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Green Roofs: Benefits, Cost, and Sustainability

Discover the advantages of green roofs in managing runoff, improving air quality, and reducing energy costs. Learn about types, concerns, and examples of green roofs in the US.

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Green Roofs: Benefits, Cost, and Sustainability

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  1. GREENROOFS

  2. What is a green roof? Green roofs are plantings on the roof of a building Used in Europe for more than 25 years to control runoff volume, improve air and water quality, and promote energy conservation

  3. Types of Green Roofs • Extensive • Intensive

  4. Concerns on Everyone’s Mind • Costs – A built-in-place, extensive green roof can cost anywhere between $8 to $40 per square foot depending on a variety of factors • Weight – On average, an extensive green roof that is around 3 to 4 inches thick weights less than 17 pounds per square foot when saturated

  5. Benefits • Reduce city “heat Island effect • Lengthen roof life by two to three times • Reduce storm-water runoff • Energy savings • Reduces noise • Neutralize acid rain effect • Aesthetically pleasing • Provides habitat

  6. City “Heat Island” Effect • Higher surface and air temperatures caused by human built structures can result in extreme and sustained heat waves • Heat waves kill more people in the United States than all other natural disasters combined

  7. City “Heat Island” Effect Causes: • Increased air conditioning use • Risks of power outages due to peak electricity demands • Worsens air quality by promoting ground-level ozone formation • Impairs water quality by heating storm water runoff, causing thermal shock for aquatic life

  8. Green Roofs Reduce City “Heat Island” Effect • Plant transpiration and evaporation • Shading

  9. Lengthen Roof Life • Insulates roof in the winter • Protects roof membrane from the elements • Protects roof membrane from UV radiation • Helps moderate the roofs temperature swings

  10. Reduce Storm-water Runoff • Reducing Storm-water runoff is the best know benefit of green roofs • Can retain as much as 80% of the precipitation that falls on the green roof depending on soil depth and rainfall totals • Facility managers can reduce size or eliminate elaborate and expensive water management systems, another cost savings

  11. Energy Savings • Green roofs moderate temperate swings and insulate buildings • Allow building to reduce size of air-conditioning equipment, another cost savings • Energy savings are significant on buildings that are one to two stories

  12. Additional Benefits • Reduces Noise • Neutralize Acid Rain Effect • Aesthetically Pleasing • Provides Habitat

  13. LEED Certification • Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Certification • U.S. Green Building Council • Green roofs can help a facility earn as many as 7 to 23 points towards LEED certification

  14. Green Roof Contribution to LEED • Sustainable Sites: • Reduced Site Disturbance • Storm-water Management • Heat Island Effect • Water Efficiency: • Reduced Site Disturbance

  15. Green Roof Contribution to LEED • Energy and Atmosphere • Optimize Energy Performance • Materials and Resources • Building Reuse • Recycled Content • Regional Materials • Rapid Renewable Materials

  16. Green Roof Contribution to LEED • Innovation and Design Process

  17. Green Roof Examples – Atlanta Area • Bio-Chemistry Connector, Emory (1995) • Zoo Atlanta’s Conservation Action Resources Center (1997) • 3TEN HauStudio (2001) • Atlanta City Hall Pilot Green Roof (2003) • Woodward Academy Middle School Art Building (2004) • Gwinnett County Environmental & Heritage Center (2006) • Sweetwater Creek State Park Interpretative Center (2006)

  18. Green Roof Examples – Federal Government • Hastings Keith Federal Office Building, New Bedford, MA – GSA (2004) • Center for Urban Ecology, Washington, DC – National Parks Service (2004) • McCormack Post Office and Courthouse, Boston, MA – EPA Region 1 (planned) • Laboratory Annex 2, Cincinnati, OH – EPA (planned) • EPA’s Region 8 Office, Denver, CO (2007) • EPA Headquarters, Arlington, VA (2006)

  19. Useful Websites • EPA Green Buildings - http://www.epa.gov/greeningepa/facilities • Atlanta Area Green Roofs – www.greenroofs.com • US Green Building Council Web Site – http://www.usgbc.org • Heat Island Effect – http://www.epa.gov/heatisland/strategies/greenroofs.html

  20. Questions???

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