Green Roofs at Airports

Although I have written about the green roof Kloten (Zurich) International Airport Dock E, I was thinking about a different type of green roof. What if there were green roofs on jet ways?

As I taxied to the gate in Boston, I thought about how hot, cold, or muggy the jet way would be. It is rare, at least in the U.S. airports that I have traveled through that jet ways were comfortable. Air France offers free stopovers in Paris.

So, what if they outfitted jet ways with green roofs? The would immediately be cooler in the summer, warmer in the winter, and would help with storm water runoff.

While retrofitting existing jet ways with green roofs is probably infeasible, it may more realistic with new jet ways. Designer cards at Cardstore.com

Just a thought for all of you airport managers out there.

Villa Santai, Bali's Green Roof

When people think of Bali, Indonesia, warm breezes, and a beautiful, unspoiled setting come to mind. Relaxing in such a beautiful setting is a dream for many, and a reality for just a few.

Victor Sinclair decided this was a place he wanted live and dream, while enjoying green roofs! His website starts with an excellent quotation that sets the stage for why he built Villa Santai with green roofs:

“ The nature that we have on the roof, is that piece of nature that we murdered, when put the house there ” , Friedenreich Hunderwasser, the leading architect for green roofs in the 1960's – 1980's.

Particular to this site are the ways Villa Santai manages water. Subject to monsoons and dry seasons, the Villa has a series of water storage tanks to capture heavy rains. While the green roofs take up some of the rain, the rest is divided for different purposes. In one tank, the water is filtered for drinking water. The other two tanks are used to recycle waste water, which goes to to maintain the plants. Water Barrels and Storage

The green roofs for the Villa specifically reduce the interior heat of the living area, which in tropical Bali is a must! Additionally, outside of the 36 acre lot, the major form of transportation is motorcycle or scooter. The green roofs help reduce the noise as people motor past. $20 Off AeroGardens

Found in the beauty of Bali, Villa Santai is an excellent example of using sustainable building, green roofs, and water conservation in a luxury setting. In addition to Victor's website, I highly recommend his article on greenroofs.com.

Chilean Hospitals with Green Roofs

Near Santiago, Chile, two hospitals have been designed with green roofs! The two beautiful designs are for large, accessible health care facilities to meet the growing need for both inpatient and outpatient care.

The two hospitals, 65,000 m2 each, designed by Architects Barbera (Spain) and
Murtinho+Raby Arquitectos (Chile), each had to serve not just the medical needs of the residents, but also fit suitably in the environment. The architects decided to include green roofs in their design. Hydroponic garden

In both cases, patient rooms would receive natural sunlight, while functional corridors and non-patient spaces would generally be inset into the landscape. By using the landscape and green roofs, the hospitals are both visually appealing and energy efficient. Additionally, the green roofs also help to reduce air pollution, which is significant in Santiago. Discover Top Rated Mighty Leaf Herbal Tea. Tea lovers love our delicious herbal tea blends. You will too. Save 25% on your first order!

Two videos are available from the site announcing the design of these buildings. They are in Spanish, but are beautiful to watch, if you don't speak Spanish.

Combining Solar and Green Roofs

Is it possible to make green roofs better? Sure, add solar panels! Although many think that green roofs and solar panels are incompatible, they aren't!

Although the benefits of green roofs are legendary, particularly the reduction of HVAC costs, and improved storm water control, air quality improvements, and reducing urban heat islands, adding solar just makes it that much better. Water Barrels and Storage

As I was researching the topic, I found some good information from Calfinder. A residential solar installer, Calfinder writes that green roofs improve the efficiency of solar panels, as they reduce the surrounding heat. "The green roof cools ambient temperatures around the solar panels, allowing the solar panels to stay cooler and function better." $20 Off AeroGardens

Calfinder also links to greenroofs.com, and the project pictured above, in Germany. An elementary school combined solar with a beautiful sedum roof. From the article:

Two hundred solar panels with an output of 23 kW(p) and a large extensive green roof now grace the top roof of this large school for primary and secondary grades in Unterensingen. The panels power enough electricity for the entire school.

