Are Green roofs better or worse than Solar roofs?

[LucidEnergy]

I wonder whether the benefits of a green roof outweight the benefits of having a roof fitted with solar heater/PV panels.

I don't doubt that green roofs are better than nothing, but I think that solar roofs are probably best environmentally.

[CuriousGeorge]

A lot of people actually class solar panels as green roofing. I guess the word green can either be literal or metaphorical. France's new laws for example permit solar panels as a green roof.

In terms of your question though, I think it's a matter of individual gain vs collective gain. Solar panels might benefit you and your wallet more in the long term, but real green roofs - if widespread - open up the possibility of large scale in-city crop growing, and would do wonders for a city's positive oxygen and negative CO2 levels.

[St Rhenium]

[quote author=LucidEnergy link=topic=154.msg318#msg318 date=1448464492]
I wonder whether the benefits of a green roof outweight the benefits of having a roof fitted with solar heater/PV panels.

I don't doubt that green roofs are better than nothing, but I think that solar roofs are probably best environmentally.
[/quote]
In the short term I'd opt for more solar roofing. As a society our energy usage is increasing by the day, and we need to be able to fill the demand without resorting to building more coal and oil-fired plants.

[Dramrasin]

I'm glad to have read this useful article, so it was great.

[kornelmiles]

Very interesting.