Stevenson teacher to incorporate green roof into classroom project

Ron Carmichael plans to add some greenery to Stevenson High School.

But once it's installed, no one will be able to see the green roof. That is, unless they study the temperature in the room below it.

Carmichael, along with his environmental science students, plan later this year to install a 750-square-foot green roof above his east building classroom.

He said the green roof will absorb the sunlight, thus reducing the amount of heat hitting the asphalt-covered roof and may provide some cost savings to the school.

The project will be supported financially by a $10,000 grant Carmichael received last summer for designing an award-winning program in BP's A+ for Energy initiative.

BP received applications from 246 teachers in Illinois, and 95 projects were approved. The company awarded more than $1 million in cash grants and scholarships to Chicago-area educators.

Carmichael first developed the idea to create a green roof at Stevenson after seeing one between terminals three and five at O'Hare Airport.

On top of the physical plant building were 4-by-8-foot sheets of plywood covered with cinder boxes and topped with flats of various plants.

"It occurred to me that a green roof did not mean a roof top garden," he said.

He learned green roofs can be less intensive to install, as well as provide energy savings and improve the longevity of the roof.

Carmichael worked with environmental science teachers Jason Carlson, Deanna Warkins, Jill Lisius and Kim Lubeke to apply for the grant. He received a letter last May that he had been selected.

This fall, Carmichael will work with his students to design what plants will be used, as well as how the roof should be designed.

Carmichael said no one on the ground will be able to see the plants as they will be installed on one of the school's highest roofs.

To make up the green roof, trays filled with soil and desert plants that can weather temperature swings and little water will be installed above his classroom.

The green roof may not be put into place until the spring or summer, said Mark Michelini, assistant superintendent of business. The goal will be to narrow costs by coordinating the green roof's installation along with other construction projects at the school.

Teachers and students will then monitor temperatures in the green area and a control area above another classroom to see if the plants make a difference in temperature.

Sensors on the roof will allow students to check readings through a computer in Carmichael's classroom.

The green roof is the latest work at Stevenson to reduce energy costs through its green initiative.

"The green initiative brings together administration, staff and students to look at how we can be more green in our efforts," Superintendent Eric Twadell said. "The green roof is part of a larger picture."

But the primary benefit of the green roof project, Twadell said, is providing an innovative educational opportunity to students.

"Any energy efficiency savings it may produce is a small part in an 850,000-square-foot building," he said. "For us, having students be a part of the process is more important."