GREEN ROOF COSTS AND BENEFITS
The environmental benefits of installing green roofs on commercial and public buildings include:
- Improved water quality due to reduced stormwater runoff and fewer overflows of combined sanitary and stormwater sewage systems
- Increased habitat promoting biodiversity
- Lower temperatures for building roofs and the air above them in most climates
- Reduced energy consumption in some climates
- Improved sound absorption in the top floors of buildings
- Improved air quality
The economic costs of installing green roofs on commercial and public buildings include the cost of installing and maintaining the roof.
The economic benefits of installing green roofs include:
- Lower energy costs due to the cooling effect of plant respiration and the insulation, shading and thermal mass of the plant and soil layers
- A less frequent roof replacement schedule due to greater durability than conventional roofs
- Reduced stormwater management costs
- The creation of job opportunities in roof installation and maintenance and in the emerging field of urban
- agriculture
Green roofs provide a Payback (based on a 50-year average annual savings) of approximately 6.2 years nationally.
Conservative analysis puts the average life expectancy of a green roof at 40 years, versus 17 for a conventional roof.
Is a green roof right for your project? Check out the following
Source: The_Benefits_and_Challenges_of_Green_Roofs_on_Public_and_Commercial_Buildings.action
Watch a 3 minute presentation by Cleveland based business, RoofTop Green, at our OSBC event on August 7, 2017.
