Unibe University is developing the Green Roof Lab project that proposes the use of rooftops as an environmental sustainable adaptation mechanism for the mitigation of effects of climate change, flooding rains and prolonged drought in the Dominican Republic. The green roofs can replicate a natural environmental and increase water-holding capacity, stabilize micro environments that reduce temperatures. In an urban environment, green roofs have been known to be a sustainable solution to abate urban water runoff quantity, by essentially recycling rainwater, and reducing the heated island effect.
The local green roof initiative was begun in 2012, as part of the National Fund for Innovation and Scientific and Technological Development (Fondocyt) and the efforts of the Unibe University. The project has installed a series of slabs covered by crops that require minimum human intervention. The effects of the green roof technologies on temperature, runoff and other variables are being measured. Engineering and architecture students are participating in the program, as explained by environmental expert Ana Sofia Ovalle, professor at Unibe, who also works as technical advisor at the GIZ German Development Agency in Santo Domingo.
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Listin Diario
27 September 2018
