We know how much you love to spend money, especially when you don’t have to. Unnecessary bills, amirite? Hooray!
… said no one ever.
The truth is, though, too many businesses overlook some of the easiest ways to pocket more dough. However unintentionally, they sacrifice opportunities to save money, especially up on the rooftop.
We’ve got good news for you: A good green roof is basically a bank error in your favor.
Let’s take a look at why green roofs and other sustainable solutions are so important, not only to the world, but to your bottom line.
Reduce Heating and Cooling Costs
Too often, green roofs are painted as a luxury.
Small seedling emoji. Flower emoji. Heart eyes emoji. Cat with heart eyes emoji. Et cetera.
But green roofs are not a frivolity; they are a necessity. Or at least, addressing the energy crisis and climbing temperatures in our urban centers, a solution of some kind is a necessity.
Green roofs just happen to be the best bet for moderating temperatures and saving money. Assuming that the question of whether to get a green roof is one of aspiration rather than reality, of someday rather than today, many people miss the fact that green roofs serve as natural insulators.
During the day, the layer of plants on top absorbs heat, slowing the warming trend inside the building. At night, when it cools down, those plants and the growing media beneath them slowly release that heat, warming the structure below.
Maximizing Savings on Your Energy Bill
Boosting energy efficiency in this way allows you to spend less on your electricity bill. As we’ve discussed before, the financial benefits of maintaining a green roof include hacking about 2 percent off your energy bill on a one-story building.
Given the average building consumes $1.47 in energy costs per square foot and the average building constructed in the 2000s was nearly 20,000 square feet, that represents a lot of potential. In massive skyscrapers, the benefits might accrue near the top, but in warehouses — where one massive story is all she wrote — those benefits carpet the entire structure.
Moreover, given that commercial energy usage flows disproportionately to warehouses and shops (15 percent), office buildings (14 percent), and education buildings (10 percent), it really is incumbent upon businesses and institutions to take a hard look at how they’re using energy. While smaller buildings can certainly do their part, their hula hoop of influence is simply too small to lead the charge.
Create Symbiotic Systems With Multiple Sustainable Solutions
The savings don’t end there, either.
When combined with solar panels, green roofs boost energy efficiency further. Growing media and plants not only ballast solar panels down, but they also keep the solar panels cooler, which makes them work more efficiently — to the tune of 13 percent or more.
Other studies show that combining the two helps reduce emissions from panels.
Suffice it to say, there’s a reason frontrunning businesses are increasingly looking to combine photovoltaics with plants. This trend is happening across the world, from America to Europe to the Middle East, and even on farmland, where the combo is known by the adorable and inspiring term “agrivoltaics.”
Combat the Urban Heat Island Effect With a Green Roof
Green infrastructure, energy efficiency, renewables, and sustainability work in tandem to fight the ills of modern civilization. Nowhere is this clearer than when considering the urban heat island effect.
Basically, this is the well-studied idea that cities absorb and retain heat at a higher level than surrounding agricultural or wild areas. Turns out, all those cars and HVACs and lights and stretches of blacktop add up — and what they add up to is the urban heat island effect.
Why? Simple. Because asphalt, concrete, and big ol’ buildings are better at soaking up heat and hanging onto it than trees, grass, and streams are.
While the concept might be basic, the complex side effects are not. The urban heat island effect brings with it a number of nasty downsides, including:
- Pollution and poor air quality
- Associated health problems (human and ecology)
- Increased mortality rate
- Spikes in energy and water usage
We can agree these aren’t ideal outcomes. Happily, green roofs can help ameliorate them all.
Roof gardens can accomplish many of the same things, but with an increase in aesthetics. (Which, let’s face it, we’re not mad about.)
Manage Stormwater With Less Energy
If you want to maximize your ROI with green roofs or other types of green infrastructure, then it pays to understand the role of stormwater in energy consumption.
Frequently, stormwater management and energy use are painted as two pillars in the common structure that is helping the environment. Yet they don’t just stand next to one another; they are intertwined.
To wit: How well a building or property manages stormwater is directly tied to how much you’ll pay on your energy bills.
“Communities and their residents use a lot of energy treating and moving wastewater, which accounts for an estimated 3 to 4 percent of total U.S. electricity consumption,” says the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
If you’re slightly shocked by that number, rest assured: We are too. (I mean, we already knew about it, but does wasteful energy consumption ever get less shocking?)
Luckily, the EPA continues, “By implementing green infrastructure that reduces rainwater flows into sewer systems, recharges aquifers, and harvests rainwater, communities can decrease municipal and domestic energy use.” And since plants do so much of this work for you, why wouldn’t you want to give them the chance?
Save Money, Go Green Today
Maybe it’s time to take that chance, if not for the sake of the planet, then for the sake of your pocketbook. Since green roofs do eventually pay themselves back in energy savings and stormwater treatment, and since they’re a beautiful and ethical addition to the world, you can’t really go wrong.
Want to learn more? Get in touch with Ecogardens for a free consultation today.