Green Roof Legislation Promises a Multitude of Community Benefits
Sourced from The Seattle Times
Did you ever have a school assignment that involved growing a seedling, nurturing its progress and watching it bloom? Did you ever do that on the roof of your school building?
Currently, a bill in Congress could make this a reality for our country’s learners. Not only that, it would help mitigate climate change, create jobs and grow our economy for generations to come.
The Public School Green Rooftop Program (HR 1863), sponsored by U.S. Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez, D-NY, would establish a grant program for installing and maintaining green roof systems on public elementary and secondary school buildings. Though still underused, green roofs are catching on across the nation as their benefits — and societal necessity — become more and more clear.
A green roof is a layer of vegetation planted in engineered growing media over a drainage layer and root-repellent and waterproofing system on a roof. They not only improve a building’s aesthetics and energy performance, they support plant growth while providing a multitude of community benefits.
Green roofs are job creators. HR 1863 would create 29,000 total direct, indirect, and induced job-years over a 50-year period. About 5,570 of those direct jobs would be in construction and maintenance, and more than 23,000 indirect and induced job-years would be created as a result.
Beyond their economic value, green roofs offer educational value, creating invaluable opportunities for students in STEM, as well as access to physical activity outdoors. The data behind the educational, emotional and physiological benefits for young people is clear. Children who grow a vegetable themselves are more likely to eat it, and time outdoors boosts physical and mental health.
From the Living Architecture Monitor
