All new buildings in commercial zones across the country must comply with new environmental legislation
Rooftops on new buildings built in commercial zones in France must either be partially covered in plants or solar panels, under a law approved on Thursday.
Green roofs have an isolating effect, helping reduce the amount of energy needed to heat a building in winter and cool it in summer.
The law approved by parliament was more limited in scope than initial calls by French environmental activists to make green roofs that cover the entire surface mandatory on all new buildings.
The Socialist government convinced activists to limit the scope of the law to commercial buildings.
The law was also made less onerous for businesses by requiring only part of the roof to be covered with plants, and giving them the choice of installing solar panels to generate electricity instead.
Green roofs are popular in Germany and Australia, and Canada’s city of Toronto adopted a by-law in 2009 mandating them in industrial and residential buildings.
Now is the time …
… to defend progressive values and truthful, in-depth reporting. More people are reading the Guardian than ever, but far fewer are paying for it. Advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. And unlike some other news organisations, we haven’t put up a paywall – we want to keep our journalism as open as we can. So now we need your support. The Guardian’s independent, investigative journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce. But we do it because, at a time of fake news and ‘alternative facts’, we believe our perspective matters more than ever.
If everyone who reads our reporting, who likes it, helps to pay for it, our future would be much more secure.
