Case Study: EnkaRetain & Drain at East Medical Center
Owner Cheyenne 1 Development Group
Location Webster, TX
Size 14,559 ft²
Product EnkaRetain & Drain 3111
Core Material 40% post-industrial, recycled, entangled filament polypropylene
Water Retention Fabric 100% post-industrial recycled, nonwoven polypropylene
Water Retention Approx. 73%
Material Cost Savings Approx. $250,000
In the green roofing world, drainage is often overlooked. Colbond, a subsidiary of the European engineered-materials manufacturer and supplier Low & Bonar, is the North American producer of a diverse range of high-performance, nonwoven, and three-dimensional matrix geosynthetics, including the Enkadrain 3000 series for green roofs and the Enkamat soil-holding layer and drainage/ventilation underlayment for metal roofs.
Robin Gregory, marketing communications manager for Colbond, says Colbond’s products contribute to LEED points both through the actual materials and through their application. Enkadrain and Enkamat products are used in the Millennium Park green roof in Chicago, Chicago City Hall’s green roof, the New Jersey Statehouse in Trenton, New Jersey, and Union Square in San Francisco. The material is flexible, moldable, and open and contributes to rooftop vegetal growth, storm-water reduction, urban heat island effect reduction, energy efficiency, and aesthetic development.
“Enkadrain has been used in the European green roof market for over 30 years, so the technology has been refined,” Gregory says. As green building becomes more popular and accessible, the implementation of smart roofing solutions, such as those offered by Colbond, will no doubt continue growing in kind.
