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Green Roofs..... Toronto of the future

"What has been forgotten in the process is the height Toronto buildings are reaching," he says. "Many recent structures top 70 storeys. I can't think of another city where green roofs have been tried on buildings that reach so high in the air."

70 stories? This "insider" doesn't seem to know his own industry. I found that article fraught with developer bullshit, 'cry-for-me' statements and, as is found in the quote above, outright lies. The gentleman from Tridel wants 'pilot projects,' another from Bentall states that developers only make room for eight 'green' features and the bylaw will limit their 'options.' Scott Addison claims that construction costs are rising - I had heard the opposite, though here, I admit it may be me who is misinformed.

Taken together, these statements seem to equate to: 'this will cost us more and we are therefore against it.' The Bank of America tower off Bryant Park in New York is an excellent example of architects, environmental consultants and above all, the building's owners, financers and developers getting together and creating something really special. I'm not sold on the exterior, I think it looks a little 'pot-bellied,' but I have utmost respect for a group of people who wanted to invest in technologies which won't be seen but whose benefits far outweigh the cost of the initial investment.

Stick it to em' Toronto, Europe has been for years.
 
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Another concern I would have is the City's poor performance recently in writing new by-laws. The new general zoning by-law for the City is extremely confusing and in a bunch of cases works against the City's stated goals. City staff clearly haven't worked issues through to a point that they know what they're getting. For example, downtown developments will require significantly more car parking in the future than they do today.

The jury is out whether the new by-law is actually workable and will actually produce what the City wants, or whether it will be just an inpedement to urban development. It's not like Tridel and Minto are going to absorb the cost of the green roof or the fine, they'll pass it on to their customers. So the City may end up greener, but it will definitely become more expenseive.
 
and how much does it cost to maintain these green roofs?

the cost will be passed down to condo owners and business tannets in the form of rent and maintinance. So if this number is too high, then it is a very bad thing for the economy.

A cost/benefit relationship need to be very clearly thought out for this one. Somethings are just too far fetched to be useful.

let's hope they figure out if this isn't one of those things before carrying it through.
 
Maintenance of a green roof is pretty cheap, probably much less than the cost to maintain an equal sized patch of grass. All they need is for someone to go up a few times a year to remove weeds and debris, top up bare spots, and water it during a prolonged drought.
 
unless it's fake grass, wouldn't you need to mow the lawn?

I wonder though, since the US is using white roofs. Would it be cheaper? Or don't white roofs help?
 
White roofs would mitigate the heat island effect, but would not help with stormwater runoff or air quality. Probably won't help as much with insulation either.
 
BobBob said:
White roofs would mitigate the heat island effect, but would not help with stormwater runoff or air quality. Probably won't help as much with insulation either.
Click to expand...

It's an urban legend that green roofs provide extra insulation. In fact, they provide next to no added insulation (in Canada) because our building code already requires so much insulation to be provided in the first place. However, both cool and green roofs do help reduce the cooling load in the summer by lowering the temperature of both the roof and the air in general.
 
urbandreamer said:
As far as I know, Green roofs provide jobs to those in the know. How about making $50-$100/hour as a green roof maintenance guy? I have a concept: "green roof" shingles that interlock and would be sellable at Home Depot. What I need: Venture Capital.

PM me please.
Click to expand...

It's such a good idea that there are already dozens of variations of this exact same product on the market. Do a google search for green roof trays, green roof modules, or pre-vegetated green roof to see some examples.
 
I don't know about the whole green roof thing, But i do know that you can use your roof to your advantage in the summer. Did you know you can heat the water in your pool just by running it through a pipe that sits on your roof, Your pool, (or hottub) will stay consistantly heated for a fraction of the reg cost.
 
Green Roof Bylaw

http://www.toronto.ca/greenroofs/


I looked through the bylaw and I think it is a good idea for the long term for Toronto.

One thing I am curious about is if a by-product of this bylaw will be that new buildings in Toronto will have more spires or incredibly angled roofs that would be impossible to include any greenery.

Would an architectural element allow a developer to get around the bylaw? Or would the developer simply have to pay cash-in-lieu of construction of a green roof?

I can't imagine the L Tower, or perhaps the new Ritz Carlton building, being able to have vegetation on its "roof".

I suppose the other question would be if a unique roof of a skyscraper would be more expensive than simply having a green roof.
 
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