Green Roofs - Living Architecture Monitor - Fall 2019 - 29

The City has also developed Guidelines for Biodiverse Green
Roofs, which illustrate best practices for creating habitat and promoting biodiversity. The Standards and Biodiversity Guidelines
are designed primarily for use by engineers, architects, landscape
architects, landscape and roofing contractors and green roof
professionals.

THE ECO-ROOF INCENTIVE PROGRAM

The Eco-Roof Incentive Program has undergone a number of
changes since its initial creation in 2008. Originally, it provided
a grant of $50/m2 for green roofs, which was increased to
$75/m2 by City Council in 2013. At the same time, existing
residential buildings and new construction by Toronto school
boards were permitted to apply. In 2016, after stakeholder consultations, the grant was further increased to $100/m2. Another
barrier to program participation was the initial cost of doing a
structural assessment to determine if sufficient loading capacity
is present to have a green roof on an existing building. Council
approved adding a Structural Assessment Grant of up to $1,000
to help offset the cost of conducting a structural assessment
for existing buildings. More than 14 projects have received this
type of support to date. The Eco-Roof Incentive Program also
provides a small incentive for reflective roofing of $2 to $5/m2.

"ANNUAL BENEFITS OF THE
BY-LAW INCLUDE 222
MILLION LITERS OF
STORMWATER RETAINED,
225 TONS OF CARBON
SEQUESTERED, 3.2 MILLION
KWH OF DIRECT ELECTRICITY
SAVINGS AND MORE THAN
1,600 JOBS."
- STEVEN W. PECK

CONCLUSION

The Toronto Green Roof By-law continues to generate a significant number of measurable benefits for the residents and building
owners in the city, at a low overall cost for program administration.
The mandatory requirement leverages a very small proportion of
Green Roof By-law Mandatory Requirement
the billions of dollars of private development investment in the city,
620 Green Roof Projects permitted by the end of 2018, resulting
in 500,000 m2 of green roof area completed or planned. More than and takes advantage of roof spaces that would otherwise contribute
to the urban heat island, stormwater management and other chalhalf of the projects are multi-residential buildings, reflecting the
lenges. The public-private partnership nature of the green roofs
development boom in that sector over the past decade.
(benefits for owners and the public), combined with the flexibility
Eco-Roof Incentive Program
of the by-law, has led to full market acceptance.
Over the past ten years, the Eco-Roof Incentive Program comThe continuous review and stakeholder engagement by the City
pleted 426 projects (353 reflective and 73 green) representing
797,507 m2 of reflective roofing and contributing 124,000 m2 of the has resulted in a number of measures implemented to fine-tune the
original policies with an aim of improving engagement and market
500,000 m2 total green roof area.
penetration. Toronto demonstrates that green roofs are an excellent
Total Green Roof Area Implemented 2009 -2018: 500,000 m2,
tool for governments seeking to implement multiple policy objecor 5,381,955 square feet)
tives and to strengthen the resilience of its communities in the face
Using the average industry values in the Green Infrastructure
Foundation's Green Infrastructure Cost-Benefit Matrix, and assum- of the climate crisis.
ing that 20 per cent of the roofs are intensive and 80 per cent are
extensive provides the following benefit values:

IMPACTS OF THE GREEN ROOF BY-LAW -
NUMBER OF PROJECTS AND AREA

ANNUAL BENEFITS
* 222 million litres of stormwater retained
* 225 tons of carbon sequestered
* 3.2 million kWh of annual electricity savings for the buildings
with green roofs
* 1.6 million kWh of annual electricity savings for surrounding
buildings due to a reduction in the urban heat island effect
JOBS
* 1,618 FTE jobs in construction
* 25 FTE jobs annually in maintenance
LIVINGARCHITECTUREMONITOR.COM

FOR MORE INFORMATION
Report on the Environmental Benefits and Costs of Green Roof Technology
for the City of Toronto. Hitesh Doshi, et. al.
To obtain copies of Biodiverse Guidelines please email:
sustainablecity@toronto.ca
Details on the Toronto Green Roof By-Law. https://www.toronto.ca/citygovernment/planning-development/official-plan-guidelines/green-roofs/
More information about the Eco-Roof Incentive Program:
https://www.toronto.ca/services-payments/water-environment/environmental-grants-incentives/green-your-roof/
LIVING ARCHITECTURE MONITOR / FALL 2019 / 29

https://www.toronto.ca/city/government/planning-development/official-plan-guidelines/green-roofs/ https://www.toronto.ca/services-payments/water-environment/environmental-grants-incentives/green-your-roof/ http://www.LIVINGARCHITECTUREMONITOR.COM

Green Roofs - Living Architecture Monitor - Fall 2019

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