This week, The Guardian’s Environmental Blog featured a story on the increasing number of New York City buildings with green rooftops. Aside from simply improving the view, these designs also improve the environment in the city know for its towering skyscrapers.

The green rooftop movement is still small, but it has put the idea and design on the mind of many architects lately. These architects have actually started including green rooftops in the designs of new buildings throughout the five boroughs instead of including them as an after-thought.

Analysts have cited green rooftops as a big help to absorb up to 70% of the excess rainwater that would otherwise runoff, causing drain systems in the city to flood with sewage.

Tax incentives and the environmental movement are helping New York City to catch up with cities like Chicago that embraced the green rooftop years ago. As more resources become available and costs go down, even more builders and architects will get in on the game. Green rooftops save so much money in the long run, they can be found in most LEED-certified buildings.

What do you think of the green rooftop movement? Share your thoughts by leaving a comment below.

Photo courtesy of The Guardian Environmental Blog

After Kyle M, a successful Colorado direct marketing business man became a father his perspective changed. Watching his children grow older and seeing the environmental challenges they would face, he began to learn all he could to convert his Colorado home from an energy hog to an energy miser. Kyle succeeded. He hired a Denver solar engineering firm to install a 10 kW solar photovoltaic array which reduced his electric bill by 75 percent. He put in a solar greenhouse which brings heated air into the home and doubles as a cozy family room. He switched out his light bulbs to compact fluorescent (CFLs) which use about 1⁄4 the energy of incandescent light bulbs. Perhaps most importantly he used technology to assist him and his family to make significant lifestyle changes to conserve energy. He learned that by programming simple occupancy sensor devices to turn lights off in key rooms after two minutes of no activity, he could dramatically reduce his energy usage – without the constant reminders  his family “… please turn the lights off when you leave the room!” Kyle set an even higher goal when he decided to buy a lot on Timber Trail Road to build a ski in/ski out mountain home in Breckenridge. This luxury Summit County house would be a net zero energy home. The goal was to design and build an 8,000 sq. ft. highly attractive mountain home that fit seamlessly into the existing neighborhood and whose renewable energy systems were well integrated into the overall house design. Over the following months, a skilled and committed team of professionals was brought together to achieve these goals. This is the first time in Summit County that a team of this depth and experience in environmental building and renewable energy solutions has been assembled.