Mexico City officials want to install a carpet of green gardens on rooftops across the city, a plan they hope will reduce air pollution in a city with a notorious smog problem and little room for new ground-level gardens. Mayor Marcelo Ebrard hopes to add more than 500,000 square feet of green roofs by 2012, starting with city buildings. Leaders say the green roofs, which are part of the city’s larger $5.5 billion Green Plan, would reduce energy use for heating the buildings and also help absorb and filter the city’s air pollution. “It’s hard to increase green spaces in a city like this because there’s really no more green space,” said Tanya Muller, the city’s director of urban reforestation. “But almost all of the buildings in this city can support green roofs.” Mexico City hopes to match the success of Chicago, where more than 517,000 square feet of green roofs had been installed through 2007, according to the industry group Green Roofs.
Mexico Eyes Rooftop Revolution
More From E360
-
Oceans
Dire Straits: Can a Fishing Ban Save the Elusive European Eel?
-
Climate
Scientists Are Trying to Coax the Ocean to Absorb More CO2
-
INTERVIEW
Marina Silva on Brazil’s Fight to Turn the Tide on Deforestation
-
Solutions
Solomon Islands Tribes Sell Carbon Credits, Not Their Trees
-
INTERVIEW
With Sea Turtles in Peril, a Call for New Strategies to Save Them
-
RIVERS
Jared Kushner Has Big Plans for Delta of Europe’s Last Wild River
-
Energy
A Nuclear Power Revival Is Sparking a Surge in Uranium Mining
-
OPINION
Despite Official Vote, the Evidence of the Anthropocene Is Clear
-
INTERVIEW
At 11,500 Feet, a ‘Climate Fast’ to Save the Melting Himalaya
-
Oceans
Octopuses Are Highly Intelligent. Should They Be Farmed for Food?
-
Climate
Nations Are Undercounting Emissions, Putting UN Goals at Risk
-
Solutions
As Carbon Air Capture Ramps Up, Major Hurdles Remain