GREEN ROOFS
Green roofs are Brooklyn Grange's bread and butter. Since 2010, we have been designing, installing, and maintaining green roofs of varying size and scope across NYC and beyond. Our clients range from individual homeowners, to schools, developers, general contractors, and more.
A green roof is a multilayered vegetated system that sits on top of a building’s roof deck. Green roofs typically comprise a root barrier layer, drainage or water storage layer, growing media, and vegetation. They can be as shallow as 3” or as deep as 3’! Modular systems are also available as an alternative to the multilayered or “monolithic” system. Green roofs can protect the waterproofing layer and extend its lifespan at least two-fold.
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When determining if your roof is a good fit, the two most important factors are the strength of the roof and the waterproofing. Brooklyn Grange can help assess both factors by engaging an architect, structural engineer, or roofing expert before moving forward with a green roof design.
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Green roofs offer a multitude of benefits that can be financially, environmentally, aesthetically, or functionally driven. Among these benefits include beautification and activation of underutilized roof space, buffering of noise pollution, increase in energy savings, diversion of replaced roof materials from the waste stream, mitigation of combined sewage overflow, increase in biological diversity, increase in property value, and extension of the roof’s lifespan. When combined with solar panels, green roofs help make the panels more productive by keeping the roof itself cooler. There is also a one-time tax abatement for NYC green roofs a certain size.
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As of 2019, a “sustainable roof zone” is legally required by Local Law 92 and 94 for any new construction, roof expansion, or roof deck replacement. Brooklyn Grange can help you navigate this new legislation and determine if a green roof is the right fit for project compliance.
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In 2019, New York City adopted Local Law 92 and 94, which requires green roofs and other green installations on any new building or construction project that requires replacement of the entire roof assembly or decking.
NYC offers a Tax Abatement program that will reimburse building owners for a portion of their green roof installation expenses.
The NYC Department of Environmental Protection also has a Grant Program that can pay for green roofs over 5,000 sf in size. This grant program can not be paired with the tax abatement, and is not available to buildings that are required to comply with local law 92/94.
Contact us if you’d like to learn more about our green roof design services - we may be able to help you get a grant or tax abatement depending on your project size and location.