Yahoo – AFP,
19 March 2015
Paris (AFP) - Rooftops on new buildings built in commercial zones in France must either be partially covered in plants or solar panels, under a law approved on Thursday.
Paris (AFP) - Rooftops on new buildings built in commercial zones in France must either be partially covered in plants or solar panels, under a law approved on Thursday.
Green roofs
have an isolating effect, helping reduce the amount of energy needed to heat a
building in winter and cool it in summer.
They also
retain rainwater, thus helping reduce problems with runoff, while favouring
biodiversity and giving birds a place to nest in the urban jungle, ecologists
say.
The law
approved by parliament was more limited in scope than initial calls by French
environmental activists to make green roofs that cover the entire surface
mandatory on all new buildings.
The
Socialist government convinced activists to limit the scope of the law to
commercial buildings.
The law was
also made less onerous for businesses by requiring only part of the roof to be
covered with plants, and giving them the choice of installing solar panels to
generate electricity instead.
Green roofs
are popular in Germany and Australia, and Canada's city of Toronto adopted a
by-law in 2009 mandating them in industrial and residential buildings.
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