French Green Roof Law

The french law biodiversity act and green roof statement.

French green roof law.

The law approved by parliament was more limited in scope than initial calls by french environmental activists to make green roofs that cover the entire surface mandatory on all new buildings. The new law going into effect in january will require between 15 to 30 percent of roof space on most new construction projects to incorporate solar green roofs or a blend of both. Once the original non news got out of the bag the statement in the act was actually changed. The real story is a classic one of the devil s in the detail.

Under a law passed last week by the french parliament new buildings in commercial zones must partially cover their roofs with plants or solar panels. The requirement ranges from 20 60 of in 2009 toronto was the first city in north america to adopt a bylaw to require and govern the construction of green roofs. France keeps making green headlines lately the eiffel tower s wind turbines the tree shaped wind turbines being installed in paris and now an exciting new law that is sure to have a huge environmental impact in urban centers. Our french and swiss colleagues were keeping us informed.

Approved by the french parliament on thursday the new law will apply to all new buildings in commercial zones. It went from solar and green. The city s initiative is a success story with 260 green roofs and 196 000m 2 2 110 000ft 2 of green roof area created since 2010. In fact according to the green roofs for healthy cities annual green roof industry survey toronto took the 2 spot just behind washington dc for the most square feet of green roofs installed in 2014.

Every new commercial building in france must meet a new building requirement. The roof must be at least partially covered in either solar panels or plants. Bringing nature back into the city with an obligation for every new commercial development to integrate green roofs or solar panels an2 i. This is less stringent than the original proposal by french environmental activists which called for complete roof cover by greenery but is still a huge step toward more sustainable cities and infrastructure.