Sustainable
SOLUTIONS
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At Mackintosh Corporation we believe that green construction, buildings and practices can make great strides towards the restoration of the ecological balance and diminishing the effects of global warming and climate change. We verily believe that this is the responsible way forward and have adopted sustainable practices both at office and on site and fully subscribe to the World Green Building Council’s maxim – Think Global – Act Local.
In the wake of the growing awareness and effects of global warming, resource depletion, and pollution levels worldwide, green construction has developed as a means of improving building practices so that they do not harm the environment. There are many different components that go into green construction, including adherence to eco-friendly construction methods and practices, sustainable sourcing of materials, energy, air and water efficiency, improving waste management, recycling, etc.
In its quest for a sustainable earth Mackintosh Corporation realizes that a holistic approach is needed. The use of eco-friendly and sustainable materials is not enough and corporate commitment, sustainable practices at office and on site as well as the continued orientation of personnel at all levels are the further key components. Mackintosh Corporation therefore firmly commits to all aspects of sustainability and environmental action.
In order to achieve this Mackintosh predominantly supports sustainable products and adopted an Environmental Policy for its business.
Benefits of a Green Roof
Energy Savings
In the summer, green roof planting shades the building from solar radiation and, through the process of evapo-transpiration, can reduce, if not eliminate any net heat gain. This in turn helps to cool the surrounding area, as well as decreasing the amount of energy required to cool the building. In the cooler season, the additional insulation provided by the growing medium helps to decrease the amount of energy required to heat the building.
Sound Insulation
Green roofs can be designed to insulate for sound, with the growing medium blocking lower frequencies of sound, and the plants blocking the higher frequencies. Tests show that 12 cm (5″) of growing medium alone can reduce sound by 40 db.
Storm Water Retention
Green roofs can be designed for exceptional storm water retention capability. The plants capture and hold rainwater. Water stored in the growing media is released through evaporation and evapo-transpiration. Storm water retention rates are determined by saturated infiltration capacity, thickness of the growing media, field capacity, porosity, under-drainage layer water retention and flow, and relief drain spacing. A heavily vegetated green roof with a 20-40 cm (8-16″) thick growing medium can hold between of water 10-15 cm (4-6″).
Roof Membrane Protection and Life Extension
​Green roofs help to protect roofing membranes from extreme temperature fluctuations, the negative impact of ultraviolet radiation, and accidental damage from pedestrian traffic. European evidence indicates that green roofs will easily double the life span of a conventional roof, and thus decrease the need for re-roofing and the amount of waste material bound for landfill. These are direct operational cost savings for the building owner. Life cycle costing data which includes the cost of deferred maintenance and replacement suggests that green roofs cost the same or less than conventional roof systems.
Urban Heat Island Effect
The urban heat island is the overheating of urban and suburban areas, relative to the surrounding countryside, due to increased paved, built-over, and hard surface areas. Average summer temperatures have been on the rise over the past decade. These artificially high summer temperatures have a range of direct and indirect negative impacts on our quality of life. The urban heat island effect increases the use of more electricity for air conditioners and it increases the rate at which chemical processes generate pollutants such as ground level ozone. It also exacerbates heat-related illnesses. Green roofs intercept the solar radiation that would strike dark roof surfaces and be converted into heat, thereby improving energy conservation. Like urban forests and reflective roofing surfaces they absorb and/or deflect solar radiation so that it does not produce heat.
Air Cleaning
Green roofs also filter out fine, airborne particulate matter as the air passes over the plants. Airborne particulates tend to get trapped in the surface areas of the greenery. Rain washes it into the growing medium below. Plants also absorb gaseous pollutants through photosynthesis and sequester them in their leaves (later to become humus). Studies show that treed urban streets have 10-15% fewer dust particles than found than similar streets without trees. In Frankfurt Germany, for example, a street without trees had an air pollution count of 10-20,000 dirt particles per liter of air and a treed street in the same neighborhood had an air pollution count of less than a third of that amount. Based on data from trees, one estimate suggests that a grass roof with 2,000 m2 of unmown grass (100 m2 of leaf surface per m2 of roof) could cleanse 4,000 kg of dirt from the air per year (2 kg per m2 of roof).