A Green Roof: Can You Dig It
We thought a fun way to follow up on last week’s post on recycled denim insulation would be to revisit the topic of green roofs, which we briefly touched on back in July in mentioning the sale of a building in Gowanus. Of course, we couldn’t explain exactly what a green roof was back then….
We thought a fun way to follow up on last week’s post on recycled denim insulation would be to revisit the topic of green roofs, which we briefly touched on back in July in mentioning the sale of a building in Gowanus. Of course, we couldn’t explain exactly what a green roof was back then. Now we can, thanks to a short piece in Domino Magazine:
A green roof is a layer of soil and foliage that sits on top of a building, serving many purposes. Green roofs absorb excess rainwater (preventing sewage-system overflow), conserve energy, cool interiors in the summer and improve air quality. And for city dwellers they even add square footage to your living space.
Among the useful links on the topic cited by the article are greenroofs.com and greenroofplants.com. More links on the link.
Resources: Green Roofs [Domino]
Photo by Timothy Hursley
the only drawback is the cost.
The green ESCO alternative is NOT as simple as it seems. Check out this string.
http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13830744
Why not just sign up for a GREEN energy supply company (ESCO) to provide your share of the electricity you use? Easier and quicker, and since they ‘mass manufacture’ it, probably cheaper. They use wind, hydroelectric, biomass, etc. to generate electricity. Check out the ConED website.
There was a great article in NYT about a green roof in the village a few months ago. I don’t have the link but you can search it.
Re: wind turbines, totally unfeasable, I looked into it as I live on the waterfront, however, solar panels are a real option. There is new technology and it is not super expensive. I am looking into this for my house as I have no shadows. I am thinking of setting up a blog on my search and hopeful installation. I will send info to Brownstoner when I get it set up.
this is so awesome- I love it.
here’s a link to an article about an icehouse conversion in Crown Heights (i think). along with solar, these two put a green roof on the building. my wife and i toured the building a couple of years ago, it was featured in an NYC greenbuilding tour.
http://www.homepower.com/files/ALLEETOC/Issue104.pdf?search=104
TonyTone – I’m thinking of using the modular panels on our roof. As soon as I get the okay from a structural engineer, that is.
Most of the example projects are large facilities, but they now have a DIY system that runs about $9/sq foot.
http://www.greenroofs.com/guest_features.htm
It would be so cool to look out one day and see all the flat roofs of Brooklyn covered in green roofs
(as opposed to all the flat roof low building all knocked to build huge glass temples to ego like the AY)
TonyTone, don’t be such a defeatist! Just because it’s stylish now doesn’t necessarily mean it will become un-stylish next year. Sometimes this year’s avant-garde is next year’s normal. That’s my hope for the greenroofs.