...benefits. One benefit of parks is that plants absorb carbon dioxide—a key pollutant—and emit oxygen, which humans need to breathe. According to one study, an acre of trees can absorb the same amount of carbon dioxide that a typical car emits in 11,000 miles of driving. Parks also make cities cooler. Scientists have long noted what is called the Urban Heat Island Effect: building materials such as metal, concrete, and asphalt absorb much more of the sun’s heat and release it much more quickly than organic surfaces like trees and grass. Because city landscapes contain so much of these building materials, cities are usually warmer than surrounding rural areas. Parks and other green spaces help to mitigate the Urban Heat Island Effect. Unfortunately, many cities cannot easily create more parks because most land is already being used for buildings, roads, parking lots, and other essential parts of the urban environment. However, cities could benefit from many of the positive effects of parks by encouraging citizens to create another type of green space: rooftop gardens. While most people would not think of starting a garden on their roof, human beings have been planting gardens on rooftops for thousands of years. Some rooftop gardens are very complex and require complicated engineering, but others are simple container gardens that anyone can create with the investment of a few hundred dollars and a few hours of work. Rooftop gardens provide many of the same benefits as other urban park and...
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...mining, and more. I feel that if we want to improve the soil we need the efforts of everyone. If students and faculty helped make an edible garden with composting, potential green roofs, or created a campus wide green day, we would be helping the dirt one step at a time. Students and faculty should make an edible garden that anyone that wants to participate in can help and mend. An edible garden will be efficient because we can grow our own food using our own waste that we composted. If the faculty could find an area that they won’t be using we should create a waste site where we can put leaves, banana peels, coffee grounds, egg shells, paper, and grass clippings, and more in it. These things decompose into the ground and when mixed they become compost, which is used for fertilizing the soil. This will get us fresh soil to help our vegetables and edible garden to grow better. This garden will let people eat healthier food substances and take part in a community endeavor. However, if we want this to get done then we need petition to get extra ground to work with, so maybe creating green roofs would be more productive. The next idea I feel that would improve the campus would be creating green roof gardens on top of the dorm buildings. I would say on top of the science building, but most have triangular roofs. However, I feel that if...
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...climbing from around 62 degrees to 66 degrees.” Urban areas such as Downtown Los Angeles are likely to rise 4 to 4.5 degrees within the next 10 years. My goal is to cut the cost of electric energy and make the city of Los Angeles a much cooler place. The first challenge I will have is to go to city council and try to get them to back up my project and me. The next step would be to get a budget from the city and start working. I can lower the temperature of Los Angeles by implementing green roofs across the city and in particular downtown Los Angeles. The other is to lay down permeable material throughout alleyways and select streets. Both of these solutions have been used in Chicago to help lower the physical temperature of the city. For example the City Hall building in Chicago is half a regular black top roof and the other half a green roof. When measuring the temperature the black topside of the roof was about 160 degrees Fahrenheit, when on the other side of the same building, the green roof side, and the temperature dropped to about 80 degrees Fahrenheit. That is an 80-degree difference. The reason the roofing is such an issue is because all that heat is trapped on top of the building and then moves into the building which makes the it much hotter inside which creates more use of air conditioning, energy, and electricity. The next goal would be to have a “save our city” fundraiser where we can raise money for the project. I truly believe that people will want to contribute...
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...Index Plantation on My Roof Top | Heading | Pages no. | 1. | Outline | 02 | 2. | Introduction | 03 | 3. | How did it come to my mind | 03 | 4. | When did I start | 03 | 5. | Types of plants on my rooftop | 03 | 6. | How and from where the plants are collected | 04 | 7. | Other things with my plantation | 04 | 8. | How it has benefited me | 04 | 9. | How it has benefited the society | 04 | 10. | Cooling urban island | 05 | 11. | Filters | 05 | 12 | Conclusion | 05 | Outline: Thesis Statement: Since my childhood I had a fascination for plants. It was so strong that I felt I belong to a jungle. In a city like Dhaka it is not easy to have a garden of your own, and it was tougher for us as we live in a residential area. Then my father told me that I can build my garden on the rooftop of our house and it was the beginning of my jungle. Plantation on My Roof Top Introduction Since my childhood I had a fascination for plants. It was so strong that I felt I belong to a jungle. In a city like Dhaka it is not easy to have a garden of your own, and it was tougher for us as we lived in a residential area. Then my father told me I can build my garden on the rooftop of our house. And it was the beginning of my jungle. How Did It Come to My Mind Cities are called concrete jungles for obvious reasons; cluttered buildings, congested streets, construction and repair. While urbanites may prefer the fast-paced lifestyle of big cities...
