FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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Download the Design Standard (.pdf, ~ 1 MB)

Toronto, Canada – June 21, 2010 – Green Roofs for Healthy Cities (GRHC), the green roof and wall industry association, and SPRI, Inc., the trade association representing the manufacturers of commercial roofing systems and component suppliers, are pleased to announce that the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) has accepted RP14 Wind Design Standard for Vegetative Roofing Systems as an American National Standard. This document was created to provide a design and installation reference for green roofing professionals to help eliminate the risk of wind uplift on vegetative /green roofs in high wind areas.

"This standard, along with the recently approved fire standard, will provide the US market with the guidance that it needs to safely install vegetative or green roofing systems, which are an expanding segment of the roofing industry in the US. It is the result of an industry wide effort involving manufacturers, contractors, designers, green roofing professionals, and testing agencies." said Mike Ennis, Technical Director for SPRI.

“This new standard has been under development since 2007 and is the result of close collaboration between experts at Green Roofs for Healthy Cities and the Single Ply Roofing Industry and it should help to open the doors to better design practices in the industry and allay concerns about wind uplift,” said Steven Peck, President of Green Roofs for Healthy Cities.

“The RP-14 Wind Design Guideline combines established design principles of conventional roofing systems with the wind tunnel testing conducted at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville to set minimum requirements aimed toward reducing the risk of wind damage to vegetative green roof systems. The standard provides clear design criteria that will help pave the way for growth of the green roof industry in even the most challenging wind zones of North America. “said Kelly Luckett, Chair of GRHC’s Technical Committee and President, Green Roof Blocks.

For more details, RP14 Wind Design Standard for Vegetative Roofs may be downloaded free of charge from GRHC or SPRI web sites.

For additional information please contact:
Steven W. Peck, President, Green Roofs for Healthy Cities 416 971 4494 (ext 233) This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Linda King, Managing Director, SPRI, Inc. 781-647-7026 This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

SPRI, Inc. is the recognized technical and statistical authority on the Single Ply Roofing Industry. SPRI provides the best forum for its members to collectively focus their industry expertise and efforts on critical industry issues. By acting as a trade organization, as opposed to each member working individually, the group can effectively improve product quality, installation techniques, workforce training and other issues common to the industry. www.spri.org

Green Roofs for Healthy Cities (GRHC) is a trade association of green roof expert designers, installers and manufacturers in North America. Our mission is to increase the awareness of the economic, social and environmental benefits of green roofs and green walls, and other forms of living architecture through education, advocacy, professionalism and celebrations of excellence. www.greenroofs.org

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Additional Coverage:

Single Ply Roofing Industry (SPRI) Develops Wind Design Standard