New at Tokyo City Hall: Rooftop Greenery, Solar Power

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government is proceeding with a greening project of metropolitan government buildings, in an attempt to promote measures to deal with the heat-island effect (abnormal warming of the urban atmosphere due to the high concentration of heat-absorbing buildings and roads, and lack of greenery). As part of the project it has planted trees on the rooftop of the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly Building and installed a solar-power plant.

The 890-square meter rooftop has been planted with about 20,000 seedlings of 19 species grown in Tokyo. The rooftop solar-power plant has started operating, with a maximum capacity of 12 kilowatts, and electricity generated is provided to the electrical system of the Assembly Building.

In April 2001 the Tokyo Metropolitan Government made an overall revision of the Ordinance on the Conservation and Restoration of Nature in Tokyo, for the first time in about 30 years. Major revisions include expansion and improvement of nature conservation systems in hilly and mountain areas, reinforcement of development restrictions concerning such areas, protection of endangered animals and plants, and stronger ties with Tokyo citizens to make new approaches to preserve greenery and promote the greening of urban areas.

The revised ordinance stipulates that greening, especially of building rooftops, should be actively promoted with the aim of mitigating the heat-island effect. For construction of new public facilities of 250 square meters or more, builders must submit a rooftop greening plan and completion report. For new private facilities the threshold is 1,000 square meters. If the plans do not meet the standards, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government will require a revised plan.



Posted: 2002/11/16 06:42:32 AM
Japanese version