WDL has a new sedum roof!

The Warwick Digital Laboratory is continuing to progress at speed, with the living sedum being placed on the roof.

The sedum roof is part of the plan to keep the laboratory as environmentally friendly as possible. It is hoped that this conscious approach to the building and upkeep of the lab will help to ensure a BREEAM excellence rating for environmental design and management.

BREEAM use a selection of assessment methods and tools to help developers and construction professionals understand the environmental impacts of their buildings. It is hoped that the inclusion of a sedum roof, along with many other parts of the development, that the digital laboratory will achieve BREEAMs’s excellence rating.

The sedum roof will take a year to fully establish itself, and offers many positive attributes for the building. It helps to reduce excess rainwater runoff, which in turn helps to put less strain on drainage systems in the area. As the roof helps reduce water runoff, it also acts as an excellent waterproofing system. If anything, the sedum roof is the perfect material to us on the roof, as it also provides good insulation, ensuring the building remains warm and winter and cool in the summer, helping to reduce heating and air conditioning costs, which all together helps to reduce the environmental impact of the laboratory itself.

Watch this space for more progress reports on the digital lab!