Can A Roof’s Material Cool The Outside Air & Lower Energy Demand?
Cool, green and solar panel roofs can
Cool, green and solar panel roofs can
New York City has a lot of concrete, and it’s not located in the desert. As a result, it’s got a problem with flooding, and the problem is only growing. One obvious solution to this problem is to get more soil and greenery in the Big Apple. But where? This … [continued]
A futuristic new building in Denver, Colorado, will host a rooftop solar array that supports urban agriculture in the emerging field of rooftop agrivoltaics.
The French Parliament recently approved a new law requiring all new commercial buildings to partially have their roofs covered with plants or solar panels. The new requirement will apply to all new buildings in commercial zones. Initially, the proposal posed by French environmental activists was for the roofs to be … [continued]
Mycelium forms a symbiotic friendship with the root systems of plants, allowing trees and plants to ‘talk’ to each other and share information. Mycelium is also a huge factor in the carbon drawdown potential of healthy soils. Learn more about how mycelium is one of the key factors for rapid atmospheric carbon drawdown, and why some fossil fuel companies are rapidly adopting this solution.
Earth-sheltered homes are homes built using soil or substrate of some kind as external thermal mass to provide insulation, and various climate control properties. To put that in plain language, earth-sheltered homes use dirt, rock, and vegetation to protect the home from the elements.
China has designated 30 urban areas to become “sponge cities” — urban laboratories designed to test new ways to manage flooding from rain and rising sea levels.
Editor’s Note: This article is one submission in a live Masdar blogging contest (find out the entry requirements here). Very simply, the focus of the contest submissions is to: “Describe your city in 2030: what will occur due to changes in energy, transportation and water technologies, and how will they transform how you live?” We are sharing this submission here … [continued]
Green roofs are a cost-effective means of preventing sewage system overflows, according to new research from Columbia University. The ability to stop overflows of course stems from the fact that green roofs retain water and thus prevent said water from simply flowing into the sewers. As an example, the green … [continued]
By Peter Lehner, Executive Director of NRDC New York City, like hundreds of older cities around the country, can’t stand the rain. With so much paved area, and so little ground to soak up the water, the city’s sewer system can get overwhelmed by less than an inch of rainfall, … [continued]