WTF? Enviro Car Wash installs green "Live Roof"

[ScoobMaster]

This carwash was just built and opened up a few blocks down the road from me. Apparently they just put plants on their roof:

Green Gable rises in Endwell

WTF??!!! I mean what is the point? 87000 lbs and tons of unnecessary materials and support just so it "... retains rainwater and doesn’t immediately release it into storm drains.." At least plant some food producing plants up there or something.

Environmentalism is a mental disease.

 

[ElFenix]

drainage is a huge problem in houston and i would welcome stuff like this.

 

[Fear No Evil]

drainage is a huge problem in houston and i would welcome stuff like this.

2000 sq feet. It would be like taking a thimble of water to the ocean and thinking it will help rising sea levels. I wonder how many natural resources were consumed over a normal building to support this massive weight.

This is the problem with environmentalism these days. You can't throw up some solar panels on your roof which cost more in energy to produce than they save over the next 30 years and claim you care about the environment. Now, if the carwash would somehow store and rainwater to wash cars without a net loss of resources/energy to do it.. I'd be all for it.

 

[ElFenix]

2000 sq feet. It would be like taking a thimble of water to the ocean and thinking it will help rising sea levels. I wonder how many natural resources were consumed over a normal building to support this massive weight.

2000 sq feet of concrete doesn't contribute that much to the drainage problem, the issue is that everyone has 2000 sq feet of concrete spaced right next to each other.

 

[blackdogdeek]

<devil's advocate mode=true>

so i shouldn't recycle because the amount of actual good i'm doing by recycling won't make a dent in the total amount of recycling necessary?

<devil's advocate mode=false>

 

[ScoobMaster]

My WTF reaction (and why I posted) is illustrated by Fear No Evil. The concept of what they are doing doesn't bother me - it is the implementation. To me it is analogous to spending $100 for a normally $20 item to reap a rebate reward of $5.00 and then claim you did it in the name of "saving money"

 

[chuckywang]

LOL you want to food producing plants growing on a roof like that? Who's gonna pick it?

 

[Scotteq]

It's a TRAP!!!

The Plants are there to attract Birds




...so you have to wash your car again

 

[blackdogdeek]

It's a TRAP!!!

The Plants are there to attract Birds




...so you have to wash your car again

literal lol

 

[Capt Caveman]

Rooftop garden will also act as insulation.

 

[lxskllr]

2000 sq feet of concrete doesn't contribute that much to the drainage problem, the issue is that everyone has 2000 sq feet of concrete spaced right next to each other.

^^^ This

A lot of people doing a little bit can make a huge difference. The "all or nothing" mindset is retarded, and is a large reason the world eats shit.

Can't power LA on solar alone? Well then, solar's fuckin' worthless :^S Never mind that you have miles of flat worthless surfaces that would be perfect for capturing sun, and prevent rolling brownouts due to the other small thinkers overextending the hydro resources they have :^S

 

[PaperclipGod]

^^^ This

A lot of people doing a little bit can make a huge difference. The "all or nothing" mindset is retarded, and is a large reason the world eats shit.

Can't power LA on solar alone? Well then, solar's fuckin' worthless :^S Never mind that you have miles of flat worthless surfaces that would be perfect for capturing sun, and prevent rolling brownouts due to the other small thinkers overextending the hydro resources they have :^S

Rewind to "...costs more energy to produce and install than will be saved during the products installed lifetime..."

 

[lxskllr]

Rewind to "...costs more energy to produce and install than will be saved during the products installed lifetime..."

Aside from the fact that that was only 1 example of thousands I could think of, solar is about $8 per watt, installed. When weighed against current demand, and projected future demand, the cost becomes very attractive, especially with power company subsidies. Add in USA based jobs, and it makes the bottom line for everyone even better.

All that is only taking money into account. The west coast is spread pretty thin as far as power goes, and grid power is getting close to unavailable at any price. Again, we're getting back to the small thinking. There's more to the equation than money alone....

 

[PaperclipGod]

There's more to the equation than money alone....

Commie.

 

[zinfamous]

uh, that's an extremely common green upgrade. very useful.

OP is a being a fool.

 

[highland145]

Goes with the car wash.

 

[Aikouka]

Maybe I'll have to check out the weird roof when I'm back in NY next month.

<devil's advocate mode=true>

so i shouldn't recycle because the amount of actual good i'm doing by recycling won't make a dent in the total amount of recycling necessary?

<devil's advocate mode=false>

If there was any truth in Penn and Teller's episode on recycling, the only cost-positive material to recycle is aluminum . So that would be why you shouldn't recycle that milk jug!

 

[1sikbITCH]

This carwash was just built and opened up a few blocks down the road from me. Apparently they just put plants on their roof:

Green Gable rises in Endwell

WTF??!!! I mean what is the point? 87000 lbs and tons of unnecessary materials and support just so it "... retains rainwater and doesn’t immediately release it into storm drains.." At least plant some food producing plants up there or something.

Environmentalism is a mental disease.

It's a marketing gimmick.

 

[imagoon]

This isn't exactly new. They have quite few of them in Chicago. If I recall correctly one of the city buildings did this on 1/2 the building and they also found that the cost to heat and cool the "garden" 1/2 of the building dropped significantly along with slowing rain water and providing gray water for the toilets.

Edit:

http://www.greenroofs.com/projects/pview.php?id=21

 

[mmntech]

Back when I was in university, the school installed a green roof on the new gym complex. They do have some benefits. It supposedly insulates better. Also eliminated the need to tar it every few years, since the grass protects it from the weather. Mind you, the costs still outweigh the supposed gains.

The green economy is basically a pyramid scheme. Spend a fortune now for a bunch of mights and maybes in the future.

 

[mpo]

A number of places around here have installed sedum-based living roofs. They choose sedum because it is very hardy, requires little maintenance, and can tolerate temperature fluctuations.

The Ford River Rouge Plant near Detroit has a >10 acre living roof.

And, as you might expect, the increase of impervious surfaces puts pressure on our storm sewers. Marginal reductions in the amount of peak flows can have measurable impacts on water quality.

 

[imagoon]

Back when I was in university, the school installed a green roof on the new gym complex. They do have some benefits. It supposedly insulates better. Also eliminated the need to tar it every few years, since the grass protects it from the weather. Mind you, the costs still outweigh the supposed gains.

The green economy is basically a pyramid scheme. Spend a fortune now for a bunch of mights and maybes in the future.

It depends on how it is done. If they do a full landscaped "native plants" type thing then yes the cost will never be recovered. Sod style however is very cheap and generally has the same effect. The one is Chicago is basically a park on the roof the building. So the cost was similar to the botanical gardens. If it was just sod you would pay to have the barrier dropped and the thing sodded. Then have someone go up there and cut 2 times a month.

 

[Scotteq]

It's a marketing gimmick.

Absolutely!!

It's a TRAP!!!

The Plants are there to attract Birds




...so you have to wash your car again

See?

 

[MikeyIs4Dcats]

green roofs actually do make a big impact on runoff. you would be amazed at how many gallons of water flow off a roof during a storm.

 

[alien42]

OP is a retard