Green Roofs

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State - Locality	Initiative Type	Link	Title & Description	Date
Illinois - Chicago	Demonstration Project; Procurement	Green Alleys Green Alleys Handbook (PDF)	Chicago Green Alleys - Chicago, after the success of a demonstration project using permeable pavement, began a Green Alley initiative to use permeable pavement any time it needs to re-pave an alley. Forty-six alleys were renovated under this initiative in 2007; ultimately almost 2,000 miles of alleyways will be made permeable. The Green Alley Handbook notes that "if all the alleys had a light, reflective surface (high albedo) that reflected heat energy, [they would stay] cool on hot days and thereby reducing the "urban heat island effect." The handbook also mentions the heat island reduction benefits of shade trees and green roofs.	Active
Illinois - Chicago	Demonstration Project	City Hall Rooftop Garden	Chicago's City Hall - The City of Chicago installed a green roof on its city hall that includes 20,000 plants, shrubs, grasses, vines, and trees. The city expects to save directly more than 9,270 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year of electricity and nearly 740 million British thermal units (Btu) per year of natural gas for heating. This energy savings translates to about $3,600 annually, and savings will increase with higher energy prices. In addition to assessing energy impacts, the green roof has been designed to test different types of rooftop garden systems, success rates of native and non-native vegetation, and reductions in stormwater runoff. This city hall green roof has helped to raise the visibility of green roofs and to increase public understanding of them. Chicago's Department of Environment staff has frequently given presentations about the roof, which has won numerous awards.	Completed
Illinois - Chicago	Incentive	Green Roof & Cool Roof Grants Programs	Chicago Roof Grants Programs - Chicago has established green and cool roof grant programs for residential and commercial buildings. In 2005, the first year of the green roof grants program, the city supported 20 green roof installation projects; in 2006, it helped fund 40. In the fall of 2007, the city announced that it was expanding the program to include cool roofs and expected to provide about 55 $6,000 grants.	Active
Illinois - Chicago	Research; Demonstration Project; Building Code; Outreach and Education Program	Urban Heat Island Mitigation	Chicago Urban Heat Island Mitigation Program - The City of Chicago's Department of the Environment has been involved with reducing urban heat islands for several years. Some projects Chicago has conducted include constructing a porous pavement alley, revising the city's building code to require cool roofs, and launching a green roof program.	Active
Illinois - Chicago	Research; Outreach and Education Program; Incentive	Green Roofs	Chicago Green Roof Program - The City of Chicago's Department of the Environment has launched one of the strongest green roof efforts in the United States. Through this program the city has been constructing green roofs on public buildings, doing research to estimate impacts from green roofs, providing grants to encourage green roof installations (see entry on Chicago Green Roof and Cool Roof Grants Programs), and educating the public about green roofs in general.	Active
Kansas - Kansas City	Urban Forestry Program; Demonstration Project; Tree and Landscape Ordinance; Outreach and Education Program; Air Quality Requirement	Sustainable Skylines - Kansas	Kansas City Sustainable Skylines Initiative - Sustainable Skylines is a locally-led, EPA-supported, public-private partnership to reduce air emissions and promote sustainability in urban environments. Greater Kansas City was chosen as one of the first pilot communities to implement the Sustainable Skylines program. Projects in Kansas City include: an idling-reduction campaign, water conservation and strategic landscaping projects, converting parking lots to parks, solar demonstration projects, a community forum, and a diesel engine retrofits partnership.	Active
New York - New York City	Research; Demonstration Project; Outreach and Education Program	Green Roofs	Earth Pledge Foundation Green Roof Initiative - Earth Pledge, a non-profit organization in New York City, runs a Green Roofs Initiative that supports the development of green, vegetated rooftops in urban areas to prevent stormwater runoff pollution, lower urban temperatures, and improve air quality.	Active
New York - The Bronx	Research; Demonstration Project; Outreach and Education Program	Green Roofs	Sustainable South Bronx - The non-profit group Sustainable South Bronx has developed several goals for the green roof/cool roof demonstration project on top of its office building in Hunts Point. These goals include gathering research on local impacts, establishing a resource for the community, educating New Yorkers on the benefits of green roofs, and advocating sustainable building practices. The demonstration project has become a springboard for developing a local green and cool roof installation company to provide employment opportunities in the South Bronx area. The group's business is called SmartRoofs and includes a job-training program for local residents.	Active
Oregon - Portland	Comprehensive Plan and Design Guidelines	Section C Project Design (PDF)	Central City Fundamental Design Guidelines - The City of Portland, Oregon has focused on the use of green roofs in the city center district, primarily for their aesthetic and stormwater management benefits. Design guidelines call for integrating vegetated roofs into central city projects.	Active
Oregon - Portland	Zoning Code; Building Code	Chapter 33.510 (PDF)	Central City Plan District Zoning Code - In 2001, Portland, Oregon modified its zoning code to include an "eco-roof development bonus" for developers to install green roofs (which are called "eco-roofs" in the code). In Title 33 of the Zoning Code there is a floor area ratio bonus for projects that install green roofs in Portland's central district. The bonus amount depends on the extent of the green roof coverage. If the green roof covers 60% or more of the roof surface, developers can build an additional 3 square feet (0.3 m²) for each square foot of green roof. If the green roof covers a lower percent of the surface, the bonus is reduced.	Active
