Green From the Top Down

“One of the problems in urban areas is flooding when you get a real deluge,” explains Marchetto. “When the rains come down so fast it fills up your sewers and you have flooding, and it takes hours before it can all drain.” With this green technique, the roof acts as a catch basin and the soil and sedem plants act as a sponge and soak up much of that sudden inundation and then slowly release the water. “Not only does it absorb water and provide oxygen, it insulates your roof–so you have less heating costs and less cooling costs,” he says enthusiastically. “That’s among the most popular thing that developers are doing, because you can see it. A lot of green things you can’t see, because they’re in the heating system, they’re in the pipes, they’re in the insulation, but a developer wants to use those things for marketing purposes.”