Roofscape Retrofit, London Carbon Reduction, Property, Building Pictures

Roofscape Retrofit London

Roof Retrofitting Project, UK Architecture design by Lee Miles Architects

15 Nov 2009

Roofscape Retrofit

Design: Desitecture

This Roof Retrofitting Project won an award handed to Lee Miles by Hermes real estate and Arup

the brief

The UK government has set an ambitious and necessary target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050. The carbon footprint of buildings is the source of over 50% of greenhouse gas emissions in the UK (DCLG). 75% of commercial buildings that will be standing in 2030 have already been built (Carbon Trust). Existing buildings hold the key to transforming the real estate sector in a responsible manner and helping the government meet its target.

The RE-Design Challenge is an initiative by Hermes Real Estate Investment Management (“Hermes Real Estate”) and supported by ARUP. The Challenge is focused on creating innovative and integrated approaches to improve the sustainability performance of existing commercial buildings within the urban environment. The brief called for all nature of proposals

the concept

It is calculated that currently central London supports some 56640 acres of flat, usable roof. This is equivalent in size to 24 Richmond parks. What if we could use this space to create green areas? How would that impact upon Londons skyline? The main target of the brief is to reduce CO2 emissions. The best way to do this is to encourage greenery and plant growth in urban areas, as urban areas heat up the most and produce arguably the most C02; due to the thermal heat island effect.

The proposal is a new system of roofscaping for the city, one that solves the issues of the current green roofing problems, but also offers new benefits, as an incentive to capture more investors. The proposal is to turn London’s grey roofs into green roofs. But in doing so must be accessible to all, and adaptable to all locations, with a serious facility to reduce the effects of our carbon output.

But why do this? Research has exposed a few interesting facts that support the need for a solution. ‘Summers by 2050 1.5-3.5oc hotter. In central London the urban heat island currently adds 5-6oc to summer night time temperatures and will intensify in the future.’ The Tyndall centre of climate change has found that an urban area will need to increase the amount of vegetation by 100% to combat climate change. There is limited space at ground

The design

The design for a new London roofscape is centred around a versatile toolkit of simple, and easy to produce, parts. The toolkit itself consists of a series of parts all produced from renewable sources that is designed to form a modular, flexible, easy to assemble landscape. The landscape is designed to efficiently absorb the C02 and cool the city down. This landscape can be retrofitted to all flat roofs across London regardless of size or layout.

key points
CO2 reduction.
The key component of the design is it’s ability to absorb C02 emssisions through the strategic placement of greenery.
Self assembly.
The design can be built and deconstructed easily by people without any need for machinery or cranes.
Adaptable for any roof.
The proposal can adapt to any site, or area, and fit to any size roof to any specification or design. Flexible for any need. The design can be easily changed to fit various forms. From greenery to seating to solar panels to shelters.
Renewable and low cost.

The materials used are all from renewable sources and are manufactured in an ecofriendly manner these roofers suggest.

the benefits

– Reduces the need for air conditioning, thus reducing C02 emitted.
– (On average by 4.15kw/hr/m2/yr)
– Proven to reduce winter fuel consumption.
– Regulates temperature, enhancing nearby solar panels.
– Improves bio-diversity.
– Can be used to grow crops and produce.
– Increases the efficiency of adjacent solar panels.
– Improves the quality of water run off.
– Can filter dust and other pollutants.
– Protects from external noise pollution.
– Improves the value of any property.

Roofscape Retrofit, London images from Lee Miles

Location: London, England, UK