Research on green roofs has focused on grasses, sedums, and forbs. The aims of this thesis were to determine the potential of rooftop gardens (RTGs) in an urban setting to reduce local levels of CO2, remediate storm water runoff, and provide boutique vegetables for a restaurant. The garden roof footprint was 238 ft2, with 14% covered by vegetated boxes. The soil mixture used had 96% absorbency with 54.12 gallons of the 55 gallons of precipitation that fell within the rain catcher boxes absorbed. Total biomass production was 37.98 Kg of wet biomass and 5.04 Kg of dry biomass. The amount of CO2 removed equals 0.22 Kg ft-2. RTGs have a limited capacity to help sequester CO2, but retain precipitation in amounts similar to green roofs. The restaurant was provided with 4.7 Kg (wet weight) of produce (several varieties of tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant). These results support the utility of RTGs. / Bayer School of Natural and Environmental Sciences / Environmental Science and Management (ESM) / MS / Thesis
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:DUQUESNE/oai:digital.library.duq.edu:etd/154120 |
| Date | 16 April 2012 |
| Creators | Barreiro, Lisa |
| Contributors | John Stolz, Stanley Kabala, Michael Tobin, John Kern |
| Source Sets | Duquesne University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | Worldwide Access |
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