Cincinnati wants to lead green roof movement in US

By TERRY KINNEY , Associated Press Writer, Space & Earth science / Environment

David Hart, left, with Tremco Inc., talks with Rahn Wuest, a supervisor for the Metropolitan Sewer District of Cincinnati, on a green roof sown with plants at a sewer district station, Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2008, in Cincinnati. Hart designed the roof plan. Cincinnati wants to see green roofs on building tops and plans to offer financial incentives to property owners to replace tar and shingles with vegetation. (AP Photo/Al Behrman)

Click here to enlarge image

(AP) -- Officials want to see more green roofs on building tops in Cincinnati. The City Council on Wednesday became the first in Ohio with a plan to channel grants and loans to residents and businesses to replace tar and shingles with vegetation.

Content from The Associated Press expires 15 days after original publication date. For more information about The Associated Press, please visit www.ap.org .

ť Next Article in Space & Earth science - Environment: Emissions rising faster this decade than last

would you recommend this story?

User Rating

3.2 out of 5 after 5 total votes

not at all
1
2
3
4
5
highly

Leave a Comment or

Flag

Posted by lengould100 10/02/08 10:25

Rank: 3.4/5 after 5 votes

What about the fact that flat roof structures aren't engineered for the same loadings as building floors? By the time enough soil to grow plants is placed on top of a waterproof membrane, ther'll be zero load capacity to carry people enjoying the greenery.

Flag

Posted by bmerc 10/02/08 11:02

Rank: 3.7/5 after 6 votes

"We were inspired by what we saw in Chicago during a public library conference," said Charlie Oswanski, who heads the library's facilities and operations. "It's performing very well - very low maintenance, and it does benefit us in cooling and heating costs."

If this is true and not just more environmental hot air then why do they need to throw public money at it? Businesses would naturally want to avail of these benefit especially in this time of rising energy costs. It is obvious that environmentalists care nothing about cost versus benefits, at least when it comes to tax payers money but I bet they are not the same with the money they have in their pockets.