A Green Roof

A green roof has many advantages.  Advantages of a green roof include that they:

• are aesthetically pleasing
• reduce city "heat island" effect
• reduce carbon dioxide impact
• reduce summer air conditioning cost
• reduce winter heat demand
• lengthen roof life by two to three times
• remove nitrogen pollution in rain
• neutralize acid rain effect
• reduce noise
• reduce stormwater runoff
• provides songbird habitat (list  from http://horticulture.psu.edu/cms/greenroofcenter/history.html )

Carbon sequestration may be one of the most important effects of a green roof.

Using plants to do this is referred to as terrestrial carbon sequestration. Through the process of photosynthesis, carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere and stored as carbon in biomass. If net primary production of these ecosystems exceeds decomposition, then these systems become at the very least a short term sink for carbon. http://www.hrt.msu.edu/greenroof/

So, if you are building or renovating, consider installing a green roof.  Your new abode might look
like this! (  It is the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.  Yes, that is a building under that greeneery!)  Even if it doesn't, you will have created a positve example  and energy in the world.