Green Roofs Offer Opportunities

Chicago's local government has made a big push toward green roofs, and now more than 500 buildings in the city have one (completed or underway), which amounts to about 7 million square feet.

In Montgomery County, Maryland, all new school buildings must have a green roof.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced recently that it renewed the District of Columbia's permit to discharge stormwater into local waterways, but only under the condition that it significantly reduce rainwater runoff. Under the terms of the permit, the District is required to add a minimum of 350,000 square feet of green roofs on city properties, plant at least 4,150 trees yearly, and assure that new properties of 5,000 square feet soak up more than an inch of rainwater over a 24-hour rainfall to keep it from flowing into sewers and into rivers, streams and ultimately the Chesapeake Bay.

Green Roofs Sprout Up in the Suburbs

Citizens are noticing that green roofs are starting to show up in the suburbs. A couple living in Charollete, North Carlonia, have been the talk of the town when they converted their normal shingle roof into a green roof. When the couple found out the house's existing roof was leaking, the decision to go green was an easy one.

In lieu of shingles, the homeowners had contractors install LiveRoof green roof modules. The company that supplied the homeowner's vegetation, recommends using sedum, or succulent, plants because they're tolerant of droughts and cold weather, and store water in their leaves.

Green roofs have many financial and environmental benefits, which contractors can cite to potential clients.

1. The vegetation membrane decreases storm runoff by absorbing water. The water that makes it through the membrane still drains through gutters but is cleaner.
2. The roof also holds in heat in the winter and absorbs sunlight in the summer, reducing up to 30 percent of a home's cooling costs, according to LiveRoof's Janie Schepker.
3. Schepker said a green roof can last about two weeks without water, if it's 80 degrees or below.
4. "Instead of 15 to 20 years, it's (the green roof) going to last 40 to 60 years," said Schepker. "That's going to be a huge financial savings."
5. Green roofs don't have to be prohibitively expensive, especially if homeowners only cover a portion of the total roof area.
6. 6. Roof modules cost about $17 a square foot; with installation, it cost about $25 per square foot.

Green Roofs Made Easy

LiveRoof grows the succulents in one-foot-by-one-foot plastic modules in a nursery until they're nearly full-grown. The modules fit side by side, and the plant grows about an inch above the module, so the plastic stays hidden once assembled on the roof.