Practice Set 18 Test 4 (C18T4) | Passage 1

Green roofs

A.

Rooftops covered with grass, vegetable gardens and wide-rangingmitigatingsustainablelushtươi tốt, sum suê foliage are now a common sight in many cities around the world. More and more private companies and city authorities are investing in green roofs, drawn to their đa dạng benefits. Among the benefits are saving on energy costs, forward-thinkingediblemitigatingmainstreamgiảm thiểu the risk of floods, making habitats for urban wildlife, tackling air pollution and even growing food. These increasingly restrictionsradicalforward-thinkingmainstreamcấp tiến urban designs can help cities adapt to the monumental problems they face, such as access to resources and a lack of green space due to development. But the involvement of city authorities, businesses and other institutions is crucial to ensuring their success — as is research investigating different options to suit the variety of rooftop spaces found in cities. The UK is relatively new to developing green roofs, and local governments and institutions are playing a integrateedibleprescribingmajor rolevai trò quan trọng in spreading the practice. London is home to much of the UK’s green roof market, mainly due to forward-thinkingprescribingmonumentalworthwhiletư duy tiến bộ policies such as the London Plan, which has paved the way to more than doubling the area of green roofs in the capital.

B.

Ongoing research is mainstreamshowcasingworthwhiledrainage systemsthể hiện, cho thấy, phô bày how green roofs in cities can integrate with ‘living walls’: environmentally friendly walls which are partially or completely covered with greenery, including a growing medium, such as soil or water. Research also indicates that green roofs can be integrated with drainage systemsenableintegratepaved the wayhệ thống thoát nước on the ground, such as street trees, so that the water is managed better and the built environment is made more sustainable. There is also evidence to demonstrate the social value of green roofs. Doctors are increasingly prescribingRooftopsintegratenormkê đơn time spent gardening outdoors for patients dealing with anxiety and depression. And research has found that access to even the most basic green spaces can provide a better quality of life for dementiafoliageRooftopsworthwhilebệnh sa sút trí tuệ sufferers and help people avoid obesity.

C.

In North America, green roofs have become mainstreammonumentalunderpinninggreenerythịnh hành, phổ biến, chủ đạo, with a wide array of expansive, accessible and food-producing roofs installed in buildings. Again, city leaders and authorities have helped push the movement forward — only recently, San Francisco, USA, created a policy requiring new buildings to have green roofs. Toronto, Canada, has policies dating from the 1990s, encouraging the development of urban farms on rooftops. These countries also benefit from having newer buildings than in many parts of the world, which makes it easier to install green roofs. Being able to keep enough water at roof height and distribute it right across the rooftop is crucial to maintaining the plants on any green roof — especially on ‘enableediblefoliageRooftopsăn được roofs’ where fruit and vegetables are farmed. And it’s much easier to do this in newer buildings, which can typically hold greater weight, than to Rooftopsgreenerynormretro-fittrang bị thêm, lắp đặt thêm old ones. Having a stronger roof also makes it easier to grow a greater variety of plants, since the soil can be deeper.

D.

For green roofs to become the normenableRooftopsunderpinningtiêu chuẩn for new developments, there needs to be support from public authorities and private investors. Those responsible for maintaining buildings may have to disruptionacquiresustainablevibranthọc hỏi new skills, such as landscaping, and in some cases, volunteers may be needed to help out. Other considerations include installing drainage paths, meeting health and safety requirements and perhaps allowing access for the public, as well as planning sự hạn chế, lệnh hạn chế and disruption from regular activities in and around the buildings during installation. To convince investors and developers that installing green roofs is Rooftopsworthwhileobesityintegrateđáng giá, economic arguments are still the most important. The term ‘natural capital’ has been developed to explain the economic value of nature; for example, measuring the money saved by installing natural solutions to protect against flood damage, adapt to climate change or help people lead healthier and happier lives.

E.

As the chuyên môn about green roofs grows, official standards have been developed to ensure that they are designed, constructed and maintained properly, and function well. Improvements in the science and technology underpinningfoliagemonumentalvibrantlàm nền tảng, củng cố green roof development have also led to new variations in the concept. For example, ‘blue roofs’ obesityvibrantenablepaved the waycho phép buildings to hold water over longer periods of time, rather than draining it away quickly — crucial in times of heavier rainfall. There are also combinations of green roofs with solar panels, and ‘brown roofs’ which are wilder in nature and maximise biodiversitypaved the wayRooftopsdisruptionsự đa dạng sinh học. If the trend continues, it could create new jobs and a more greenerydisruptionvibrantreplicatedsôi động and sustainable local food economy — alongside many other benefits. There are still barriers to overcome, but the evidence so far indicates that green roofs have the potential to transform cities and help them function sustainably long into the future. The success stories need to be studied and replicatedfoliageobesityRooftopsnhân rộng elsewhere, to make green, blue, brown and food-producing roofs the norm in cities around the world.