I found this article really interesting to read because it ties in well with what I’m going to research for my term paper. Also, like a few other papers we’ve read, this paper was straight to the point with some of the benefits of having green roofs. It was very easy to follow unlike some other papers we’ve read. Before reading this paper, I was aware of some of the benefits of having plants (ie. reducing air pollution), but I wasn’t aware of the extent to which plants can help us. Being an asthmatic, green roofs can really help personally. Born and raised in NYC, I absolutely love city life except for the air pollution. Whenever I go to a suburban area or areas with a lot of vegetation, I can easily notice how there’s less air pollution since it becomes easier to breathe. Even though it’s impossible to get rid of all the air pollution, it’s actually crazy how much plants can do to help. According to the article “one square meter of green roof could offset the annual particulate matter emissions of on car. If 20% of industrial and commercial roof surfaces in Detroit were traditional extensive sedum green roofs, over 800,000 kg per year of NO2 would be removed” (2102). One square meter and 20% doesn’t seem much compared to the amount of damage plants could reverse. Also, by putting green roofs on the campus of Michigan State University alone, “they could avoid 3,640,263 kg CO2 emitted per year in electricity and natural gas consumption combined. This is equivalent of taking 661 vehicles off the road each year” (2103). If by putting green roofs on one campus can help so much, how much would it help if green roofs were scattered all over the country. Even though they are expensive and hard to maintain, I feel that the long-term consequences would be worth it. All of the money that would be spent in the future years in order to maintain the energy consumption, could be put towards green roofs as an investment which could save a lot of money in the future. Along with saving money, we end up with more vegetation (which looks pretty as well) and better living style. Green roofs have a domino effect. They help in one aspect which helps our healths. For example, green roofs also play a role in reducing excess noise which can in turn reduce health problems such as hearing impairment, hypertension, ischemic heart disease and sleep disturbance. The more plants there are around us, the better it is for everyone.
