Green roofs or roof gardens are a great sustainable addition to any home regardless of the climate especially if you re unable to have a traditional garden on the ground in your backyard.
Green roof in cold climate.
If you make an effort to choose your plants carefully and ensure that they re suitable for colder climates you too can have a successful and.
Along with cutting your energy costs by offsetting electricity use pv panels overwhelming increase the overall energy efficiency of a rooftop as well.
The winter roof was installed on both a standard test house and an energy efficient winterized house.
An assessment published in the journal of industrial ecology looked at various eco friendly roofs in several cold weather locales including vancouver toronto and calgary.
Similar studies performed in ontario by the national research council of canada have found savings anywhere between 10 and 24.
The winter green roof uses evergreens juniper shrubs and a thicker soil base than typical leafy green roofs which generally provide passive benefits to the environment by reducing the need for air conditioning on hot days.
Not only are green roofs a key climate change mitigation strategy they also help with energy consumption.
Solar roofs show promise for cold weather locales.
Green roofs help maintain a buildings temperature by regulating temperature variability insulating it from cold weather in the winter and absorbing the heat in summer.
This reduces central heating and air conditioning costs.
November 27 2005 source.
University of toronto summary.
Hot design for a cold climate date.
But what about green roofs in cold climates.