roof archives - planet forward - 克罗地亚vs加拿大让球

the umbrella roof

wed, 25 jul 2012 07:00:14 +0000

why do people use umbrellas? to shade themselves from the heat of the sun and to shelter themselves from rain! my plan is to add another roof above the existing roof on my house, leaving about six inches to a foot of airspace between the two roofs for natural air flow and circulation. this way, the umbrella roof will absorb the heat of the sun and noise of the rain before it can reach the main roof thus helping to keep the house cooler and quieter. the gap between the two roofs will allow air to conduct heat away from the house. this high-performance form of insulation usually uses a bonded aluminum radiant barrier and recycled metal roof panels.

photo credit to dieseldemon.

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community farms foster food security and tap public space

thu, 11 aug 2011 13:00:37 +0000

if each community is self-sufficient in one staple – oil (e.g. avocado, macadamia, olive, canola, non-pungent mustard), sweetener (sugar cane, beet sugar, honey, pear concentrate, grape concentrate etc), some kind of starch or carbohydrate (e.g. tapioca, barley, arrowroot, sweet potato, oats etc), a vegetable protein (legumes or quinoa or amaranth, etc.) – it can increase food security and involve people in a feeling of successfully “growing their own.” you’d have to put production equipment in the community and make the whole cycle local, so there’s mechanical as well as agricultural knowledge. each community could pick one or two staples that are suited to their area and climate. convert public wasted space into growing plots – on shop roofs, on outdoor walls, along subdivision fences, on road verges (u.s.: “nature strips”) so that there’s no big impact on the space people use but the crop is kind of everywhere. or, get people to contribute one veggie bed’s worth of space each in a giant distributed “urban farm.” harvest surpluses could be exchanged with neighboring communities that are self-sufficient in something different.

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mandate new public schools come with green roofing

tue, 28 dec 2010 12:34:42 +0000

the architect of the hanging gardens of babylon must have been an early member of the green movement.

green roofs, an innovative form of environmental architecture, are taking root throughout the united states. the concept involves installing ground cover, shrubs and other flora over the roof surface of a building to reduce run-off into sewers. also, green roofs can lower the temperature of a black-top surface by 100 degrees, thereby reducing air-conditioning costs.

on aug. 27, 2010, hillside elementary school in berwyn, pa., completed construction on its own green roof, as blair meadowcroft reported–http://bit.ly/g5cjof. as reasons for the project, school officials noted the benefits of reduced pollution and air-conditioning costs, science education and building aesthetics. a growing greener grant with the department of environmental protection provided funding for the project.

here in dc, one must look no farther than the roof of 2000 penn, which received a green roof upon renovation. the addition introduces much needed color and vitality to the glass and concrete urban landscape.

i first learned of green roofs and hillside’s construction plans in 2008, while a senior at conestoga high school in berwyn. the advantages of the project seemed to tower over its minimal drawbacks, which mainly amount to installation costs for older roofs.

according to mark fischetti of scientific american, “tokyo now requires that at least 20 percent of any new roof on medium and large buildings be cultivated.”

i think the united states must outdo tokyo by requiring all new public school buildings to employ green roofs. such a step in environmental policy could return the united states to the forefront of technological innovation. it would protect the nation’s future resources, and ensure an environmentally educated populace.

won’t somebody, please, think of the children??

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georgetown’s first solar-powered home – cutting through red tape to save some green

tue, 19 oct 2010 03:42:56 +0000

by miranda green and andrea vittorio

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