A story in today's paper gave us a glimpse of our "green" future--discussing "green roofing" the Museum Center.As a member of our County Stormwater District, I can't tell you how important it is that we implement green roof, permeable pavement and other "green infrastructure" concepts as much as possible.
These steps help minimize stormwater runoff and sewer overflows, and, ultimately, help clean up our local streams and rivers. They also have a broader environmental impact by reducing the "Urban Heat Island Effect." (Go here and here for more information). They also save us a lot of money versus the alternative solution--building bigger and bigger "gray" sewer infrastructure to handle all the volumes of stormwater that results if it is not diverted. As in so many other areas, a little prevention upfront saves millions on the back end, in addition to being good for the environment.
We have a long way to go (other cities like Chicago have really pushed this aggressively--the photo above is of Chicago's City Hall, courtesy of Roofscapes, Inc.), but it's great to see the Museum Center and other institutions such as Christ Hospital, the Red Cross, and the Cincinnati Fire Department take this step.
And in 2008, I was happy to support (as a member of the Stormwater District) green roof demonstration projects at the Cincinnati Zoo's Giraffe House and at the Civic Garden Center in Avondale. We'll look to do even more as a community in 2009 and beyond.
2 comments:
David, It is really about time that we begin to recognize the impact our urban development has on the natural world. The next phase of green roof development will be education and recognition of systems that are truly sustainable. There is currently a trend toward immediately green installations and irrigated green roofs; not truly environmental solutions.
I am president of Green Roof Solutions. While I am proud of the green roof on our city hall depicted in your comment, I do not think it was necessary to irrigate it. Irrigated green roofing is not managing the storm water efficiently in my view.
An extensive green roof should not require irrigation and cost savings can be achieved by letting the vegetation establish over two years.
Client expectations can be met thru informative marketing. This is not a fad but a sound trend toward sustainable architecture.
The green movement has really touched every aspect of our lives.
Roofing has come a long way from originally using mud and leaves, to present where we use some really great materials that help protect our homes from the outside elements.
Looking forward to the future of roofing.
-Tim
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