Green engineering: what does it mean to you? The field is a promising one. It holds a chance for some real sustainable development. Sustainable development is the way in which we can improve our quality of life while managing our resources wisely to allow them to last for future generations. Through green engineering we can build up our cities while reducing their negative impacts upon the environment. A year back I did a hands on experiment in this field. I hope to present this study as well as other fun articles on this topic which we can explore further to show how we can combine science and engineering to help improve our environment! The following is a brief intro to my experiment. Take a look and if you have any questions or comments please share them!

Would you like some sky vegetables for dinner? How about some fresh-cut roof flowers to put in vases in your house? Besides beauty, rooftop gardens have a number of advantages, including growing food, and taking carbon dioxide out of the air while releasing breathable oxygen. During photosynthesis, plants remove carbon dioxide from the air, and release oxygen. Over the course of a year, a single 1.5-meter by 1.5-meter section of a roof planted with grass produces enough oxygen to keep a human breathing for a year! All around the world rooftops are going green, especially in cities. These rooftop gardens are an environmentally friendly option that is gaining popularity. But can rooftop gardens also keep your house cooler and lower your energy bill?  The purpose of my experiment was to view the environmental friendly benefits offered by the extensive rooftop garden. The extensive rooftop garden is a lightweight, low-maintenance garden that can adapt to almost any condition in an urban area. My goal was to observe if a rooftop garden can reduce the energy requirements of an average Canadian home due to the fact that rooftop gardens will absorb less solar radiation and heat energy in comparison to a traditional tar paper roof. This, in turn will limit the heat transfer occurring through the roof of a building and keep the interior of a building significantly cooler in the warmer seasons. This will reduce the need for artificial cooling and overall energy requirement of a home in the summertime. Also, a rooftop garden can reduce energy requirements of Canadians in the cold winters as well as warm summers. This is due to the fact that rooftop gardens will conserve heat inside a building and not let heat escape for long periods of time. This, will result in less need for heating because there will be more heat conserved inside a building. This will also contribute to energy efficiency and decreased energy requirements during all periods of the year. I am to observe these environmentally friendly benefits and how they can help not only our country but our world stay healthier and cleaner. If rooftop gardens are commonly adopted they will not only reduce the burden on the earth but also will reduce the burden on your wallet.