January 22, 2008

Oh . . . the Possibilities!

When we dream . . . we dream green. Lately it as though we wake up and imagine weekend mornings with [iced] coffee and the Times on the roof deck surrounded by greenery and the city and the sky. We definitely want to be eco-conscious in this project but we also want it to be affordable and comfortable . . .Hopefully, these ideas go hand in hand.

We realize, of course, that green roofs have been done before. In fact, Europe and especially Germany can be considered leaders in the field with 35 to 40 years of tested green roof installations. Projects in the States can be found burgeoning in every major city. We hope to be one small piece of the puzzle; contributing our part to the greater ecological challenge we face as a country.

Approaching the Co-Op

Right now, we are in the process of putting together a package to present to our co-op board. We’re definitely anxious about getting over this hurdle as things seem to always be tricky when dealing with co-op boards. . .

We’ll present this project for what it is; a private space for us, but also a benefit to the long term health of the building. Green roofs have lots of benefits, from savings on heating and cooling costs to increasing the life of your current roofing system by two to three times. Other positives of installing green roof systems include the city-wide effects of stormwater retention and the mitigation of the urban heat island effect. The new New York City PlaNYC [www.nyc.gov/2030] from Bloomberg proposes a 35 percent tax benefits for green roof construction costs. We hope to figure out how to take advantage of this!

To clarify, we own the roof rights to the space directly above our apartment (essentially half the roof space). We will pay for the installation of the roof deck and green roof on the portion of the roof we own. As part of our package for the Co-op we might include options like offering to green our neighbors’ roof space at the same time per their expense or the co-op’s . . . That would of course be an ideal situation because it would unify the design of the project while providing a maximum benefit for our investment. We will also present a proposal for a structural analysis that will determine whether an extensive green roof and deck is even possible. With steel or without, we are confident we will be able to create something beautiful.

Green Roof Images

These images inspire us – we’re thinking architectural, sleek, with defined edges . . . plantings in masses that change in color throughout the seasons.

Green Roof Plants

You can get green roof plants from a ton of places and we’re going to explore a bunch of them, ordering samples and giving reviews. The plant options for a green roof are literally through the roof – there are zillions of choices and the hard part is choosing the right plant for the right climate and site. The manner in which they are delivered is also varied; being offered by companies as mats, blocks, carpets, tiles, grids, modules, and paks. We’ll have a lot of choices to make to make in the next few months . . .

Mr. and Mrs. Green Roof

Posted by Green Roof Guy at 8:16 AM | Comments (5)

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