I going to make this simple.

\”Green roof incentives part of newly introduced \’clean energy stimulus\’ bill – Under section 506 of the bill, residential and commercial property owners will receive a 30% tax credit for qualified green roof expenditures. The tax credit applies to both new and retrofit projects.\”
-Source

\”I visited a greenhouse that sells plants for green roofs and also toured a green roof at Sanford School,\” Pineo says. \”I got pretty excited about the environmental benefits of green roofs. They capture and manage stormwater, reduce air pollution, insulate buildings so that they are cooler in summer and warmer in winter, and attract pollinators.\”
-Source

\”Economic Benefits – cost savings opportunities for the building owner include:

* Protection of roof membrane resulting in a longer material lifespan (it is estimated that green roofs will last up to twice as long as conventional roofs), resulting in decreased maintenance and savings in replacement costs;
* Savings on energy heating and cooling costs, depending on the size of the building, climate and type of green roof. Using a Micro Axess Simulation model, Environment Canada found that a typical one storey building with a grass roof and 10 cm (3.9 inches) of growing medium would result in a 25% reduction in summer cooling needs. Field experiments by Karen Liu in Ottawa Canada, found that a 6 inch extensive green roof reduced heat gains by 95% and heat losses by 26% compared to a reference roof.

Sound Insulation

* Soil, plants and the trapped layer of air can be used to insulate for sound. Sound waves that are produced by machinery, traffic or airplanes can be absorbed, reflected or deflected. The substrate tends to block lower sound frequencies and the plants block higher frequencies.
* A green roof with a 12 cm (4.7 inches) substrate layer can reduce sound by 40 decibels; a 20 cm (7.9 inches) substrate layer can reduce sound by 46-50 decibels.\”
-Source: greenroofs.org

So the casting of the net (trend) is very small right now, but the footprint may end up being very large. Think hotels, commercial buildings, schools (Especially), and private homes. The benefits are large. I think one of the most important items here is attracting pollinators. Without them we can\’t grow our foods and recently articles like this explain the problem.

So my trade off this? SMG – Scotts Miracle Grow.