Building owners in France are required to cover roofs with solar panels or plants

The new law, approved by the French parliament last week, obliges property owners in the commercial zone to cover the roofs of buildings with either plants (the so-called "green roofs") or solar panels. Green roofs provide a certain level of thermal insulation, helping to reduce the amount of energy required to heat a building in winter or cool in summer.

Also, a roof of this type practically eliminates the problem of excess rainwater, when during heavy rainfall a mass of water rushes from the roofs of buildings into a storm sewer. Plus, birds get the opportunity to nest on the roofs of buildings, it turns out something like an urban jungle.

The bill was proposed by representatives of environmental organizations, however, in its original form, the bill obliged to cover the entire roof area of ​​the building with green spaces. Parliamentarians slightly reduced the number of requirements for building owners. So, in the adopted law, in the edited version, the owner of commercial real estate is obliged to cover only part of the roof of the building with green spaces. In addition, the owner can install solar panels instead.





"Green Roofs" is quite common in Germany, Australia and some cities in Canada (in particular, Toronto). In Toronto, the Green Roofs Act was passed back in 2009. Norwegian architects use this technique.