Green roofs or living roofs are different types of gardens that are created on the tops of buildings to help manage stormwater, improve air quality, help cool city temperatures, insulate the building, create park space, support local wildlife, and much more. New York City’s largest green roof, and the country’s second largest, is located on the six block long Javits Convention Center. Their 2014 installation adds 6.75 acres of green space to Manhattan.
NPR visits the Javits roof top to find out how it’s improved the neighborhood and how it’s saved the company three million dollars. Then NPR imagines what a city full of green roofs could be like.
Fun fact: The largest green roof in the United States is located on Dearborn, Michigan’s the Ford Rouge Factory.
Learn more about the Javits Center’s sustainability goals with this informative Greening Gotham promotional video:
Watch these related videos next:
• What happens if you cut down all of a city’s trees?
• Eagle Street Rooftop Farm in Brooklyn
• How are these cities saving the planet? David Attenborough explains
• Zero waste urban greenhouse in Montreal
• Designing solar panel walls that can recycle & heat greywater in Berkeley
This Webby award-winning video collection exists to help teachers, librarians, and families spark kid wonder and curiosity. TKSST features smarter, more meaningful content than what's usually served up by YouTube's algorithms, and amplifies the creators who make that content.
Curated, kid-friendly, independently-published. Support this mission by becoming a sustaining member today.