1. General information
Location and description of the intervention
City or FUA
Sunderland
Region
Europe
Native title of the NBS intervention
Washington School Green Roof
Short description of the intervention
A 5256 m2 extensive green roof was installed to the Washington School in Sunderland as part of the environmental standard set by the local government’s “Building Schools for the Future” (BSF) programme. Besides being a learning tool and being aesthetically pleasing, the roof provides a habitat, helps reduce ambient temperatures, assist in rainwater management and air filtering. The Hetton Lyons Primary school intervention is also part of this city-wide project (Ref 1).
Address

Spout Lane
Washington
NE37 2AA
United Kingdom

Location
Point location, which indicates where the NBS takes place
Total area
5256.00m²
NBS area
5256.00m²
Type of area before implementation of the NBS
Building
Website of the intervention
http://www.prestopr.co.uk/wp-content/files_mf/1281018132WashingtonSchool.pdf
Timeline of intervention
Start date of the intervention (planning process)
unknown
Start date of intervention (implementation process)
unknown
End date of the intervention
2009
Present stage of the intervention
Completed
Goals of the intervention
1. To create a naturalistic appearance,
2. Provide habitat for plants and wildlife,
3. Reduce local ambient temperatures,
4. Filter out air pollution,
5. Assist with water management (Ref 1).
Quantitative targets
1. Create a 5256 m2 green roof (Ref 1)
Monitoring indicators defined
m2 of green roof created (Ref 1).
Sustainability challenge(s) addressed
Water management (SDG 6)
Stormwater and rainfall management and storage
Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
Green space creation and/or management
Environmental quality
Air quality improvement
Social justice, cohesion and equity (SDG 10)
Environmental education
Implementation activities
Creation of a 5256 m2 extensive green roof. Blackdown installed the impressive 5256m² extensive green roof, also one of the largest of its type in the North East, to the Washington School in Sunderland, as part of the new environmental standard
set by the government’s Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme. Following comprehensive consultations with the local community, staff, parents and pupils, Sunderland City Council developed a clear idea of how the new school should make a bold architectural statement whilst remaining sympathetic to the local landscape. For Main Contractors Balfour Beatty, the specification of a green roof was a carefully considered design option that maintained the school’s long-term vision for a healthy, comfortable learning environment and, in its construction, incorporated a number of solutions designed to address the climate change issues that will impact most heavily on the next generation. (Ref 1).
Type of NBS project
Creation of new green areas
NBS domain and interventions
Ecological domain(s) where the NBS intervention(s) is/are implemented
Nature on buildings (external)
Green roofs
Type of Green Roof
Extensive Green Roof: depth 3 - 5 inches; plants: Mosses, Sedums, Succulents, Herbs and few Grasses; Low maintenance and costs
Vegetation Type
Shrubs
Other
Amenities offered by the NBS
Unknown
Services
Expected ecosystem services delivered
Regulating services
Local climate regulation (temperature reduction)
Air quality regulation
Flood regulation
Habitat and supporting services
Habitats for species
Cultural services
Aesthetic appreciation
Intellectual interactions (scientific and / or educational)
Scale
Spatial scale
Meso-scale: Regional, metropolitan and urban level
Sub-microscale: Street scale (including buildings)
Beneficiaries
Primary Beneficiaries
Public sector institution (e.g. school or hospital)
Citizens or community groups
Young people and children
Governance
Governance arrangements
Co-governance with government and non-government actors
Non-government actors
Public sector institution (e.g. school or hospital)
Private sector/Corporate/Business
Please specify the roles of the specific government and non-government actor groups involved in the initiative
Blackdown Horticultural Consultants executed and planned the building of the roof (Private sector) at the Washington school (public sector instittuion) (Ref 1).
