Green roofs are popular in Germany and Australia, and in Canada Toronto adopted a by-law in 2009 mandating them in industrial and residential buildings. Now, under a new law, rooftops on new buildings built in commercial zones in France must either be partially covered in plants or solar panels. Green roofs have an isolating effect, helping reduce the amount of energy needed to heat a building in winter and cool it in summer. They also retain rainwater, thus helping reduce problems with runoff, while favouring biodiversity and giving birds a place to nest in the urban jungle.

Initially, French environmental activists asked for green roofs that cover the entire surface to be mandatory on all new buildings. The Socialist government convinced activists to limit the scope of the law to commercial buildings and to require only part of the roof to be covered with plants, giving companies the choice of installing solar panels to generate electricity instead. But at least it’s a step in the right direction.

Compare this with a big mixed commercial and non-commercial development to be started shortly, right opposite where I live. It replaces a rather nice building, built only in the 1980s, with a modern, boring thing with no recognisable advantages. Solar panels? Green roof? Forget it. Just cheap and featureless. What a lack of imagination! We can now expect two years of noise, dust, pile-driving and truck activity without seeing any commensurate improvement in the environment. This is wholly anti-Epicurean, but is o.k’d by conservative local politicians, so it must be good for the economy, yes? (just joking)