City Leads Green Roof Movement
Toronto: A Pioneer and Leader
The City of Toronto is a pioneer and leader in green roof movement in Canada. It is the first city in North America to adopt a green roof bylaw requiring 20-60% vegetation coverage on all new buildings or new additions with gross floor area greater than 2,000 m².
Half a Million M²
Since the bylaw was introduced in 2009, more than 500,000 m² of green roof have been constructed.
Toronto has more green roofs installed per year than the rest of Canada combined.
Among the Top
Formerly nicknamed Hogtown, Toronto now boasts a ranking in the top 3 municipalities with most green roofs installed annually in North America.
Let’s take a look at what make Toronto’s green roof movement so successful making other municipalities green with envy!
Green Roof Bylaw
The City of Toronto Green Roof Bylaw requires all new residential, commercial and institutional buildings with gross floor area (GFA) greater than 2,000 m² or new additions where the GFA is greater than 2,000 m² to install a green roof.
Size of Green Roof
The green coverage increases with a graduated scale from 20 to 60% of the available roof space based on the GFA. For industrial buildings with GFA greater than 2,000 m², the green roof coverage is the lesser of 10% or 2,000 m². Otherwise, the owner must pay $200/m² cash-in-lieu for non-compliance.
Eco-Roof Incentive Program
The Eco-Roof Incentive Program provides grants to support vegetated roof and cool roof installations on Toronto buildings that are not subject to the green roof bylaw, e.g. homes and retrofits that are less than 2,000 m² GFA. The program offers $100/m² for vegetated roof installed and up to $1,000 for a structural assessment. It also offers $5/m² for a cool roof with a new membrane or $2/m² for a cool roof coating over an existing roof.
Green Roof Construction Standard
All green roofs that are subject to the Green Roof bylaw or are eligible for the Eco-Roof Incentive Program must be built to the Toronto Green Roof Construction Standard, which sets out minimum requirements that meet the City’s objectives and the Ontario Building Code requirements. The Green Roof Construction Standard: Supplementary Guidelines contain “best practices” in the design and construction of green roofs and address key topics such as structural loads, slope stability, wind uplift, fire safety, waterproofing, drainage, water retention, plant selection and performance, irrigation and maintenance.
All NLSM’s green roof systems meet the City of Toronto Green Roof Construction Standard. Interested to learn more? Please attend our live educational webinars or contact a member of our sales team.
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