That noise from the penthouse? Lawn mower

As software entrepreneur Jessie Biter moves into a never-lived-in penthouse atop downtown Sarasota’s Marina Tower, he has added a lot of exceptional features.

There’s the chef’s kitchen, the audio-video system with multiple high-def monitors, and the upstairs bar.

But there is one most unlikely appliance on Biter’s list: a lawn mower.

A section of outdoor space in his two-level apartment is being covered with a green roof, which is among the most trendy technologies of the sustainability movement. It is called a green roof because it adds greenery atop buildings, and is environmentally friendly. Covered with hardy zoysia sod, it will reduce the rooftop temperature, cool the rooms below it, extend the life of the roof system, reduce and filter stormwater runoff, and absorb carbon dioxide.

It also provides a play space for Biter’s two young daughters — a yard with awe-inspiring panoramas of Sarasota, its bay, the keys and the Gulf from 150 feet up.

“We decided to give away the lawn darts — that might be a dangerous sport on the roof,” Biter said.

His 5,200-square-foot apartment has, among its 2,200 square feet of outdoor spaces, a rooftop that had been covered by a 1,500-square-foot patch of modified bitumen roofing with unsightly seams. Not the most pleasant thing to look out on from the upstairs bedroom of the condo, which Biter bought a year ago for $3.8 million.

My Green Buildings, a green construction company in Sarasota, managed the installation for Biter. Sutter Roofing reroofed the space with a durable membrane before the green roof’s drainage plane was put down over it. The sheets of new roofing were melted together to create a single waterproof membrane.

“It’s like a pool liner. Exposed, it will last 100 years, but covered up it will last even longer,” said project foreman Mark Boenker of My Green Buildings.

“It’s just fun and cool, and frankly, it does some good,” said Steve Ellis, co-owner of My Green Buildings. “It will have a natural filtering effect of the rainwater, and it will keep the roof cool. It will be all lawn now instead of a nasty-looking roof.”

“Steve came up and saw the place, fell in love with it and said, ‘You have to do a green roof,’” said Biter, CEO of HomeNet Inc., an automotive technology provider that manages inventory for car dealerships across the country and online. “He gave me the benefits — lower overall temperature, insulated roof, not having to replace the roof as often. Plus, it’s just a great asset to have. I don’t have to walk the dog now.”

And, his children will have a safe place to play, protected by four-foot parapet walls.

The black plastic drainage plane and irrigation system were installed Tuesday, and the soil and sod were lifted by crane on Wednesday. Ellis said the green roof will cost about $30,000, or $2,000 for each 100-square-foot section of roof.

Conventional shingle roofs are about $300 for a square of roof.

The space will have a shower and a planter box for bushes or small trees. Also, the crane lifted a hot tub onto a tiled section of patio — a tricky maneuver considering the windy conditions.

Green roofs are most commonly found atop government and commercial buildings with flat, heat-absorbing expanses. One is planned for a public library in Sarasota. Another, at just above ground level, can be viewed at Selby Botanical Gardens.

The University of Central Florida’s Stormwater Management Academy installed the state’s first green roof atop UCF’s Student Union building. More recently, Chicago passed a building code that offers incentives to builders who install green roofs, and some of the city’s public buildings have complex green roofs, with many layers.

Properly maintained, the grass atop Marina Tower will have to be cut just a couple of times during the winter, but at least weekly in the summer. Thus the need for a lawn mower.

“I’m going old school,” said Biter. “I’m getting one of the old push mowers with the razor blades that spin around. I don’t mind doing it. It will take 10 minutes twice a month; no big deal.”

For the past year, Biter has been remodeling the never-lived-in apartment in the seven-year-old building. Tom Frascone’s Coral Cove Construction stripped out the old designer-ready finishes and fixtures and replaced them with new floors and walls, recessed ceiling treatments, and a reconfigured kitchen with high-end Viking appliances and extra-thick granite counters. Advanced Audio Design is installing a custom audio, video and whole-house lighting and automation system. Furnishings are from Robb & Stucky.