What began as a plan to require green roofs has shifted into the realm of cool roofs. According to the agenda for the Oct. 29 City Council meeting, a required public hearing will be held on Council Bill 18-1134, which amends the city’s revised municipal code concerning green buildings as well as other amendments. The city council will then vote on the measure.
It has been almost a year since Denver voters approved Amendment 300, which required green roofs to be used on new buildings and reroofing jobs on buildings larger than 25,000 square feet. The sweep of the amendment took some by surprise, as you can imagine.
But instead of pushing back too far or ignoring it in general, the city brought officials and people on both sides of the measure together to figure out the best way to keep the spirit of what people voted for. The solution was to turn to cool roofs, that is, light-colored roofs to help reduce the heat island affect in Denver.
At a meeting earlier this month, it was apparent that both those who supported Amendment 300 and city officials had come to a meeting of the minds (I attended that meeting, and found the discussion admirably smart). A few speakers representing roofing interests spoke against the new conciliatory measure, but the group working on finding a way to make this work.
To get up to speed, here are two links that lay out the plan: one is from today’s Denver Post, which is advancing Monday’s public hearing and city council vote, and another from Denverite, with coverage from the Oct. 11 meeting.
https://www.denverpost.com/2018/10/27/denver-cool-roof-law/
Chandler in Denver 