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...live in urban areas, a large proportion of the human population is at risk of danger from urban climate stress. Urban areas drastically alter the natural landscape of the environments they replace and along with that, feed back loops that maintain local climate and ecosystems. The common identifiers of urban and suburban areas such as large buildings, blacktop surfaces, and roof tops not only directly affect the surfaces they replaced and the ecosystems the land supported, but also the stable climate that the land supported. Natural surfaces such as meadows and forests help to maintain local climates by performing multiple environmental services. When replaced by ubiquitous urban surfaces such as vast blacktop parking lots and roads the local evapotranspiration and albedo are reduced and heat-trapping environments are created (Buyantuyev and Jianguo, 2010). The high concentration of impervious low albedo surfaces in urban areas means that heat is more concentrated in those areas compared to their surrounding natural land. This phenomenon occurs in many urban settings and is known as the Urban Heat Island effect (UHI). Since the Chinese government began its reform process in 1978, Shanghai, China has been constantly expanding and urbanizing. Past studies of the historical UHI in Shanghai have shown that the intensity of the UHI has increased from year to year along with increasing urban energy use and area of paved road and decreasing area of cropland (Zhang et al., 2010)....
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...One of the best materials to consider when trying to replace a damaged or older roof is copper, typically because this material is extremely durable and can last for a very long time before needing to be replaced. Listed below are just three of the many reasons to replace your roof with copper. Copper Roofing Can Help Cool Down Your Home A huge reason to replace your roof with copper is that a copper roof can help cool down your home. While most of the other roofing materials that you can utilize will absorb light and heat from the sun throughout the day, copper is a bit different in that it reflects the light away. When that light is reflected way, it cannot be absorbed as much into the roof of your home and converted into heat that will...
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...Asphalt roll roofing is a roof covering that is typically sold in rolls that are 36 inches wide and 33 feet long. Asphalt shingles are precut roof coverings that are normally rectangular in shape. Both products use asphalt in the manufacturing process, and when used as intended and properly installed, both product will keep out the rain. There similarities pretty much end there, but there are several critical differences between the two products. (-- removed HTML --) Intended Use (-- removed HTML --) If your roof rises less than 2 inches vertically for every 12 inches of horizontal run, it has a pitch of 2:12. These types of roofs are often referred to as flat roofs. Only roll roofing is suitable for flat or low-slope roofs; shingles will...
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...Mark Meritt COMM 213 Judy Moorhouse 3/13/12 Green Roof A green roof is a green space located on buildings. Green roofs use evapo-transpiration and radiation to absorb heat, filter air pollutants and retain storm water. The term “green” stems from nature, or anything that has to do with it. . Architects like Le Corbusier and Frank Llyod Wright used very early forms of green roof technology on their own homes, which led more people to become familiar with green roofs worldwide. The “green” or earth-friendly solution for urban areas with high pollution was green roof technology, used to create less pollution and to conserve energy. Evapo-transpiration is evaporation and transpiration through plant’s leaves, which leads to water loss in the plant. Parts Analysis From the top-down, the Green roof has many parts. The very top is where the indigenous plants are stored. Indigenous plants are more adaptable to a particular environment. Under these plants, there are roots with soil. This soil, also known as the growing medium is usually 1597 kg per cubic metre for a roof. Mediums mostly have around 20 to 40 cm of soil thick. Underneath the medium lies a filter such as a cloth of fabric or in some cases aluminum foil. Beneath all this is the drainage layer, which is held above the waterproof membrane layers. Drainage passages hold leaked water caught through rain faill. Newer roofs contain thin aluminum foil layer between the membrane. The waterproof membrane separates the water...
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...WATERPROOFING MEMBRANE. This is the most important member in the green roof as it prevents water from entering the building. According to G. Wark, (2003), “a green roof can be installed with any kind of waterproofing system, but single-ply...
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...ACE TECHZION 2K15 Implementation and explanation of the Green Building concepts PRESENTED BY Y.SAI KRISHNA 138P1A0137 Towards the implementation and explanation of the Green Building concept Y.SAI KRISHNA (1256sai@gmail.com) Abstract: The “Green Building” is an interdisciplinary theme, where the green building concept includes a multitude of elements, components and procedures which diverge to several subtopics that intertwined to form the green building concept. Generally, the green building is considered to be an environmental component, as the green building materials are manufactured from local eco-sources, i.e. environmentally friendly materials, which are then used to make an eco-construction subject to an eco-design that provides a healthy habitat built on the cultural and architectural heritage in construction while ensuring conservation of natural resources. This ensures disassembling the building components and materials, after a determined building lifetime, to environmentally friendly materials that can be either re-used or recycled. During their lifecycle, the green buildings minimize the use of resources (energy and water); reduce the harmful impact on the ecology, and provide better indoor environment. Green buildings afford a high level of environmental, economic, and engineering performance. These include energy efficiency and conservation, improved indoor air quality, resource and material efficiency, and occupant's health...