Key actors - initiating organization
Local government/municipality
Public sector institution
Land owners
Educational actor (schools or universities)
Key actors - Other stakeholders involved (besides initiating actors)
Local government/municipality
Public sector institution
Private sector/corporate actor/company
Land owners
Educational actor (schools or universities)
Participatory methods/forms of community involvement used
Unknown
Policy drivers
NBS intervention implemented in response to an Regional Directive/Strategy
Unknown
Please specify the "Regional Directive/Strategy"
Unknown
NBS intervention implemented in response to a national regulations/strategy/plan
Yes
Please specify the national regulations/strategy/plan
The green roof of this school was part of the Building Schools for the Future plan (Ref 5), which in turn was a response to the national UK Low Carbon Transition Plan (Ref 2).
NBS intervention implemented in response to a local regulation/strategy/plan
Yes
Please specify the "local regulation/strategy/plan"
The intervention is part of the Building Schools for the Future plan of the Sunderland City Council, which is in turn part of the City's Carbon Plan for 2007 to 2012. (Ref 3)
Mandatory or voluntary intervention
Voluntary (spontaneous)
Enablers
Presence of specific city-level GI/NBS vision/strategy/plan - mentioned in connection to the project
Unknown
Please specify
Unknown.
Presence of specific city-level GI/NBS section/part in a more general plan - mentioned in connection to the project
Unknown
Please specify the general plan with GI/NBS section
The Building Schools for the Future plan is not specifically GI or NBS plans, but include these concepts (Ref 3 &4).
Please specify other vegetation type
Sedum, hydroplant and seed (Ref 1)
Presence of city network or regional partnerships focused on NBS - mentioned in connection to the project
Unknown
Presence of GI / NBS research project - mentioned in connection to the project
Unknown
Subsidies/investment for GI / NBS in the city - mentioned in connection to the project
Yes
Please specify
The Sunderland City Council funded the project (Ref 3).
Co-finance for NBS
No
Co-financing governance arrangements
No
Was this co-governance arrangement already in place, or was it set up specifically for this NBS?
No
Financing
Total cost
Unknown
What is/was the Cost/Budget (EUR) of the NBS or green infrastructure elements?
Unknown
What are the total amount of expected annual maintenance costs?
Unknown
What is the expected annual maintenance costs of the NBS or GI elements?
Unknown
Please specify cost savings
Unknown
Please specify total cost (EUR)
The project was part of the revamp of the school, which had a budget of £14.4 million. The specific detailed cost for the green roof installation is unknown. (Ref 2 and 3)
Source(s) of funding
Public local authority budget
Type of fund(s) used
Earmarked public budget
Non-financial contribution
Unknown
Business models
Green densification model
Which of the involved actors was motivated by this model?
Public actor (e.g. municipality)
Type of innovation
Technological
Infrastructural innovation
Please specify technological innovation
Green roof infrastructure. (Ref 1)
Novelty level of the innovation
The innovation is copied/derived from previous initiative(s) without substantial adaptation
Please specify novelty level of the innovation
Blackdown Horticultural Consultant is a specialist in Green Roofs and design and no significant adjustments were mentioned (Ref 1)
Replicability/Transferability
The innovation is not referred to as being transferred to new initiative(s)
Please specify Replicability/Transferability
Unknown.
Impacts, benefits
Environmental impacts
Climate change
Lowered local temperature
Environmental quality
Improved air quality
Water management and blue areas
Improved stormwater management
Green space and habitat
Increased number of species present
Description of environmental benefits
1. The Extensive green roof installed by Blackdown grew and developed to provide a naturalistic appearance and self-sustaining.
