Our green rooftops

Our green rooftops

Docklands is Melbourne’s leading suburb when it comes to putting its rooftops to “green” uses, but there remains plenty of untapped potential across local buildings.

A recent analysis of Melbourne’s rooftops by the City of Melbourne found that Docklands had the greatest area of green roof in Melbourne, with over 11ha of greenery on our rooftops.

According to Cr Arron Wood, a high proportion of Docklands properties are also topped by solar panels.

“We also know from previous studies that Docklands has the highest concentration of Green Star rated buildings in the country,” Cr Wood said.

“Our mapping of potential for greening indicates strong potential for expansion of existing green roofs and construction of new green roofs. The same is true for solar and cool roofs.”

The study of Docklands’ rooftops was part of the City of Melbourne’s wider look at the Melbourne municipality’s potential for increasing uptake of solar, cool and green roofs through The Rooftop Project.

Lord Mayor Robert Doyle said The Rooftop Project involved analysing aerial photographs to understand where rooftops could be transformed using solar panels, reflective materials or vegetation.

“There is so much potential right above us,” the Lord Mayor said.

According to the council’s research, rooftops in Melbourne make up 880 hectares of space.

“Most of these rooftops are used only to store heating and cooling equipment,” Cr Doyle said. “We could set them up to generate clean energy, increase property values and cool temperatures within the city.”

The Rooftop Project research reveals Melbourne rooftops have the potential to house:

637 hectares of solar panels;

259 hectares of cool roofs (reducing the amount of heat held and transferred to the building below;

236 hectares of intensive green roofs (heavier vegetated landscapes); and

328 hectares of extensive green roofs (lightweight vegetated landscapes).

The mapping shows green or vegetated roofs are most suitable in built up areas such as the CBD, Port Melbourne and Docklands, while larger commercial and industrial buildings outside the CBD have great potential to house solar panels.

Cr Wood encouraged residents and business owners across Melbourne to look at the maps and consider whether their roof could be used to help reduce energy bills and save the environment.

He said rooftop solar would play an important role in helping the municipality’s goal of sourcing 25 per cent of its electricity from renewable energy by 2018.

“Our research shows that solar panels could be installed on 637 hectares of rooftops – that’s three times the size of the Hoddle Grid,” Cr Wood said.

“These households and businesses could be making use of the sunlight that falls on their roofs by installing solar,” Cr Wood said.

The City of Melbourne is look for partners to work with on the creation of the city’s first publicly accessible green roof. Owners with suitable roofs are encouraged to contact the council.

You can learn more about The Rooftop Project and view the maps at http://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/SUSTAINABILITY/ROOFTOPPROJECT/Pages/Rooftop.aspx

Join Our Facebook Group