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...Research Proposal in Technical Writing Tropical Design: An Eco-Friendly and Energy Saving Design for Residential Structure Submitted By: Gutierrez, Shiella Mae DL. Submitted To: Mr. Jesus Escuro 1st Semester 2011 Introduction Background of the Study “Do not fight forces, use them.” - (R. Buckmister Fuller) Tropical design is an environmentally conscious design technique in the field of architecture or simply described as designing with nature. This design minimizes the environmental impact of the building by enhancing efficiency and controls the use of materials, energy, and development space. There is an attempt to preserve air, water, and earth by choosing economically friendly building materials. Tropical design could contribute to the environment through its sustainable properties which minimizes too much use of electricity by using the natural energy as alternative. This research is conducted because it is a proof that both man and his natural environment can live in perfect harmony. The tropical conditions in the Philippines affect the high temperature, and low air flow which affect on the comfortable indoor environment. With this design approach, it can contribute to a sustainable lifestyle and culture. Tropical architecture can be a solution in preventing global warming because of its eco-friendly materials used in construction and the design itself. This design is important especially for those who are living in the tropics like the Philippines...
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...surfaces, rainwater harvesting, green roof, constructed wetlands, infiltration trenches, grass filter strips, grass swales, pervious pavements, infiltration basin, surface and subsurface groundwater recharge, and other sources control measure (Perkinson, et al, 2010). Retention Ponds Retention ponds are primarily designed to improve the quality of water from storm water flows and also employed as flood control devices in the environment. They are designed not to dry out during dry seasons, both to retain water permanently as a part of their volume. The basic design parameter is the residence time, generally between 2 and 4 weeks. Water quality improvement occurs mainly through settling process in the retention pond (Perkinson, et al, 2010). On-site Detention (OSD) On-site Storm water Detention (OSD) is a technique of collecting the storm water or runoff such as rainfall that falls on a site by storing it in the interim, and then releasing the water slowly so that it does increases downstream flooding in the environment. It is usually used in urban and residential areas and can be retrofitted in existing buildings (Parkinson, et al, 2010; UPRCT, n. y). Rainwater Harvesting The interest of collecting rainwater harvest as a water resource in urban areas is increasing as it provides the combined benefits of conserving potable water and reducing storm water runoff. This technique is the collection of rain fall upon a catchment surface, such as a roof of a building and transport the...
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...Michigan State University’s Green Roof research team states, “Green roofs involve growing plants on rooftops, thus replacing the vegetated footprint that was destroyed when the building was constructed” (Michigan State University). This vegetation is most often atop a high-quality waterproof membrane that prevents leakage. There are two main types of green roofs, extensive and intensive. Extensive roofs require no maintenance and plants must be able to survive on rainwater. Generally these roofs are inaccessible to the public. Intensive roofs are the ones that are often welcoming to people. Intensive roofs require maintenance, but also offer a more aesthetic appeal, and are most often known as roof gardens. A roof garden oftentimes includes small trees or walking paths, and therefore, is more expensive to...
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...make CO2 offsets. There are a number of various carbon emissions that are unavoidable at this point in time due to societal structure like dependence on fossil fuels for transportation and some of the University’s utility use. Until major societal change occurs, like the removal of our dependence on fossil fuel and a total jump to renewable energy for our utility and transportation needs. Students, faculty and staff that commute to campus emit unavoidable CO2 emissions on a daily. Total wind purchase from the utility company does not offset the effects of natural gas use for heating (water and living space) and cooking preparation needs. To counteract these emissions the campus can continue to support carbon offsetting project like * Sustainable Garden- Continues to grow and expand providing the campus with nutritious organically grown food from a local source which reduces the transportation cost and environmental negative effects from transporting food grown through modern agricultural means . The garden offers more than just food, it offers an educational value as well...
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...which addresses optimization of building energy demand; (ii) Recycling of material and Urban Waste Management with a special focus on producing power from waste, biochemical conversion, waste water use, sewage utilization and recycling options wherever possible and others; (iii) Better urban planning and modal shift to public transport to ensure efficient and convenient public transport. In addition, the Mission will address the need to adapt to future climate change by improving the resilience of infrastructure, community based disaster management, and measures for improving the warning system for extreme weather events. Capacity building would be an important component of this Mission. As part of the Mission for Sustainable Habitat and Green Code for Chandigarh, detailed action plan and guidelines have been prepared by the Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) which could be City’s vision for sustainability. Chandigarh is a part of the Mission for solar energy to harness solar energy to meet the requirements of power. In addition to address the issue of mitigation of GHG emission from municipal waste, appropriate actions are required through adoption of scientific waste management systems with options for recovery of wealth from waste, i.e., compost and energy recovery from solid waste. Improved waste...
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