2. The green roof offers a number of ecological and building performance benefits.
3. It provides a meaningful habitat for plants and wildlife.
4. It also helps to reduce local ambient temperatures, filter out air pollution and assist with rainwater management. (Ref 1)
Economic impacts
Unknown
Please specify other socio-cultural impact
Aesthetically pleasing environment
Description of economic benefits
Unknown
Social and cultural impacts
Cultural heritage and sense of place
Protection of historic and cultural landscape / infrastructure
Other
Description of social and cultural benefits
1. The green roof built a bold architectural statement for the school whilst remaining sympathetic to the local landscape. 2. The roof also provides an aesthetically pleasing environment for the students and staff. (Ref 1)
Type of reported impacts
Achieved impacts
Indicators
Low-carbon infrastructure development, improved air quality and rainwater retention. (Ref 5)
Environmental, social and economic impacts
Climate action for adaptation, resilience and mitigation (SDG 13)
Analysis of specific impact categories
Job creation: The NBS created ...
No information available
Negative impacts: Did the project cause any problems or concerns?
No information was found regarding negative impacts of the project
COVID-19 pandemic
Unknown as of November, 2020.
Methods of impact monitoring
Process of recording NBS impacts
No evidence in public records
Methods used to evaluate the impacts of NBS
Unknown
Evidence for use of assessment
Presence of an assessment, evaluation and/or monitoring process
Unknown
Presence of indicators used in reporting
No evidence in public records
Presence of monitoring/evaluation reports
No evidence in public records
Availability of a web-based monitoring tool
No evidence in public records
Impact assessment mechanism
Name of any specific impact assessment tools
Unknown.
Use of GIS in mapping impacts
No evidence in public records
Citizen involvement
Citizens involvement in assessment/evaluation
Unknown
Citizens involvement in the analysis of the assessment/evaluation
Unknown
Follow-up to the evaluation / assessment
Unknown
References
Web links relevant to the intervention
Ref 1: Green Roof Blackdown Horticultural Consultants. New BSF project bosts bl…
Ref 6: LocalGov. (2008). Building blocks in place for next Sunderland BSF Schoo…
Ref 4: LocalGov. (2007). Sunderland to back £110M Building Schools for Future (…
Ref 5: Sunderland City Council. (n.d.). Low carbon city - Sunderland City Counc…
Documents relevant to the intervention
Attachment Size
Ref 3: Sunderland City Council. (2007). Sunderland City Council's Carbon Plan 2007-2012. (505.29 KB) 505.29 KB
Ref 2: HM Government. (2009). The UK low carbon transition plan: National strategy for climate and energy. (5.16 MB) 5.16 MB
List of references
Ref 1: Green Roof Blackdown Horticultural Consultants. New BSF project bosts blackdown's largest school green roof. Retrieved from http://www.prestopr.co.uk/wp-content/files_mf/1281018132WashingtonSchool.pdf on 12th November, 2020.
Ref 2: HM Government. (2009). The UK low carbon transition plan: National strategy for climate and energy. [attached]
Ref 3: Sunderland City Council. (2007). Sunderland City Council's Carbon Plan 2007-2012. [attached]
Ref 4: LocalGov. (2007). Sunderland to back £110M Building Schools for Future (BSF) programme. Retrieved from https://www.localgov.co.uk/Sunderland-to-back-110M-Building-Schools-for-Future-BSF-programme/29438 on 12th November, 2020.
Ref 5: Sunderland City Council. (n.d.). Low carbon city - Sunderland City Council. Retrieved from http://www.sunderland.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=2542 on 12th November, 2020.
Ref 6: LocalGov. (2008). Building blocks in place for next Sunderland BSF School. Retrieved from https://www.localgov.co.uk/Building-blocks-in-place-for-next-Sunderland-BSF-School/30826 on 12th November, 2020.
Comments and notes
Comments
2/sustainability challenge + 3/services: A variety of sustainability challenges and services are mentioned as being addressed by the green roof, however it remains largely unspecified how exactly (Ref 1). Thus, the underlying assumption appears to be that these benefits come with the creation of a green roof.
Public Images
Green roof at the Washington School
Greenroof: Blackdown Horticultural Consultant
http://www.prestopr.co.uk/wp-content/files_mf/1281018132WashingtonSchool.pdf