American Hydrotech Gets FM Approvals for its Garden Roof Assemblies

Manufacturer of waterproofing and roofing products achieves 'stamp of approval' from testing lab

American Hydrotech, the Chicago-based manufacturer of waterproofing and roofing products and a Sika subsidiary, announced on Tuesday that its Garden Roof Assemblies have successfully passed a series of tests to meet FM Approvals.

FM Approvals is a third-party testing and certification service like Underwriters Laboratories. In a Feb. 13 news release, American Hydrotech said receiving FM certification for its Garden Roof Assembly system provides building owners, architects, and landscape designers confidence when specifying a garden roof.

A cross-sectional view of American Hydrotech's Garden Roof Assembly System. “Having the FM Approval for the Garden Roof Assembly provides many advantages to our clients,” said Hydrotech’s Garden Roof Department Manager, Tricia Billings. “Hydrotech is the only membrane manufacturer that can offer an FM Approval for a vegetated roof assembly, starting at the deck and up through the vegetation.”

The company said that as green spaces on commercial and industrial roofs steadily gain popularity within urban areas, FM approval offers the assurance that its roofing systems will maintain integrity, which may help create more green space in vertical environs.

The company added that green roofs provide many benefits, from aesthetics to food growing to restoring the balance with nature, noting that garden roofs are net positive regarding environmental impact, offer better management of stormwater run-off, and reduce the urban heat island effect.

For more information, visit hydrotechusa.com.

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Bryan Gottlieb is the online editor at Engineering News-Record (ENR).

Gottlieb is a five-time Society of Professional Journalists Excellence in Journalism award winner with more than a decade of experience covering business, construction, and community issues. He has worked at Adweek, managed a community newsroom in Santa Monica, Calif., and reported on finance, law, and real estate for the San Diego Daily Transcript. He later served as editor-in-chief of the Detroit Metro Times and was managing editor at Roofing Contractor, where he helped shape national industry coverage.

Gottlieb covers breaking news, large-scale infrastructure projects, new products and business.