The practice of combining green roofs and solar is a winning idea! Not only do both perform their functions improving the environment, but their synergy creates more efficient and longer lasting solar panels. Now, if the techonolgy for wind turbines improves for those of us in low-wind areas, that would be a triple play! Mountain House Freeze-Dried Food

Where Green Roofs are the Law

When writing my post about Toronto mandating green roofs for new construction over 2000 sq m., I had remembered that Tokyo had a similar law, but hadn't provided any source material.

Since then, I decided to find out what localities or countries required green roofs by law. While I don't wish to discuss the merits or demerits of mandating green roofs by the force of law, I am happy to discuss the benefits from the green roofs themselves. Water Barrels and Storage

As mentioned above, Toronto's City Council passed a law in May of 2009 requiring roofs over 2,000 sq m. to have green roofs that cover between 20-50% of the roof's surface. For Toronto, storm water runoff and pollution control are significant issues, as well as reducing heating costs. However, it turns out the Tokyo is the leader in legislating green roofs.

The Fujitsu Research Institute reports that the law, Ordinance on Environmental Preservation, originally passed in December of 2000, implemented in April 2001, and revised in June of 2008, is focused on reducing petroleum in general, though it also spells out other green activities, including green roofs.

Greenroofs.com highlights that the Ordinance requires "...new buildings greater than 1,000 square meters (10,000 sf) or over one-quarter acre to green at least 20% of its useable roof space." For Tokyo specifically, a key goal in implementing this ordinance was to reduce the urban heat island effect. Mountain House Freeze-Dried Food

Not to be outdone by the Japanese, Switzerland has a federal law requiring green roofs. The law, however, is administered at the Canton (state) level, with each state taking a slightly different interpretation.

Again, greenroofs.com is a wealth of information, with this quotation:

"The cities of Basel, Zürich, and Luzern, for example now require that every new flat roof be planted per building code. As of the end of 2005, approximately 20% of the flat roofs are green roofs within Basel in the city of Basel in a year there will be around 80. This equals about 80 city projects totaling 480,000 m2, with the outlying countryside projects also around 80, estimated at 500,000 m2 (Dr. Stephan Brenneisen, 2005)."

As we have seen, legislating green roofs does create great benefits for the localities in which the laws are past. Buildings use less energy as the green roofs reduce HVAC costs, and they also reduce the load on storm water management systems. Additionally, major cities reduce the urban heat island effect. Clearly, these are tremendous benefits, though I don't personally believe they should be mandated by law.

A New Green Roof in Delhi, Michigan

OK, the picture you see doesn't have a green roof, but the green roof is there, really! According to "Capital Gains," the Township of Delhi, near Lansing, Michigan put a 7200 square foot green roof on the Sam Corey Senior Center.

The Senior Center, in addition to having a green roof, also has "...a geothermal closed-loop ground source heat pump." Additionally, it is the first LEED-certified building in the Township. The Township decided to use the green roof to mitigate storm water runoff and reduce HVAC costs. The Township estimates the green roof will absorb 9/10 of an inch of rain and save 35-50% in HVAC costs. $20 Off AeroGardens

The green roof was built using elements from LiveRoof. Headquartered in the Netherlands, LiveRoof uses a modular system, making installation and maintenance easy. Similar to flats of annuals, if changes need to be made or changes in the design are desired, it is simple as replacing the flat.


As I mention in the title section of the blog, green roofs provide tremendous cost and environmental benefits without being overly complex or expensive. Were I a taxpayer in Delhi Township or the state of Michigan, I would congratulate the responsible parties for wise use of my tax dollars.

Great Video on Reducing Urban Heat Islands

Riverwired.com has posted a great video, which I have embedded below, about the green roof at Silvercup Studios in New York City.

The green roof is not only providing benefits such as reducing the urban heat island effect and reducing storm water runoff, but it is also a test bed and research station. FREE SHIPPING on orders over $50.00 at InhabitLiving.com

The green roof, according to LINYC, was installed in the summer of 2005. From the article:

"A matrix of 1,500 planters will have 20 different species of plants intended to show off their red, yellow and green colors, visible from the Queensboro Bridge when in full bloom. The carefully selected plants and soil - engineered to weigh only a fifth as much as typical dirt - help clean the air and absorb rain that would otherwise become storm-water runoff. And when many of them are clustered together, green roofs can reduce the urban heat island effect (densely populated cities tend to be hotter than surrounding areas because of the heat-trapping properties of tall buildings, asphalt and concrete)."

Enjoy the video!