My green heaven
Now
In the last few decades, Sydney has experienced intense development of multi-storey residential blocks. These vertical villages are responsible for over 50 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions in Sydney and in the last five years the CBD’s energy demand jumped almost 20 per cent. Although water consumption decreased by five per cent, by 2030 it is predicted to rise by 22 per cent as the CBD area supports an extra 70,000 residents and 90,000 workers. Meanwhile, greenhouse gas emissions are predicted to increase by 41 per cent and residential waste stream will skyrocket by 50 per cent.
Future
High-rise buildings will be encouraged to implement “green roofs”, creating recreational spaces for residents, enhancing the bio-diversity of the city by absorbing carbon emissions and cutting noise pollution and reducing energy consumption. A green roof (aka eco-roof) is a flat space which utilises solar panels to insulate the building, heat water and feed power back to the electricity grid. A green roof features a complete covering of vegetation underpinned by an irrigation system aimed at reducing storm water run-off and recycling grey water to grow plants, vegetables and herbs for residential use and offer a “green corridor” for birds, butterflies and other native fauna. Green Roof programs already operate successfully in Berlin, Chicago, Toronto, Portland and Oregon where studies show that, if implemented in Sydney, they could save the city $313 million initially and $37 million annually. Additionally, if as few as 8 per cent of roofs go green, the ambient air temperature will fall by two degrees centigrade.