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Green Roofs..... Toronto of the future

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.

The City will probably take a practical stance on this and only enforce it where feasible. Spires and angled roofs are also costly for developers. It would probably be cheaper to do that than add soil and plants to a slightly stronger roof structure. It'll be a more significant for wider and lower structures with a bigger roof surface area. Don't count on seeing banquet halls with Ritz-like roofs.
 
http://www.toronto.ca/greenroofs/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.

Don't count on it! The green roof by-law only applies to available roof space. Between swing stage tracks, mechanical units, and penthouse structures, most skyscrapers would only have about 25% of their roof space avaiable for green roofs anyway. And since the maximum coverage requirement is only 60% of the available space, the total green roof coverage would generally be less than 10%. Small price to pay on a several hundred thousand square foot building.

Have a look at a satellite photo of downtown Toronto, particularly First Canadian Place. You will see that most buildings lack the space requirements for a successfull green roof. Developers have nothing to worry about if you ask me.
 
What I want to know is how `GREEN` is a green roof really.

I read in a few journals that the initial carbon input is 3 times that of a normal roof, but over the span of... get this... 45 years, it recoups the costs and is actually 3 times less.

I`m just a little tired of an industry that is more about the green in money than the actual environment.
 
Unintended consequences:

Canada geese and ducks don’t understand that a green roof is fraught with perils and not a great place to nest. Problems arise when the eggs hatch and the parents start leading their chicks around in search of water — sometimes walking the chicks off the edge of the building before they know how to fly.

“We are frantically running from rooftop to rooftop each year before the families fall to their deaths,” said Karvonen, adding that the wildlife centre rescued 235 geese and 516 ducks on green roofs and terraces this year.

 

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