I was at a City Council committee meeting some months ago where the green-roof initiative was discussed. I understand these ARE the experiments.
I attended the "ceremony" where Rick Gray signed the Sierra Club commitment. What it means is, Lancaster City is joining somewhere around 720 other cities in the U.S. which promise to meet the goals of the Kyoto Accords. This action is independent of the U.S. government, which has failed to ratify this treaty.

These days, you can get tax incentives for installing energy efficient windows, new, more efficient furnaces, and probably other things as well. It is a step in the right direction toward reducing our energy consumption, which I believe we can all agree is good.

This kind of grant is usually part of a much larger program that is established in the budget. This money was set aside, and if were not coming to Lancaster, it would be going somewhere else in the state. We should at least be happy it came here. Personally, this project interests me. I have a flat roof that would work well for something like this, and if I were to find that it make sense economically for me to have a green roof, I would pursue it.

I would never argue that our government at any level spends our money wisely. The days of $700 hammers have not left us. But, as Artie said, we are spending millions on road improvements for a questionable project, and many more millions on another questionable project. $500,000 for something like this seems like money well spent by government standards.

The grant is designed to offset the additional costs these owners are incurring to increase the structure of the buildings and the significantly higher cost of the roof.

Although new to Lancaster, green roofs have been around for a while and there are many studies documenting the benefit to the local environments not to mention the savings of energy resources. Lancaster city has a huge storm water runoff problem. Anything that can be done to help this without having to throw huge amounts of money at the drainage system should be applauded.

We all need to think "out of the box" and be creative to make this city a better place for the future. In a day and age where millions of tax dollars are spent on sports stadiums and other ventures, it seems very short-sighted not to see the potential benefit of this type of project.

The building I work in has a green roof. Not only is it very pretty, but here's a list of the benefits:

Benefits of Green Roofs

Recent research on stormwater management benefits of extensive green roofs demonstrates they are effective at both reducing peak stormwater runoff (60-90%) as well as delaying runoff from the rooftop by several hours. In addition, the following benefits are also recognized from green roofs:

Increase in roof longevity – due to protection from ultraviolet light, green roofs are estimated to have longevity of 40 yrs, compared to 7-13 yrs for a typical roof.

Increase in building energy efficiency - provides insulating properties, thereby reducing heating and cooling costs.

Quieter building from insulating sound-absorbing properties.

Cool surrounding air by reducing urban heat island effects. Urban Heat Island Effect is the condition of hotter air in urban areas because paved surfaces absorb significant amounts of heat during the day and release it very gradually at night, keeping urban areas warmer than surrounding rural areas. Urban Heat Islands also trap pollutnats in the air.

Improve air quality – by reducing CO2 levels and filtering and binding airborne dust and other particles.

Increase habitat for birds and butterflies – partially compensating for landscape lost to building development.

Increase roof’s attractiveness for tenants and for other surrounding buildings.