05/21/07 The Green Renter Series Free Lecture: The Promise of Green Roofs in NYC
 
    
 
Close your eyes and imagine fragrant smells, pristine wetlands, songbirds all around. It may be hard or impossible to imagine, but when the Europeans arrived in what is now New York City, that is what they found. The times have changed, and so has the landscape. Black and grey rooftops now occupy thousands of acres in our small town on the Hudson. Green roofs can help mitigate many environmental woes, such as combined sewer overflows, urban heat island effect, air pollution, and declining biodiversity. Green roofs also add natural beauty to our impervious cityscape, are a wonderful educational instrument, and can even create space for urban agriculture. But some have called green roofs "green bling." Are green roofs a cost-effective strategy? How do green roofs work? Mayor Bloomberg's PLANYC 2030 sustainability agenda includes "a property tax abatement to offset 35% of the installation cost of a green roof." What is the future of green roofs in New York City?
 
Non-renters welcome.  For more information, and to RSVP, please visit Solar1.
 
* Refreshments for the Green Renter are generously provided courtesy of the Birdbath Bakery, NYC's only sustainably designed destination for amazing cookies and confections. To find out more about The City Bakery's newest green venture, visit www.buildagreenbakery.com.
 
Monday, May 21, 2007