Urban Green Roofs:  A Cost-Benefit Analysis of Allegheny College

Brown, Savannah

Urban Green Roofs: A Cost-Benefit Analysis of Allegheny College

Persistent URL

http://hdl.handle.net/10456/45911

Author(s)

Brown, Savannah

Date Issued

April 2018

Abstract

Green roofs are one method of mitigation and adaptation for environmental challenges that urban areas have begun to utilize to reduce the effects of dense populations. College campuses in the United States are often much like cities within themselves, with larger populations of students and faculty in a fairly small area, similar impacts of city living can be seen from colleges as well. This study analyzes the possibility of installing green roofs on several of the academic and residential buildings of Allegheny College’s campus in Meadville, PA. An examination of the possible energy reductions that could be achieved through the installation of extensive green roofs allowed the cost savings to be compared to the total cost of green roofs to determine that without additional methods of paying for the green roofs, it is not financially beneficial to make the change to green roofs. This study found that six buildings on Allegheny’s campus fit a list of criteria to be considered for a green roof, but it would only make financial sense to carry out the project for one of the buildings based on energy savings and payback time. If the project were to be carried out as a whole, the college could save between $7,667.96 and $30,263.81 per year, but the total cost of the project would be too large for this to be enough savings to pay it back in a reasonable timeframe. Five out of six of the buildings included in this study had too long of payback times to be recommended for a green roof. The one building that was found to have a reasonable payback time and that should be seriously considered for a green roof is Pelletier Library, with a best-case-scenario payback time of 10 years and a worst-case-scenario time of 70 years.

Major

Environmental Science / Studies

First Reader(s)

Carbone, Ian A.