Toronto’s Green Space Augmented by Green Roofs

The City of Toronto's green roof bylaw has already resulted in more than 1.2 million square feet of new green space planned on new commercial, institutional and multi-unit residential developments across the city. The bylaw, which went into effect Jan. 31, 2010, will result in many public benefits at no cost to citizens and taxpayers, according to Green Roofs for Healthy Cities (GRHC).

"During the first full year of the bylaw we have seen a five-fold increase in LiveRoof Ontario's labor force and a three-fold increase in production capacity and sales," said Kees Govers, president of LiveRoof Ontario Inc., which manufactures modular green roof systems.

Toronto's bylaw is helping lawmakers across North America develop green roof policies. Devens, Mass., recently used the bylaw to model its new green roof policy, which includes a requirement for accredited Green Roof Professionals to work on green roof project teams, according to GRHC.

Some of the public and private green roof benefits will include:

• More than 125 full-time jobs related to manufacture, design, installation and maintenance.
• Reduction of more than 435,000 cubic feet (approximately 50 Olympic-sized swimming pools) of stormwater each year.
• Tangible reduction of the urban heat island effect — the artificial overheating of the city.
• Annual energy savings of more than 1.5 million kilowatt hours for building owners.
• Improved air quality.
• Aesthetic improvements and new recreational opportunities on accessible green roofs.
• New opportunities for urban agriculture.

The new Toronto City Hall podium green roof has created a new, fully accessible park, right in downtown Toronto, at a fraction of the cost of having to buy and set aside land.

The green roof bylaw will have a long-term positive impact on the health and sustainability of the city.

"If we continue to implement green roofs in Toronto at this rate, we can begin to see significant annual impact on energy consumption and a reduction in the urban heat island effect," said Steven W. Peck, president of GRHC. "The green roof bylaw will make Toronto the leader for the most green roofs installed by a major city/region in North America."
 

At 37,000 square feet, the green roof at Toronto’s city hall is the largest publically accessible extensive green roof in Canada.