to be a part of this program, Collins said, but green roofs were incorporated into the designs of Lafayette, Wharton and Ross elementary schools.

All three schools could have sedums planted by this spring, he said.

Although the county is chipping in with state grant funds on the project, Collins said participation in the initiative will cost the district an additional $4 per square foot of green roof space.

On the other hand, he said, LEED certification will increase the district's reimbursement level from the state to a point that will certainly exceed the money spent to install the green roof.

Millersville University's earth sciences department already has placed monitoring equipment on Lafayette's roof to monitor "pre-green" conditions, Collins said, and will compare those results to conditions once the new roof has been installed.

MU professors Richard Clark and Jason Price are directing the study with the help of several students, Clark said Wednesday.

One aspect of the study will focus on changes in stormwater runoff, while another will compare the "heat island" effect of standard and vegetated roofs, Clark said. The study also will measure the volatile organic compounds — such as carbon — that come off each roof system, he added.

They hope to determine how much an expanded green roof program would impact the city, he said.

"What if 1 percent of roofs in Lancaster were vegetated?" Clark asked. "How would that affect the urban heat island of the city? We hope to find out."

Gattis, meanwhile, is hoping to find additional partners for the program — and fast.

"All of the projects have to be on schedule to be completed by March 2010" in order to meet the DEP deadline, she said.

"We're in conversations with some other prospective projects ... but we have not executed any more contracts with anybody."

The county is looking to allocate credits for green-roof projects ranging from 3,000 to 40,000 square feet, Gattis said. Participants could be new construction or existing buildings, she added.

"If anyone is interested in exploring energy efficiency and stormwater management opportunities, we'd like to talk to them," she said.
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