91视频

In the midst of a concrete industrial park in Northwest Portland, a new habitat roof breaks up the gray. Gunderson LLC, a subsidiary of , unveiled this month a 1,000-square-foot island of green space over above-ground fuel tanks.

The goal of a habitat roof is to encourage biodiversity. It’s different from an eco-roof, which primarily manages storm water. Not much data is available about how habitat roofs can function within a manufacturing environment. Gunderson worked with a committee from a community-based group, the Greenroof info Think-tank (GRiT), to overcome challenges.

鈥淲e鈥檙e hoping to get as much information as possible on what works and what doesn鈥檛,鈥� said Soren Hill, a hazardous materials technician at Gunderson. 鈥淗opefully we can make something of a case study from this project that can benefit us and others who are advocating for these types of structures around industrial areas.鈥�

Gunderson plans to use its first habitat roof as a pilot demonstration project. A couple of logs and bundles of cut-up bamboo shoots invite spiders and insects. The roof is mainly sustaining flowers and pollinators at this point, according to Hill.

In order to test the effectiveness of soil types, one half of the roof has native soil and the other half has an engineered variety.

鈥淭his initial study will be the baseline and then we鈥檒l make improvements as we go on,鈥� Hill said. Gunderson plans to have a part-time intern collect data each summer.

Gunderson鈥檚 staff built the structure, which is approximately 20 feet high, using the same metal that they would usually use to construct oceangoing barges. The structure, designed by Andrew Jansky of consulting firm Flowing Solutions, cost between $70,000 and $80,000, according to Hill.

Gunderson is planning to build a second habitat roof 鈥� between 16,000 and 18,000 square feet 鈥� over the company鈥檚 90-day hazardous waste storage area. Plans for that roof will develop as more data is analyzed.

The habitat roofs are part of a shift in environmental leadership at Gunderson in the wake of the Department of Environmental Quality issuing one of its largest fines in 2008 against the firm. Among multiple offenses that occurred from 2004 to 2006 was improper disposal of flammable waste paint and paint containing toluene, a hazardous solvent.

鈥淲e鈥檙e really taking a more proactive look at all of our processes and taking steps to minimize our impacts and hazardous waste and procedural-ize all of our handling processes,鈥� Hill said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e really come a long way.鈥�

Gunderson has made other environmentally-minded changes as well. Hill said the recent purchase of a plural pump system will allow the company to switch from using 5-gallon cans of paint to 55-gallon drums.

鈥淚t took an initial investment, but now we can reuse all of the 55-gallon metal drums as well as reduce the amount of paint wasted each day,鈥� he said.

An upgraded training schedule has helped boost environmental awareness among the workers, which has led to behavior changes and improved morale.

鈥淣ow workers understand why they have to follow our procedures because they know, for example, that all of the storm drains flow into the river,鈥� Hill said. 鈥淎nd the marine production people feel immensely involved in the habitat roof; they鈥檙e proud of it.鈥