"It’s been something in the back of our minds for a while," says Jane Welsh, the city’s acting manager for zoning bylaws and the environment, explaining that these new green roof guidelines are not only new, they’re the first one’s the city’s issued.
Toronto was the first city in North America, according to its website anyway, to pass a
green roof bylaw, back in 2009. It stipulates that all buildings with a gross floor space of 2,000 square metres or more, whether residential, industrial or commercial, establish a green roof.
"When we released the green roof bylaw, we thought it would be helpful to residents and to green roof installers," she says, careful to point out there were no particular offenders or offences that inspired the release of these
guidelines. "We were getting green roofs that were going up near natural heritage areas. You want to provide an extension of the natural heritage area, and provide habitats for butterflies and bird, perhaps, or just add to the native plant population."
Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Jane Welsh
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