Economic Benefits and Costs of Green Roofs

Green roofs are well-known as a sustainable construction practice. Economical benefits of green roofs have been widely discussed by many researchers. This chapter starts with an extensive literature review on the benefits and costs of green roofs. The quantitative estimates of individual and public benefits of green roofs were conducted, and lifecycle costs of green roofs from cradle to grave were analyzed. The net present values per unit area of a green roof were accessed by considering the individual benefits, public benefits, and lifecycle costs. A comparable assessment was performed to evaluate the payback period of green roofs in different markets. The analysis demonstrated that the lifecycle cost of green roofs can be paid back by individual benefits in a mature market. If the public benefits are added into the assessment, the lifecycle cost of green roofs can be retrieved in most of the markets.