Minnesota Water Resources Conference - Water Resources Center ...

BOOK OF ABSTRACTS
Tuesday, Monday, October 27 23
Poster Session 4:45–5:45
RoofBloom
Chris Wegscheid, Cermak Rhoads Architects, Cwegscheid@cermakrhoades.com; Camilla Correll, Emmons & Olivier Resources,
Inc.; Corrie Zoll, Earth Wizards
RoofBloom is a set of resources for homeowners in the Twin Cities interested in installing a green roof on
their garage, shed or other small outbuilding. Initially funded by the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District,
RoofBloom is a cooperative effort of the Minnesota Green Roofs Council, Cermak Rhoades Architects and
Emmons & Olivier Resources, Inc. Our goals are to make green roofs accessible to the general public and to
increase awareness of stormwater quality and other sustainability issues.
The primary RoofBloom resource is “Green Your Garage: A Homeowner’s Guide to Small Green Roofs,” a
comprehensive document that introduces the homeowner to the benefits of green roofs, the types of systems
available and the structural, construction and maintenance considerations associated with this scale of project.
“Green Your Garage” can be freely downloaded at www.roofbloom.org. RoofBloom also offers detailed assembly
drawings, plant lists, and plans for garages and sheds specifically designed to accommodate green roofs.
The RoofBloom System is a green roof assembly designed to use inexpensive, off-the-shelf parts available from
most home and garden centers. The design is simple enough that an ambitious homeowner can do much of the
installation themselves, with a bit of help and guidance from local professionals. The total cost of materials is
about $5 per square foot, or between $2,000 and $3,000 for a two-car garage.
In addition to the guides, RoofBloom hosted a series of workshops to educate homeowners interested in green
roofs. These workshops were extremely well attended and have since spun into what is called the RoofBloom
Guild: a group of local homeowners who meet regularly to compare what they’ve learned, share resources,
combine orders for supplies, and trade labor. The hope is to see its members install at least half a dozen small
green roofs this summer.
Application of Wireless and Sensor Technologies for Urban Water Quality Management: Pollutant
Loading in Stormwater Ponds
Christine Wennen, University of Minnesota, wenne052@umn.edu; Michael Henjum, University of Minnesota; James Kang,
University of Minnesota; Shashi Shekhar, University of Minnesota; Miki Hondzo, University of Minnesota; Raymond Hozalski,
University of Minnesota; Paige Novak, University of Minnesota; William Arnold, University of Minnesota, arnol032@umn.edu
The water quality of streams is being degraded by increasing urbanization. Stormwater ponds have been
implemented in many urban areas to mitigate the effects of direct runoff to urban streams. This research uses
high frequency, real-time water quality data collected via a wireless sensor network to calculate the pollutant
loading in a series of stormwater ponds that discharge to Shingle Creek, located in the northwestern Twin
Cities metropolitan area. The results are compared to data collected concurrently by traditional grab sampling
techniques in order to assess the magnitude of the difference in pollutant loading calculated between the two
sampling frequencies.
Results from the data collected during the 2008 monitoring season will be presented at the conference.
55 Minnesota Water Resources Conference, October 27–28, 2008