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Hour-Watch8988 t1_j6s2tc4 wrote

Eh, green roofs are usually realllllly heavy and require much bigger foundations. Better to limit building to tree-canopy height and get the vegetation benefits from overhang canopy.

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Wonderful_Mud_420 t1_j6s59mo wrote

Yeah the whole point of a roof is to keep the elements away from the house. Adding tons of soils and vegetation and watering it everyday is just asking for trouble, specially if you cheaped out on the installation.

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Spitinthacoola t1_j6tanax wrote

Most green roofs don't require tons of soil and watering vegetation. They're usually pretty thin layers of media and root barriers for grasses and other native plants to live, they're called extensive green roofs.

Intensive green roofs usually don't cover the whole thing, and have deeper layers and larger plants. They're much less common.

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Fearlessleader85 t1_j6tn2k1 wrote

The intensive ones are awesome to see, but not practical. Thd extensive ones won't have near the impact on local temperature of trees.

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Spitinthacoola t1_j6u06x2 wrote

It might not be better than painting all the roofs white for heat but they'd still do better than shingles or solar panels. A combination of that for the roofs and trees, especially native where possible, would not just impact local temps but also fauna.

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MajinBuuMan t1_j6shf07 wrote

I hate going up on to my roof too. So many things could go wrong with a setup like that. Screw that noise. I want a low maintenance roof.

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YouJustSaidButFuck t1_j6s9bn3 wrote

Limiting buildings to tree canopy height cements the housing crisis. We need high density housing.

It's a bad situation to be in. Every where you look there's pain.

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TalkativeVoyeur t1_j6sdkfp wrote

We really should't get too hand up on this. Street trees apply almost anywhere. And green roofs are fine but just the trees outside to cover the asphalt is already a massive improvement. Trees and some green roofs where possible is totally doable and a massive improvement. Looking for a perfect solution is a great way to do nothing

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Hour-Watch8988 t1_j6s9vuy wrote

There’s way more untapped vertical space in single-family neighborhoods in desirable cities even below five stories than there is housing demand. NYC might be the one exception but even there the surrounding suburbs have a lot of potential. We need high-density housing but we really don’t need buildings above 80 feet tall to achieve it except maybe in NYC.

The climate benefits of building height max out between 5-10 stories anyway.

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YouJustSaidButFuck t1_j6sa2fi wrote

Urban sprawl is HORRIBLE for climate.

Suburbs are a major problem

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Hour-Watch8988 t1_j6saol3 wrote

Of course. But you could immediately halt all exurban development and also provide plenty housing to ease the housing shortage if we just upzone inner-ring suburbs to medium-sized multifamily buildings.

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histosol t1_j6ujylw wrote

building up is more expensive, plus people kinda want their own 4 walls.

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