Rooftop Gardens for Urban Greening
Type of initiative
FCM Green Municipal Fund - Plans, Studies, Pilots
Sector
Water
Project value$500,000
Project Type
Pilot Project
Sub Sector
Stormwater Management
Grant amount$250,000
Program type
GMF
Municipality
Ville de Montréal, QC
Status
Fully Disbursed
Population
1,762,949
Project timeline
2010 - 2011
Project number
5435
Description
A three year field test will be conducted of a hydroponics vegetable gardening method on three municipal rooftops to determine the operational effectiveness and best practices for implementing rooftop gardening on a larger scale in Montreal. Because hydroponic rooftop gardening uses little or no soil, it does not require roof reinforcement to sustain the extra load placed on a building structure by soil-based rooftop gardens. The hydroponics test system will use a light soil-like mixture consisting of exploded rock, coconut fibre and vermi-compost. It will be built mostly of easily found and affordable materials, such as, wooden palettes, used 20 litre restaurant buckets and standard Rubbermaid containers and will be dismantled in the winter leaving a load of less than one pound per square foot. In addition to providing operational information, the field test will determine cost effectiveness, implementation barriers and the level of community engagement needed for project success. When the project is fully implemented, it is estimated that greenhouse gas will be reduced by 1,900 tonnes annually and storm water run-off by 3,000,000 litres annually. Approximately 45,500 kilograms of organic waste will be diverted from landfills annually.
Applicant
Alternatives Biodiesel Group, QC