public policy

Will the U.S. Join France and Require Green Roofs?

Germany has the largest concentration of green roofs with solar panels in the world. This is a school roof in Unterensinge, Germany, constructed in 2003. Photo: Courtesy Greenroofs.com database
You may have read the same headlines we did in the past week about new laws passed in France now requiring solar panels or vegetation sections on the roofs of all new commercial construction. French activists were pushing for 100 percent roof coverage but had to settle for Parliament requiring a minimum of coverage. France isn’t the first to mandate more environmentally friendly construction involving green roofs or solar energy. Germany has been a leader in this effort for 50 years. The City of Toronto is the first city in North America to have a bylaw to require and govern the construction of green roofs on new development.… Read More