NEGOTIATIONS
FOCUS
PROCESS
KEY STEPS
|
|
The future of green roofs in Egypt
|
|
|
Focus areas: Mitigation; Adaptation
Location: Giza, Egypt
Established: September 2011
|
|
Cairo is Egypt’s largest city, with a population of 11 million inhabitants, as with any large
urban location, it is suffering from the environmental problems that this sort of population and growth
brings. This activity would install green-roofs, which are seen as an effective strategy to solve these
problems. Green-roofs are literally that – agricultural growth that takes place on the rooftops
mainly in urban areas. These roofs have many benefits, including mitigating urban heat islands,
improving energy efficiency in buildings, reducing storm water runoff and increasing biodiversity. They
can also enhance the lifespan of roofs.
|
|
Mitigation / Adaptation
|
Benefits
|
Potential for scaling-up and replication
|
|
This activity is expected to aid in mitigation of air quality problems as well as help with
electricity supply/demand. Air quality measurements in Cairo have shown dangerous levels of
lead, carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide and other matters due to unregulated vehicle emissions
and urban settlements. The Ministry of Electricity and Energy recently began to institute power
cuts as a means of trying to conserve energy and meet the growing demand. Green roofs, by
making buildings much more energy efficient, may help with energy conversation as well as help
with air quality issues.
|
Green roof technology offers a wide range of social and economic benefits. Some of these
include: storm water management, reductions in airborne particulate matter as well as
moderation of the urban heat island effect. As a result of these mitigations, communities will
gain economic, health and environmental advantages from this.
A significant portion of the activity will involve retrofitting existing buildings. It has
already been shown that retrofitting for green roofs works in other countries and that
knowledge would be transferable to an Egyptian context.
|
In Egypt, soil-less agriculture is already used to grow plants on the roofs of buildings. No
direct planting process on the roof itself, instead the plants are grown on wooden tables,
providing a fresh and healthy source of food. These green-roofs could spread in the country,
responsive to climate change issues. Moreover, many schools are already using this technology.
|
|
|
|
Organizations
|
AUC - DDC (Educational - Execution);
AUC - SSE (Educational - Consultancy)
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
