June 6, 2007

Insurance

Green roof task force formed

Brian Martin

correspondent

When some 250 delegates turned up at Vancouver’s Westin Bayshore Hotel on May 29 there was an unseen guest hovering just over their heads. It was the ghost of the leaky condo crisis of the 1980s.

The occasion was a one-day seminar hosted by the provincial Homeowner Protection Office. The reason was to shed some light on the controversial issue of “green roofs” on condominium projects.

Several Lower Mainland municipalities have been toying with the idea of making them mandatory. If that happened it would create a classic “Catch 22” situation. The private insurance firms who provide coverage under the province’s mandatory new home warranty program are refusing to warranty condominiums with green roofs. The industry could face a situation where a municipal mandatory requirement slams head on into the provincial mandatory requirement for warranty coverage.

When it comes to putting green roofs on condominiums speaker after speaker expressed caution and reminded the meeting of the leaky condo nightmare that resulted at least in part from building code changes in the ‘80s. Tread carefully was the rule of the day.

It was the hope of avoiding a collision between municipalities and the home warranty program that inspired Ken Cameron, CEO of the Homeowner Protection Office to arrange the seminar. Among those attending were many civic officials from different municipalities along with representatives from the design professions, the development industry and the construction industry.

A green roof task force has been formed and will likely be coming forward in the future with recommendations.

One immediate problem that appeared was the definition of a green roof. It can be anything from a sod roof on a pioneer shack to the massive roof planned for the new convention centre currently under construction on the Vancouver waterfront. It can also be a fairly light weight structure involving only grasses and sedums or it can be a full scale roof top park complete with trees and shrubs.

The advantages can be many. Jonathan Rider of Musson Cattell Mackey Partnership outlined a few of them. They include storm water retention, avoiding a rush of water into the municipal sewer systems during downpours, increased thermal insulation, support for urban biodiversity.

The costs seem impossible to pin down. It all depends on the type of roof, size of the roof and location of the roof. Figures casually tossed around ranged all the way from two to three times the cost of a conventional roof up to 20 times the cost.

Taking a more upbeat approach than most at the gathering was Jim Watson technical manager for the Roofing Contractors Association of B.C. (RCABC). The association runs its own warranty program and has been building and providing warranties for green roofs for about 30 years, he said. “I’m somewhat surprised by the controversy”, Watson told the meeting. He went on to say that green roofs have had a lower claims rate than conventional roofs. RCABC does, however, have very specific technical standards it insists on.

It is the condominium aspect that is causing the challenge. Green roofs in the institutional, commercial and industrial sector are not a problem. Many speakers, including Tony Gioventu, executive director of the Condominium Home Owners’ Association of B.C., very seriously questioned whether condominium strata councils are capable of taking on the long term maintenance of a green roof – something that is critical and often quite complicated.

Neil Chrystal, president of Polygon Homes was absolutely adamant particularly when it comes to wood frame buildings. He described himself as having lived through the condo crisis and said he has grave concerns about green roofs in our wet climate.

“Under no circumstances should wood frame buildings be considered for green roofs,” he said.

The insurance industry was represented by Neil Ringrose, of SCOR reinsurance and George Petropoulos, president and CEO of Travelers Guarantee Company of Canada. Travelers is the largest provider of home warranty insurance in B.C.

Both presented a classic insurance stance regarding risk management and generally were not satisfied with the risks presented by condominium green roofs. They did not however, reject the idea outright and pledged to work with the industry to find solutions.

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