City of Chicago No. 1, Washington No. 2 in Green Roof Top 10

Green Roofs for Healthy Cities (GRHC) announced the results of its 2010 industry survey of its corporate members. Despite the severe economic downturn last year, the green roof industry grew by 16.1% over the course of 2009. In the Top Ten Cities List, Chicago led the way for the sixth year in a row, with more than 500,000 sq ft installed, followed by Washington, with 190,000 sq ft installed.

“Despite this fantastic progress, opportunities for future annual growth are enormous, with green roofs accounting for an estimated 10 million sq ft annually in an overall flat roofing industry which replaces or builds more than 4 billion sq ft in North America annually,” said Steven W. Peck, founder and president of GRHC. “I’m excited about panel discussions planned for Washington D.C. on June 2, which will focus on how to move to a higher level of adoption in the nation’s capital to meet a target of 20% green roof coverage by 2020.”

“We are definitely seeing the emergence of more public policies and direct investment that support the implementation of green roof infrastructure due to its many public benefits, such as storm water management, air quality improvement and reducing the urban heat island effect. Policies in cities such as Chicago, New York, Washington, Portland, Minneapolis, Milwaukee and Toronto, to name a few, are making a difference," said Jeffrey L. Bruce, chair, GRHC. “The industry will be further strengthened as we develop new training courses to support our more than 325 accredited Green Roof Professionals and launch our newest course--Integrated Building Water Management--in Washington, D.C. on June 1.”

Finishing out the top 10:
3. Minneapolis: 120,300;
4. Baltimore: 86,416;
5. Newtown Square, Pa.: 67,346;
6. New York: 66,171;
7. Redmond, Wash.: 51,910;
8. Montreal, Quebec, Canada: 48,500;
9. Quebec, Quebec, Canada: 48,250; and
10. Milwaukee: 45,565.

Source: Green Roofs for Healthy Cities