Green Roofs: Improving Baltimore’s Water Quality

The SituationBaltimore City has too many impervious

services that lead to increased runoffThis runoff picks up loose filth, nutrients,

overruns our sewage system and dumps it all into the Harbor during large storms

This has made the water in the Inner Harbor unsafe for swimming and has killed most biological life there

Hurricane Irene-2011“Baltimore County reported 12 incidents of

sewage pumping stations overflowing this weekend, with each incident releasing between 2,000 gallons and more than 13 million gallons of sewage mixed with rainwater, according to the state agency”

The Plan-Green RoofsGreen roofs can retain 70% of the water that

reaches themThey have been proven to work in Baltimore

(the Aquarium) but we need a comprehensive solution if we really want it to make a difference

We develop an education program for private business in Baltimore on the benefits of green roofs and offer a $10 per square foot tax credit for anyone who makes the switch to a green roof

Benfits of Green RoofsAestheticIncreased roof lifeInsulation and energy efficiencyPublic relationsWater managementAir pollution

ConclusionCurrent system is a failure and options for

change are limitedThis idea can help reduce multiple

environmental problems at onceMultiple other cities have already

implemented this tax credit successfully(New York, DC)

As of right now, it is unsafe to swim in our Inner Harbor, that has to change

Works Cited Bass, B. A. (2010, April). Using Green Roofs to Enhance Biodiversity in the City of Toronto. Retrieved 003 22, 2012,

from toronto.ca: http://www.toronto.ca/greenroofs/pdf/greenroofs_biodiversity.pdf Cantor, S. L. (2008). Green Roofs: In sustainable Landscape Design. New York: W.W. Norton & Company Inc. . Cohn, M. (2012). Look, up in the sky: green roofs. Retrieved 03 21, 2012, from Baltimore Sun:

http://www.baltimoresun.com/features/green/sns-green-eco-friendly-roofs,0,7902811.story Dimball, E. (2011, August 30). 16.5 Million Gallons of Sewage Overflow Into Baltimore County Waterways .

Retrieved 03 21, 2012, from North Baltimore Patch: http://northbaltimore.patch.com/articles/165-million-gallons-of-sewage-overflow-into-county-waterways

E. Carline Wicks, R. H. (2011). State of. Camridge, Maryland: IAN Press. Kingsbury, N. D. (2004). Planting Green Roofs and Living Walls. Portland: Timber Press, Inc. Osmundson, T. (1999). Roof Gardens: History, Design, and Construction. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. Pelton, T. (2011, 08 29). Hurricane Irene Overwhelms Sewage Systems, Releases Millions of Gallons of Waste.

Retrieved 03 22, 2012, from Bay Daily: http://cbf.typepad.com/bay_daily/2011/08/in-advance-of-tropical-storm-irene-this-weekend-the-maryland-department-of-the-environment-banned-all-harvesting-of-oysters.html

Scholz-Barth, S. T. (2004, September). Green Roofs. Retrieved 03 22, 2012, from Federal Technology Alert: http://www.ecohusky.uconn.edu/documents/NRELFedTechAlert.pdf

Thomas, J. (2012, Janurary 06). Baltimore’s harbor health leaves room for improvement. Retrieved 03 22, 2012, from University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science: http://www.umces.edu/hpl/project/baltimore%E2%80%99s-harbor-health-leaves-room-improvement

Werthmann, C. (2007). Green Roof-A Case Study. New York: Princeton Architectural Press. Wheeler, T. B. (2011, December 10). Sewage leaks foul Baltimore streams, harbor. Retrieved 03 22, 2012, from

THe Baltimore Sun: http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2011-12-10/features/bs-gr-sewer-leaks-20111210_1_sewage-leaks-sewage-overflows-raw-sewage

Yanchulis, K. (2010, July 16). Inner Harbor Water: Unsafe Bacteria Levels, Test Shows. Retrieved 03 22, 2012, from News 21: http://chesapeake.news21.com/water/inner-harbor-water-unsafe-bacteria-levels-test-shows