Green roof creator recycles environment " and himself

Tim Elam's yard at his southwest Reno home is a spectacular homage to the concept of recycling.

The bricks in his walkways and patios are from buildings scrapped during downtown's renovation. The driveway is made of broken-up sidewalks, fashioned like cobblestones. His wife's greenhouse is entirely made from reclaimed materials and the two small cabins he uses were once located on Fourth Street, before he dismantled them and reconstructed them on his property. Elam and his wife, Joan, who does the planting, have aptly named their property The Enchanted Garden.

Elam has always had a passion for recycling and the green movement, which he says is finally "catching up with me." But Elam is actually still at the forefront with his latest venture, a product called GoGreenRoof. His design, upon which he has acquired a provisional patent, incorporates new technologies such as an open-weave mats, water membranes and new soils. Elam says these advancements make green roofs possible for everyone, unlike the slippery, heavy turf roofs of yesteryear.

Tackling new territory is something Elam knows a lot about. Eager to try new things, Elam has been a social worker, football coach, special education teacher, product innovator, restaurant owner, and now, a passenger train conductor. Plus he shows no signs of slowing down.

Elam was raised in Dunsmuir, Calif., but has spent much of his life in Reno, including the last decade. With a master's degree in speech pathology, he spent time teaching special education courses but a chance encounter led him down another path. A friend showed Elam a pair of inversion boots. This was about the time the movie "American Gigolo" came out, and Richard Gere was shown wearing them in a scene.

"I thought they were the coolest thing ever. I drove to the company's San Francisco headquarters, basically walked in and said 'Here I am!' I walked out with an expense account, a car and good pay. I sold to all the sporting goods stores," he says.

One day, Elam was doing a demo of the boots at the California State Fair, and was approached by a company from Denver. He was asked to create a product similar to the inversion boot for them in exchange for $20,000. He and a friend came up with Skyhook, which improved upon the inversion boot concept.

"We did great," he remembers, "until the company went out of business."

Returning to Reno, he opened a dealership for Camperville USA. He met his wife, Joan, in 1984 and the two put their money into buying University Texaco. The pair turned the gas station into a convenience store, one of the area's first, and catered to college students. The couple sold the business in 1988.

Hired to do marketing for Truckee Meadows Hospital, now West Hills Hospital, Elam became a licensed social worker. Working with a team of licensed clinical social workers, he helped start a community outreach program. Elam learned the ropes of clinical crisis intervention, something he says was amazingly rewarding work. After a few years, the intensity of the job started to weigh on him.

Returning from a vacation, Elam drove through Dunsmuir on the way home. Elam fell in love with a building built in 1892. The couple decided to restore the property and moved back to California. Elam restored the building, which had been vacant for 50 years, while working at a local high school and then doing marketing for a golf course. When the restoration was complete, he and Joan opened it as the Old Rostel Pub and Cafe, named for the German immigrant who built the building. For four years the restaurant was a labor of love, finding decent success, but Elam says "We made a small fortune as we lost a large one. So we sold, and moved back to Reno."

Responding to a newspaper ad for a passenger train conductor, he applied and got the job. He's been doing the Reno-Winnemucca route for five years.

"It's the coolest thing. I love it. It's a two-hour train ride. I leave at 4 p.m., arrive around 7 p.m. Spend the night, then back on the train at 6 a.m. for the ride home. I do this three days a week. It's great for the marriage," he laughs.

It also gives him time to focus on development of GoGreenRoof. Elam is in discussion with a roofing company and a turf company about his design, has spoken to a seminar of architects who loved the idea. He hopes to include some commercial garden roofs along with residential projects.

"It's just going to take some brave individuals. People don't understand there is little-to-no maintenance. The weight load bearing abilities are also much better now," he says.

Green roofs, he continues are a natural insulator, both for summer and winter; and they reduce the urban island heating effect, especially in cities.

"This was an ancient technology until modern building practices came into being. It hasn't always been viable, but technology now makes it possible for all roofs to be green roofs," Elam says.

And for a self-described alternative thinker like Elam, making things possible is all in a day's work.