Extension News: Technology Archives

Rooftop planting offers a host of benefits to urban environment

A balloonist floating over Manchester City Hall's Connector Building might look down on an expanse of perennial flowering plants growing in rooftop containers and think, "How lovely!"

But "green roofs" like this GreenGrid System deliver many benefits, both to the building below and to the overall urban environment.

UNH Cooperative Extension conceived the idea for the demonstration project and began recruiting partners from the Manchester community in 2002. The essential project components--an appropriate site, city approval, and funding--finally came together last May, enabling us to us to move forward and get the roof in place.

Benefits of a green roof
Most of the rain that hits a conventional city building's roof flows off over pavement and into storm drains, carrying pollutants such as gasoline, oil, antifreeze, sand and trash.

The GreenGrid roof will absorb up to 95 percent of an average rainfall. By slowly percolating through the plants and soil of the green roof, roof runoff occurs several hours after peak flows, giving sewer systems time to handle other runoff.

The plants and soils in a green roof serve many other functions, which include:

• Reducing the energy needed to heat and cool the building below.
• Saving money by extending the life of the original roof.
• Filtering air pollutants.
• Improving air quality.
• Absorbing noise.
• Reducing the risk of flooding and overflowing sewers.
• Providing habitat for butterflies and other pollinators.

The green roof components

• Four-inch deep containers manufactured from recycled plastic.
• Lightweight growing mix.
• Perennial plants in this system--sedums and chives--which withstand extremes of temperature and precipitation, and require almost no maintenance.

• The GreenGrid System didn't require any roof construction or redesign.
• Workers placed a slip sheet on top of original roof.
• Then they lifted the pre-planted containers into place.
• Installation took two hours.

Watch a slide show of the entire process, from filling planters to final installation on roof. Show includes both text captions and audio.

The Manchester City Web site will provide updates on the green roof, including updates on temperature monitoring and pollutant absorption.

Check out our project sign, soon to go up in City Hall Plaza

Learn more
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Green Roof page
Green Roofs/Healthy Cities Network
Penn State's Center for Green Roof Research
Michigan State's Green Roof Research Program
ecogeek Cool photos!

By Mary Tebo, UNH Cooperative Extension community forestry educator and Green Roof Demonstration Project coordinator

Manchester Green Roof Project Funders

UNH Cooperative Extension in partnership with N.H. Division of Forests and Lands and USDA Forest Service
TFMoran Inc.
McLane Law Firm
Manchester Development Corporation
Lavallee Brensinger Architects Fund of the N.H. Charitable Foundation, Manchester Region
Weston Solutions, Inc.
N.H. Dept. of Environmental Services
Anonymous Fund of the N.H. Charitable Foundation
Breathe NH
SEPP - Enterprise Fund, administered by the City of Manchester Environmental Protection Division

In-kind Supporters

City of Manchester
Intown Manchester
Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce
UNH Manchester
Posted September 19, 2007 | TrackBack

On May 21, Kristen Wentz received her commission as a Second Lieutenant in the Army Nurse Corps in a ceremony at the Memorial Union Building on the University of New Hampshire campus. Wentz, a recent graduate of the St. Anselm College nursing program, completed her Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) training requirements at UNH.

An ROTC tradition allows cadets to pick the officer who performs their swearing-in, and Wentz chose her father, Colonel Paul Wentz, Brigade Commander for the 1st Infantry Division, Division Support Command.

In an unusual twist on tradition, Col. Wentz conducted the swearing-in from his military headquarters in Tikrit, Iraq via satellite videoconference.

“It’s not that unusual for parents to commission their children,” said Lieutenant Colonel Harry D. Prantl, a Professor of Military Science who heads the UNH Army ROTC program. “In Kristen’s case, we simply used modern technology to make possible what would have happened [face-to-face] except for the circumstances.

First in the nation video-commissioning

“I’ve done a little research, and I think this is the first commissioning ceremony ever performed by videoconference from a war zone,” said Prantl.

David Foote, UNH Cooperative Extension’s director of information technology and distance education, who chairs the Granite State Distance Learning Network (see accompanying article), worked with Prantl and others over several months to sponsor and coordinate the details of the long-distance ceremony.

On the New Hampshire side, about 35 people attended the 25-minute video-commissioning—Kristen Wentz’s mother, her brother, an Army Private 1 st Class on duty in Alabama, fellow cadets, other family and friends, faculty and staff of the UNH Army ROTC program, a handful of technical people and a reporter for the New York Times.

“I found it very moving,” said Foote. “Tears flowed on both sides. Kristen’s father gave a speech. His own commanding officer [Brigadier General Stephen Mundt], attended and said a few words. They closed the ceremony by singing the Army Song.”

