A bald parking garage or parking lot is a missed opportunity. What could that mean? What it means is that more modern parking facilities are making better use of their facilities and space to add a bit more greenery to the environment. Green roofs are continuing architecture trend in which buildings add plant-friendly roofs and walls to their plans for a variety of big benefits. If the idea still sounds a little out there, read on to discover the reasons to put a green roof on a parking structure.
Aesthetics
The first and most basic reason for adding a green roof to a parking facility is a matter of beauty. No matter how well-designed, parking lots and garages are mostly dull and often ugly. A flat black stretch of asphalt has its sparse charms, but it’s not a pretty sight. Green roofs can add a lovely look to a parking garage, even if it’s only visible from the air and surrounding buildings. When allowed to grow, the green can overtake the facility walls as well, with hanging vines and floral accents. Too many urban environments are bereft of nature, save for an occasional tree or potted plant. Green roofs can bring nature back to the downtown area!
Savings
A green roof might seem like an indulgence, but it’s not. A green roof can bring economic benefits to your building. Having plants on top can reduce the amount of heat gained and lost through the roof, putting less stress on your heating and air conditioning units—and that means lower bills all year round. A parking garage is no exception, especially if it has an HVAC system at work, keeping the area warm or cool for drivers and their vehicles. As a building owner, consider the fact that a green roof means a higher perceived value for your property as well. If attached to an office or other building, it's a more desirable place to park or even hang out in for residents and workers, too.
A Truly Living Space
When you add green to any area, life invites more life. You can choose to create an urban garden and grow fruits and vegetables yourself—or allot space to building residents to grow their own produce. A simple garden of flower, bushes, and trees can invite beneficial wildlife to come and stay, setting up nests or, in the case of bees and butterflies, visiting the fruits and flowers in your garden to gather nectar and spread pollen. That’s not simply good for the green roof’s visuals, but it’s also great for the environment!
It Helps the Roof
You might think that having a garden on a rooftop would be a bad thing, because of the added weight, or other similar reasons. However, nothing could be further from the truth. Buildings with green roofs provide enough support for all those plants, soil, and water to thrive on top of. More than that, they create a roof for the roof! The more damaging effects of the sun, its heat, and particularly its ultraviolet radiation are turned into pluses as plants turn sunlight into food and shade the rooftop. This means fewer repairs and maintenance in the future to catch cracks, rips, and holes that can develop in the asphalt, tiles, or shingles. A green roof grows a living and self-sustaining canopy that shelters and protects the real roof that bears it!
Breathe Easy
If you have an automated parking garage that provides fully automatic car parking, it’s already doing its part in reducing carbon monoxide emissions by eliminating the need for drivers to find parking through driving around a garage. Go even further with a green roof. Through photosynthesis, plants use water and carbon dioxide to create the sugar they need to survive. Providing more plants in urban environments means the process is increased, creating more oxygen in the area. And don’t discount the lovely scents produced by flowers and other plants, either!
Rain, Rain
Sunlight isn’t the only thing plants need and which is in abundance up there. A green roof gives plants ready access to rain, eliminating the need to water them at least part of the time, thereby saving on your water bills. Naturally—and we mean that in literal terms—plants and the soil they rest in absorb much of the water falling on your roof. Green roofs help control the amount of rain around the perimeter of your garage, making for a neater and safer place. Some roofs may even be constructed to help guide the water runoff into storage tanks below for other uses. Unlike parking lots, green roofs keep gas, oil, and other toxins borne by cars from getting into the water supply and running off into sewers, local bodies of water, and the surrounding environment.
Green Roofs Keep Things Cool
Heat islands occur in urban environments because asphalt, concrete, and surrounding buildings absorb heat during the day then release it into the surrounding area at night. This means temperatures are hotter in these areas than they should be, especially at night. This isn’t good for the environment, and it’s often uncomfortable for residents and others in the area in the evening hours. Green roofs not only give shade but also help reduce temperatures by taking the heat out of the air through evapotranspiration.
Keep Things Quiet
Here’s one of the final reasons to put a green roof on a parking structure: green roof vegetation keeps things quieter by absorbing the noisy noises of the city. And that’s not just when you’re walking amongst the leafy greenery on the roof, either, as noise is reduced inside as well. Peace of mind is so important, and even a slight touch of nature to an urban landscape can quiet things down.
Overall, a parking garage roof should always be viewed as an opportunity to help plant life and improve the health and well-being of the building’s tenants!
