In a Manhattan Minute

Yesterday I attended graduation at The Neighborhood School (PS 363), in the East Village. Every graduation I go to is a wonderful experience, but this event was particularly special because I’m helping the school build a green roof.

The primary function of the Green Roof is the same as any other roof – it keeps water from entering the school building. However, the Green Roof is topped with a planted environment of sedum or other hardy, low-growing ground cover. This vegetation has environmental benefits like storm and rain water management, an extended roof life and a reduction of the heat island effect. At PS 363, it’s also going to be an educational tool, part of a new “Classroom in the Sky.”

But I’m not stopping with a single environmentally-friendly roof at a single school—there are many ways we can transform school roofs throughout the city:

• White roofs painted with a white coating reflect 90% of sunlight, cutting cooling costs, carbon emissions and electricity usage. My office has helped already helped paint a number of roofs white.
• Rooftop solar panels on New York City public schools have the potential to greatly increase the amount of solar energy produced in New York City. Installing solar panels on the roofs of City public schools could produce thousands of new jobs, and clean, renewable energy. Read my Rooftop Revolution report to learn more.

Using City public school rooftops for environmental, energy-production, and educational purposes is the future. Green roofs, white roofs, roofs with solar panels—we should find a way to install them on as many of our school roofs as possible. Comment or send me an email to bp@manhattanbp.org to find out how you can help us make our city greener and more energy-efficient!

This morning, Borough President Scott Stringer, joined by Go Green! Lower East Side and community groups, announced the start of the Model Block Project, a new program to turn one block of the Lower East Side into a model for energy conservation.

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