If you look sky high, you'll notice a curious trend...rooftops are turning green!
And, for good reason.
In addition to adding a welcome touch of Mother Nature to the concrete cityscape, installing a garden on the top of city buildings has a number of practical purposes, too.
Green Roofs serve as sponges, to absorb run-off water, and lessen the impact of severe storms that otherwise may cause damage to the local environs, hasten sewers to overflow - and hence - pollute the environment.
When properly designed, green additions are capable of cooling structures and the surrounding neighborhoods, by the process of evapotranspiration; the key way plants absorb water through their root system and evaporate it through their leaves.
Not only do green roofs lower temperatures in the summer, but they also insulate in the winter. On average, extensive green roofs provide twenty-five percent more insulation than a regular roof, while heat loss due to wind can be reduced by fifty percent.
In addition, the gardens filter pollutants from the air, and offer up opportunities for food production, as well.
Credit is given to the Germans who began the "roof greening movement" in the late 70's and 80's, according to an organization - "Green Roofs for Healthy Cities" - which is headed up by Steven Peck (President of the Toronto-based nonprofit trade organization). The innovative idea soon spread throughout Europe, and naturally, on to the United States.
On these shores, Leslie Hoffman, President of New York based environment group - "Earth Pledge" - made it her mission to spread the green news after she planted one garden in Manhattan and saw the benefits of the exciting futuristic concept.
"There's all this wasted space on city rooftops that can be like small oases. They can help with storm water management and the urban heat island effect, or serve as places to garden. Such a big idea, complex in its variety of benefits."
Bio-diversity in living roof designs is all the rage, today.
In fact, allegedly, Switzerland has just passed a bylaw which states that new buildings must green twenty percent of their rooftops and be designed utmost and foremost to relocate the green space covered by the building's footprint (including existing buildings and those historical in nature).
On the heels of the research, there has been an increased demand for material/product design, which will soon be available to North American markets.
As green roofs spread, the overall effect may help mitigate global warming. By reducing the urban heat island effect, the carbon footprint of energy used for air conditioning, for instance, will be lessened.
Architectural specialist, Jane Jacobs, put it all into perspective in a recent interview on the subject,
"In its need for variety and acceptance of randomness, a flourishing natural ecosystem is more like a city than a plantation. Perhaps it will be the city that reawakens our understanding and appreciation of nature, in all its teeming, unpredictable complexity."
Aldo Leopold, quote:
"We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect."