“At the distant end, they gathered a group of staff officers in the headquarters” Prantl said. “Col. Wentz’s commanding officer even rearranged his schedule to attend. Although the Army has videoconferencing equipment in headquarters throughout the world, they mostly use it for command-and-control communications,” said Prantl. “Planning an event like this in [a war] theater is difficult because the units move around so frequently. In fact, that’s what happened. After our first dry run with the equipment, the unit moved, so we had to start all over again.”

Foote said that technical experts Mark Leonard and David Lucas in Durham worked through a number of technical challenges with their Army Signal Corps counterparts in Iraq. “We worried we might lose the signal, but the connection remained stable and the equipment performed flawlessly,” Foote said.

Prantl said the UNH Army ROTC program commissioned 28 Second Lieutenants this year, including Kristen Wentz, the largest number since 1988. The new officers earned their undergraduate degrees from various colleges and universities around the state; through partnership agreements between their own colleges and UNH, all completed their ROTC training on the UNH campus.

Prantl said Lt. Wentz will spend the summer studying for her nursing boards and report for active duty in September.

In 1999, UNH Cooperative Extension, NH Public Television, North Country Education Foundation, Bow and Somersworth High Schools, and Verizon collaborated in conducting a pilot program that provided educational programs to teachers and students via a two-way interactive video network. The pilot tested new technology that allowed previously incompatible videoconferencing equipment to connect.

The successful pilot led to an expansion of the project into a public-private partnership called the Granite State Distance Learning Network (GSDLN). GSDLN envisions a statewide network that will offer affordable distance learning opportunities and high-speed Internet access to public and community nonprofit organizations throughout the Granite State.

According to David Foote, founding GSDLN member and current chair of its coordinating committee, the network currently has about 35 sites up and operating at schools, colleges, state agencies, public libraries, and nonprofit organizations, with more due to come online soon.

“Last year, the network delivered more than 1000 interactive conferences—300 of them Cooperative Extension events,” Foote said. “We’ve used it for two-way interactive teaching between high schools, for conferences and workshops, many types of teacher training, and trainings for public health and emergency services training—on SARS, meningitis and hepatitis.”

To learn more about the Granite State Distance Learning Network(GSDLN):

• GSDLN Homepage
• About the GSDLN
• GSDLN Coordinating Committee
• Member sites

To discuss scheduling a videoconference at a GSDLN site for your community or nonprofit organization, contact David Foote

The Internet is now part of our everyday lives. The ability to access any type of information, any time of the day or night, communicate with people from all over the world and shop for virtually anything from home will forever change the way we live and work. Our children need to become experienced Internet users to find even menial jobs in the future.

Information on the Internet is governed by the First Amendment: freedom of speech. The information found, however, in some places may be viewed as inappropriate for children. As a parent, you must decide what's right for your child to see and read, just as you have the responsibility to govern what she watches on television or what books he reads.

Although there are lots of sites most of us would agree should be off limits to kids, the number of educational and positive web sites far outweigh the questionable ones. Filtering software is available to lock out sites with offensive information, but they may not be 100 percent effective.

Putting the computer in a visible location in your home is the best way for you to monitor what your child is doing on the Internet, A computer in a family room or the kitchen allows you to supervise the sites your child accesses.

If the computer must go in your child's bedroom, face the screen toward the door and insist the door remain open while on the Internet. Set reasonable rules and guidelines for computer use by your children. Discuss these rules and post them near the computer as a reminder. Remember to monitor their compliance with these rules, especially when it comes to the amount of time your children spend on the computer.

The Internet's use as a communication tool is unparalleled. With an email address, you can communicate with virtually anyone. Children can converse by email or in real-time chat rooms with children from other cultures, teachers from the best schools in the world or with astronauts on the space shuttle. Barriers because of what someone looks like, how old they are or where they live don't exist in cyberspace.

The danger of someone misrepresenting themselves to your child on the Internet is very real and kids must be aware of this possibility. Safety rules on Internet use aren't really much different than those we teach about staying at home alone and dealing with strangers: "Don't go with strangers. Never tell anyone when you're home alone. If someone does or says something you're not comfortable with, tell a parent or other trusted adult."

Remember "Information doesn't hurt children, people hurt children." Teach your children how to deal with inappropriate information and how to avoid potentially dangerous people online. Check out the safe surfing information for parents and children at www.cyberangels.org

Make sure your children never gives out personal information to someone on the Internet. This includes name, address (even what city they live in), phone number or the name of their school. Under no circumstances should they ever agree to meet someone face-to-face and if someone on the Internet pressures them to give out any personal information, they should cut off communication and let you know about it.

Above all, as a parent you can help your child by learning about the Internet with them. Get to know the Internet services your child uses. If you don't know how to log on, get your child to show you. Find out what types of information is offered on their favorite sites and whether there are ways for parents to block out objectionable material. The more you understand about the technology, the easier it will be to set appropriate parameters and help your child understand the need for safety.