Adapting a Green Roof in Tucson, Arizona

Abstract

Buildings that implement a green roof on their rooftop generate economic and environmental benefits throughout its lifetime than a conventional roof cannot. A space that would normally not be utilized is transformed to benefit the building's operations and occupants. However, there is little research on green roof applications in hot and arid urban climates. This paper is based on an extensive literature review on the current capabilities of green roofs to generate enough savings and benefits to a building to combat the initial installation fee. Finding the Net Present Value (NPV) of the cost of installation and benefits of a green roof is used to create a benefit analysis. In order for more research to be done in hot and air urban green roofs there needs to be a market for it. This research paper uses a benefit analysis to break down the economic feasibility of the investment based on the savings and benefits received after construction. The site location used to generate the data for this proposal is on the College of Architecture, Planning, and Landscape East building (CAPLA East). The analysis demonstrated that a 5,000 square foot extensive green roof would be economically feasible based off of the NPV of the savings and benefits created after construction. Furthermore, the research identified that the plants best fit for the weather conditions of a green roof are the drought-resistant plants found in the Sonoran Desert that Tucson is a part of.