Energy Savings from a Green Roof,
Temperature Control and the Heat Island Effect

Private Benefits:

• Having a green roof on your building can save you some of the costs of heating or cooling your building.
• Having a green roof or wall can decrease the temperature of an adjacent room by 3 or 4°C.
• A green roof can also reduce the amount of insulation needed in a building, and shading the outside of a building can be more effective than insulating the inside.
• Energy savings could possibly lead to your company receiving greenhouse gas emissions trading credits.

Public Benefits:

• In addition to controlling the heat lost and gained from a building, a green roof can affect the humidity and air quality of its neighbourhood. If there are enough green roofs, it could affect the climate of the entire city.
• A green roof reduces the Urban Heat Island Effect. Cities have many hard reflective surfaces that absorb sunlight and re-radiate the energy as heat. Plants on a green roof help cool cities by using the surrounding heat to evaporate water.