Pennsylvania - Statewide	Incentive	Energy Harvest Program	Pennsylvania Office of Energy and Technology - The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection's Energy Harvest Program has been providing grants for specific energy saving projects since 2003. In 2007, it dispensed more than $500,000 to green roof projects across the state. The Energy Harvest Program overall aims to deploy innovative technologies and encourages "proposals that are market-driven, create jobs, and produce economic development within the Commonwealth."	Active
Texas - Austin	Green Building Program and Standards; Resolution; Comprehensive Plan and Design Guidelines	City of Austin - Heat Island Mitigation Resolution Austin Climate Protection Plan	Austin Heat Island Mitigation - In May 2001, the Austin City Council adopted a heat island mitigation resolution that committed the city manager to review recommendations for a variety of activities to diminish the city's heat island. In September of that year, the City Council awarded $1 million towards implementing the recommendations, which ranged from developing a cool roof strategy to increasing enforcement of the city's tree-saving ordinance. Austin's Climate Protection Plan incorporates heat island reduction through its green building and energy efficiency elements.	Active
Texas - Dallas	Urban Forestry Program; Green Building Program and Standards; Demonstration Project; Tree and Landscape Ordinance; Resolution; Zoning Code; Building Code; Outreach and Education Program; Comprehensive Plan and Design Guidelines; Incentive; Air Quality Requirement	Sustainable Skylines - Dallas Urban Heat Island Project	Dallas Sustainable Skylines Initiative - The Sustainable Skylines initiative is a three-year partnership between the City of Dallas, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTOG) to promote sustainability within the City via voluntary programs which emphasize air quality improvements. The initiative has identified the following categories of potential projects to initially perform together: green buildings project, creating a greenhouse gas strategy, green taxis project, off-road equipment replacements and retrofits, renewable energy/energy efficiency outreach program, and an urban heat island project. The goal of the urban heat island project is to develop and implement an urban heat island program for the City of Dallas that will both decrease heated surfaces and increase permeability of surfaces in the Central City and other areas of Dallas.	Active
Texas - Houston	Incentive	Downtown Houston Development Assistance (PDF) Vertical Gardens Grant Initiative (PDF)	Vertical Gardens Matching Grant Initiative - The Houston Downtown Management District (HDMD) Vertical Gardens Matching Grant initiative first gave grants in 2007 to encourage plantings that cover walls. The grants also support exceptional landscaping that adds significant evapotranspiration and shade for blank walls, parking garages, and sidewalks. The program goals include improving overall aesthetics, pedestrian comfort, air quality, and reducing the heat island effect. Grants cannot exceed half of the total project cost or $20,000, and contributions can be in kind. Tenants, property owners, and registered non-profits can all apply.	Active
Texas - Houston	Research; Demonstration Project; Outreach and Education Program; Air Quality Requirement	Houston Urban Heat Island Effect	Cool Houston! - Cool Houston! is a program led by the Houston Advanced Research Center and is designed to reduce urban temperatures through use of cool technologies – reflective and green roofing, paving with light colored or porous materials, and a greatly expanded forest canopy.	Active
Utah - Salt Lake City	Outreach and Education Program	Kool Kids	Utah Kool Kids Program - The Utah State Energy Program, Utah Department of Natural Resources, and the National Energy Foundation worked together to create the Utah Kool Kids program to teach elementary and secondary age students about urban heat islands, their impacts on energy and air quality, and heat island reduction strategies. The program gives teachers lesson plans, overheads, test questions, experiments, and research tools to engage students.	Active
Virginia - Arlington	Green Building Program and Standards	Environmental Services: Green Building	Arlington County Green Buildings - Arlington, Virginia bases its municipal green building requirements on the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Rating System, which includes cool roof and green roof options.	Active
Washington - Seattle	Zoning Code	Department of Planning and Development - Green Factor	Seattle Green Factor - Seattle has adopted minimum landscape requirements, known as the Seattle Green Factor, for new developments in commercial areas in the city. This program requires that, as of late January 2007, certain new developments in neighborhood business districts must provide for vegetative cover on the equivalent of 30% of the applicable property. The regulations apply to developments with more than four dwelling units, more than 4,000 square feet (370 m²) of commercial uses, or more than 20 new parking spaces. Developers can use a menu of strategies, including planting new trees, preserving trees, and installing green roofs and green walls to meet this target. The regulations are part of the city's Commercial Code and encourage planting of layers of vegetation and larger trees in areas visible to the public. The rules also include bonuses for harvesting rain water and choosing plants that need less water. The city has developed a worksheet to help applicants calculate a "score" that indicates whether various mixes of landscaping measures meet the requirements, which will allow developers to try different combinations of features.	Active

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