Green Roofs Environmental Activists Team (GREAT)

We propose a widespread implementation and installation of green roofs into an urban setting. Ideally, this pilot project, Green Roofs Environmental Activists Team (GREAT), would take place in an urban area with limited resources, few historical buildings, and low income rates.

We propose a widespread implementation and installation of green roofs into an urban setting, such as Boston or Chicago. Ideally, this pilot project, Green Roofs Environmental Activists Team (GREAT), would take place in an urban area with limited resources, few historical buildings, and low income rates. This would minimize the risk of placing a green roof on a cherished or architecturally unsound historical building. Produce grown on these roofs could also feasibly provide fresh vegetables to these urban areas, which may not typically have access to fresh produce due to distance or income, at a reduced cost as transportation is not required. The project will also spread awareness of climate change outside of the academic circles. Green Roofs also serve as filtering mechanisms to make acidic city-rain drinkable and have incalculable mental health benefits to those exposed to them. 

It is crucial that more steps be taken to ameliorate climate conditions and raise awareness for climate change. Green roofs are extensions to the conventional building roofs through additional layers of filtering system and vegetation. These innovative roofs will be an effective solution to the urban heat island effect, an accumulation of heat from urban building materials such as concrete and asphalt. Moreover, in industrialized areas, air and water quality are main issues regarding the health of citizens. Recently, people have been considering mental health as a crucial aspect to the general health of the people as well. 

Green roofs can reduce a building’s energy output by reducing the need for temperature regulation in that building, while reflecting and cooling down the hot surfaces in the urban environment. By their benefits to the public health, green roofs will benefit between “$29.2 and $111 million" from cleaner air if 10 percent of Chicago roofs are covered with green roofs. Moreover, low income families, who may not typically have access to fresh produce due to distance or income, can access produce grown on these roofs that can feasibly provide fresh vegetables at a reduced cost as transportation is not required.

In an area with limited resources and low income families, green roofs will not only spread awareness of climate change but also provide fresh produce at a reduced cost to the families who may not typically have access due to distance or income. Moreover, other benefits include cooling of buildings, decrease in air and water pollution, improvement in mental health (studies have shown that hospital patients with access to nature have an 8.5% improvement in recovery time) as well as the function as a noise barrier (green roofs can reduce indoor sound by as much as 40 decibels). 

Survey and overview of the establishment of green roofs in the city - The first step will be installation. Each roof takes about a week to install. A reasonable goal would be to cover about 123,552 square feet in green roofs (this is a little over 10 percent of Chicago’s roofs for comparison) in five years.

Monthly updates of the establishment and maintenance of green roofs through designated data takers and surveyors (mostly students) in the specific areas. - The maintenance of the roofs, and installation of green roofs across greater areas. This will bring the benefits of green roofs to lower income families and raise more awareness about the benefits of green roofs and dangers of climate change.

Check progress through survey and student leaders.

A general overview of the cities' approaches to prevent climate change. - A significant change to the public health and the image of a city as a cleaner and safer area. More people, especially the younger generation, will be taking action to prevent climate change. Job market will side toward more environmental-friendly jobs.

While we did not invent the concept of green roofs, we constructed a plan centered around youth and community education. As of now, most green roofs are not public spaces and are privately owned. Most are not used to grow crops of any kind. Our green roofs will be used to educate youth about biology, agriculture, and climate through school-sponsored volunteer work. Our roofs will bring produce to low income communities. 

We designed our plan in Boston. The green-roof initiative we propose would be a partnership between the mayor, Boston's prestigious universities, and Boston public schools. Many Boston highschools suffer with few resources and  less-than-healthy environment. If the mayor of Boston could fund this project, green-roofs could be built as university/high school resources. Beyond initial construction, the set up and maintenance of the gardens would be executed by high-schoolers. University students could use the gardens as a bio-lab to test GMOs and fertilizes. Food grown would be sold to the community housing the garden. 

Green roofs are more expensive than a traditional asphalt roof, ranging between $10 to $20 per square foot; however, the green roofs’ ability to protect the roof membranes can extend its lifespan by 3x. This would be a smart investment for property owners and city planners. A good location for the first roofs would be low-income Dorchester, where there are minimal historical cites. The community typically does not have access to produce and would benefit from green-roof yield and reduced transportation costs. Public school biology and community service supervisors would schedule weekly to monthly educational field-trips to the roofs. 

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We are only high school aged and do not have adequate funding. We hope to propose this project to the Mayor of Boston, who has more resources to achieve our goals. 

Otherwise, Green-roofs require a set up period, and Boston weather is not always forgiving. We also predict that community members will hesitate to support such a drastic change in way of life as costs and construction commence. 

https://climatecolab.org/contests/2015/geoengineering-workspace/c/proposal/1333878

We hope to gain knowledge and feedback about our ideas to benefit the people of Boston, and we hope our ideas will be applicable to other cities around the world. We also hope to be connected to anyone who can help us achieve our goals. We want to be made aware of other solutions, and apply our combined understanding of different cultures and resources, as well as our influence on the brilliant youth of Phillips Exeter Academy to aid in bringing those solutions to fruition. 

Kate Fitzpatrick, Phillips Exeter Academy '18, Boston, USA

Sofia (Hee Won) Yoon, Phillips Exeter Academy '18, Buenos Aires, Argentina 

Matilde Liboni, Phillips Exeter Academy '17, Italy

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