Interactive Quiz
Insulation can save money on heating and electrical bills and help conquer the problem of global warming. Another example of housing that reduces heat loss is green roofs. Green roofs are roofs on top of buildings that have vegetation such as plants (which take in CO2 and release O2 ) on the roof. This helps reduce heat loss because the vegetation plugs most holes in the roof, preventing it from escaping the buildings. Another great feature of green roofs is that it can use the heat and light from the sun above the building to convert carbon dioxide (a greenhouse gas that causes global climate change) into oxygen (that we breathe). This causes the building to be cool in summer since the heat from the sun is absorbed by the plants and replaced by less carbon dioxide and more oxygen. In winter, the building becomes warmer because it blocks heat from inside the building from escaping. Green roofs also work during winter with a little glass greenhouse for the plants. There are two types of green roofs – extensive and intensive. Intensive roofs have more soil and more precipitation and therefore more favorable conditions for plants, but costs more and may require infrastructural changes to the building. Extensive roofs have little soil and little precipitation and therefore stressful conditions for plants, but costs less and is very easy to maintain. Cost-benefit analysis Costs Benefits Cellulose fibers bond poorly to construction materials 2 Saves $1000s of dollars on heating bills and heaters 4 Polystyrene insulation contains HCFCs and HFCs which create ozone holes 5 Straw bale insulation reduces 40 million tons of unused agricultural straw bales 5 Insulation materials involving any foam or rubber is highly flammable if there is a fire occurs 4 Saves 150,592,666,840 (150.5 billion) tonnes of CO2 and other greenhouse gases annually in Canada produced in order to keep buildings that are losing heat warm 5 Over-expanding foam may cause damage to wood and metal and cause damage to the framework of windows and frames 2 Keeps unwanted pests such as mice, rats and cockroaches out and keeps more pest poison out of the atmosphere and the lithosphere 4 Abestos insulation can cause several types of cancer 5 Glazing windows saves another 0.72 tonnes of CO2 per household (7,790,436 tonnes total in Canada) 2 TOTAL 18 TOTAL 20