America has a surprising amount of wasted landscaping space. Even in densely packed urban areas like New York City, the prime real estate atop roofs is given much less consideration than one would expect from a populace that values each square foot of space so highly. This oversight is a crime, because there is so much that can be done to improve the local environment and quality of life, simply by fixing up a roof.
The average city rooftop is layered with black tar, a material which traps sunlight and heat, raising the temperature of the surrounding area.
The heat trapped by dark, flat roofs elevates city temperatures as much as ten degrees Fahrenheit – contributing to what scientists call the “urban heat island” effect.
Cool Roofs
The easiest and quickest solution to combat the urban heat effect is simply to turn hot dark roofs into “cool roofs” by painting them with a basic coating of light-colored water sealant. In the same way that white clothing helps keep you cool in the summertime, white roofs reflect sunlight and heat. If all the roofs in New York City were cool roofs, the city would save some $100 million dollars per year in cooling costs.
Green Roofs
An even better alternative to cool roofs (albeit one that requires more time and effort) is to turn waste roofs into landscaped Green Roofs. Green roofs having the same cooling effect of white roofs, with the added benefits of:
Providing amenity space for building users - replacing a yard or patio
Increasing roof life span
Reducing stormwater runoff
Providing noise insulation
Filtering pollutants and CO2 out of the air
Providing locally grown food (with rooftop vegetable gardens)
Increasing wildlife habitat in built up areas
Reducing heating (by adding mass and thermal resistance value) and cooling (by evaporative cooling) loads on a building
Reducing the urban heat island effect
Cost & City Planning
Green roofs add so many benefits to a building and its surrounding area, it’s astonishing that more roofs aren’t green at this point. The biggest roadblock to our green roof future seems to be cost and bureaucratic red tape of city planning laws. Although green roofs cost more up front to install than regular roofs, the savings that they accrue over the years quickly pay off. The biggest hurdle to getting green roofs going in more places, is convincing city governments to change their policies and adopt programs which provide incentives to property owners to renovate their roofs.
In this endeavor, the city of Chicago is leading the way. Chicago’s Department of Environment is actually giving away $5,000 grants to any building owners who want to start a green roof project. So if you are a lucky homeowner living in Chicago, you have no excuse for not making your rooftop green!
The largest “living roof” in the world was designed by environmental architect William McDonough, and sits on top of the Ford Motor Company’s Rouge Manufacturing Plant in Dearborn, Michigan.
It doesn’t matter to us whether you want lush lawns, desert landscaping or some type of landscaping in between, we can help. We serve businesses like yours all over the Phoenix Metro Area. To find out how give us a call at 623-848-8277.
Presented by:
Greens Keeper Landscape Maintenance, LLC
623-848-8277
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