A new European Commission strategic long-term vision communication has highlighted the importance of investing in green infrastructure to guide the transition to a climate neutral Europe.
Jure Šumi, Business Director for Urbanscape® Green Solutions, said: “This strategic document acknowledges the key role green infrastructure, including green roofs, can play in the radical transformation of our continent toward a net-zero emission future, but this can only happen if dedicated policies promote this infrastructure at every level.”
To transform theory into reality, he said, it is now vital that green infrastructure becomes an integral component of all national climate change adaptation plans and strategies required under the new Regulation on the Governance of the Energy Union and receives adequate support under the European Union Multiannual Financial Framework (2021-27), currently being discussed.
Photo 1: New shopping centre in Romania, where it was mandatory for the investors to implement a nice (Urbanscape®) green roof
The Commission’s communication also stated that in addition to curbing emissions, it was vital that measures were taken to develop joint mitigation and adaptation urban planning, tackle environmental challenges such as flooding in densely populated areas, improve poor urban air quality, reverse biodiversity loss and find ways to tackle ‘heat island effect’ — where urban areas are hotter than the surrounding countryside.
“An ambitious green infrastructure policy would transform Europe from an environmental perspective,” said Jure. “Green infrastructure such as green roofs can play a critical role in cooling buildings, encouraging greater biodiversity and, due significant water retention properties, helping cities tackle flooding.”
Cities such as Copenhagen, Hamburg and Paris have already set up programmes with incentives to promote urban green infrastructure. However, stronger leadership is still needed at EU, national and local levels to take full advantage of the tremendous potential offered by green solutions such as green roofs, he said.
The Commission long-term vision for climate neutral economy noted that while contributing to a better environment, green infrastructure was also a business opportunity that could “spur the creation of market niches”.
“Another significant advantage of green infrastructure is that it is possible to access its benefits before installation. For example, through our digital Performance Evaluation Tool (PET) we can reveal the benefits of our Urbanscape® solution anywhere in the world,” said Jure.
“The advantages of green infrastructure are clear. It is now time for policy makers to act.”
Would you like to check how a green roof is performing vs. some classical roof or would you just like to know what can be done by using our digital Performance Evaluation Tool?
For more information on Urbanscape® Green Roof System performance check our website www.urbanscape-architecture.com or contact us via urbanscape@knaufinsulation.com