By
Robert O’Malley
 |
| Whipple
Riverview Place |
The Whipple Riverview Place initiative combines the adaptive reuse
of a historic building in Ipswich, Massachusetts, with the innovative
use of a green roof to reduce heating costs and protect the adjacent
Ipswich River.
The base of the green roof is a waterproof membrane and root barrier that rests
on a traditional roof. Sedum, chives, and other hardy succulents have been planted
in the soil that covers the membrane.
Built in the 1870s, the Whipple School Annex had served as a school, a shoe factory,
and a jail before falling into disuse in the 1990s. For years the town had been
mulling what to do with the attractive brick building that stands beside Town
Hall near the center of Ipswich.
Interested in finding a new use for the structure while increasing the supply
of affordable housing, Ipswich officials decided that the building’s proximity
to the center of town and a senior center in Town Hall made it an ideal site
for new senior housing.
North Shore Housing Trust, Inc., a regional nonprofit housing developer, was
selected to develop 10 apartments for low-income seniors on the smart-growth
site. The initiative was the recipient of a $300,000 grant and a $650,000 subsidized
advance (with a $262,287 advance subsidy) from the Federal Home Loan Bank of
Boston’s Affordable Housing Program (AHP) through member North Shore Bank,
A Co-Operative Bank. In addition to the AHP, the Whipple initiative received
HOME Funds and funding from the Affordable Housing Trust Fund, among other sources.
The town saw the redevelopment of the site as an opportunity to save a centrally
located historic building, provide new affordable housing for low-income seniors,
and improve the quality of the Ipswich River.
 |
| Mary
Ellen Jutras, assistant vice president, and Tobi Goldberg,
senior community investment manager, at the Federal Home Loan
Bank of Boston, with Rep. John F. Tierney (D-MA-6)
at an opening celebration for the AHP-funded Whipple Riverview
Place initiative in Ipswich, Massachusetts. |
A key component of the initiative was the installation of a green
roof to reduce heating costs and control water runoff into the adjacent
Ipswich River, says Laura Buxbaum, North Shore Housing Trust’s former interim director. (William
Eric Breitkreutz was recently named the organization’s new
executive director.)
The green roof was funded with a $110,000 grant from the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency’s Targeted Watershed Grants program through
the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR).
The Whipple School redevelopment grant is part of a broader effort
to improve the quality of the Ipswich River.
“If this were the City Hall roof, there would just be a flat black roofing
membrane,” says
Marilyn J. McCrory, water resources planner at DCR. “Water
would run off the roof and pick up bird droppings and whatever else
was on the roof. There would also be more water running off the roof
directly into the river.”
“With the green roof,” she adds, “the soil and plants filter
and absorb a lot of the runoff so that anything that does go down
the drainpipe will probably be cleaner and cooler than runoff from a flat black
roof.”
As part of the pilot project, runoff from the green roof will be sampled
and compared with runoff from the traditional roof at City Hall.
In addition to its pollution-control capabilities, the roof is also
designed to extend the life of the roof and reduce heating costs. “The green roof
creates additional insulation for heating and cooling the building,” says
Ms. Buxbaum.
Ms. McCrory notes that the green roof makes use of technology that
has been in use for hundreds of years. “If you have been to Ireland, perhaps you’ve
seen sod roofs,” she says. “They’re not uncommon
in Europe.”
Ms. McCrory says the City of Chicago has adopted a program to promote
green roofs, while green roofs are currently in use at Boston City
Hall and at the Boston World Trade Center. A green roof will also
be installed in the EPA’s new regional
headquarters near downtown Boston. T |
