Vancouver Wa Real Estate - Elite Realty NW

Eco-Roofs - Green Building in Vancouver Wa.

I like everything about green building. I like the high efficiency furnaces and water heaters. I like building with sustainable and local materials. I like the fact that you can paint a home without poisoning the environment. I like building a home that is sealed in such a way that it can be heated and cooled with a minimum of energy. I like high tech gadgets that generate energy.

And I like eco-roofs!

There is nothing new or advanced about eco-roofs. They have been around for hundreds of years. They are pretty simple yet they are amazingly effective. Some are as simple as soil and sod laid across the top of a roof and watered by the natural rain fall. More high tech roofs look more like city parks that have been transplanted to the tops of sky scrapers.

What do they do?

The 3 primary reason for a green roof is storm water runoff management, combating urban heat island effect, and the added insulation value.

Storm Water Runoff Management - In areas with combined sewer-stormwater systems, heavy storms can overload the wastewater system and cause it to flood, dumping raw sewage into the local waterways. Green roofs decrease the total amount of runoff and slow the rate of runoff from the roof. It has been found that they can retain up to 75% of rainwater, gradually releasing it back into the atmosphere via condensation and transpiration, while retaining pollutants in their soil. This is a huge benefit in big cities that mostly covered with concrete and asphalt.

Combating urban heat island effect - Traditional building materials soak up the sun's radiation and re-emit it as heat, making cities at least 4 degrees Celsius (7 °F) hotter than surrounding areas. On Chicago's City Hall, by contrast, which features an eco roof, roof temperatures on a hot day are typically 14-44 degrees Celsius (25-80 °F) cooler than they are on traditionally roofed buildings nearby.

Insulative properties - Green roofs have also been found to dramatically improve a roof's insulation value. A study conducted by Environment Canada found a 26% reduction in summer cooling needs and a 26% reduction in winter heat losses when a green roof is used.

photo by 416style