The Situation
 Baltimore City has too many impervious services that
lead to increased runoff
 This runoff picks up loose filth, nutrients, overruns
our sewage system and dumps it all into the Harbor
during large storms
 This has made the water in the Inner Harbor unsafe for
swimming and has killed most biological life there
Hurricane Irene-2011
 “Baltimore County reported 12 incidents of sewage
pumping stations overflowing this weekend, with each
incident releasing between 2,000 gallons and more
than 13 million gallons of sewage mixed with rainwater,
according to the state agency”
The Plan-Green Roofs
 Green roofs can retain 70% of the water that reaches
them
 They have been proven to work in Baltimore (the
Aquarium) but we need a comprehensive solution if
we really want it to make a difference
 We develop an education program for private business
in Baltimore on the benefits of green roofs and offer a
$10 per square foot tax credit for anyone who makes
the switch to a green roof
Benfits of Green Roofs
 Aesthetic
 Increased roof life
 Insulation and energy efficiency
 Public relations
 Water management
 Air pollution
Conclusion
 Current system is a failure and options for change are
limited
 This idea can help reduce multiple environmental
problems at once
 Multiple other cities have already implemented this
tax credit successfully(New York, DC)
 As of right now, it is unsafe to swim in our Inner
Harbor, that has to change
Works Cited













Bass, B. A. (2010, April). Using Green Roofs to Enhance Biodiversity in the City of Toronto. Retrieved 003 22, 2012, from
toronto.ca: http://www.toronto.ca/greenroofs/pdf/greenroofs_biodiversity.pdf
Cantor, S. L. (2008). Green Roofs: In sustainable Landscape Design. New York: W.W. Norton & Company Inc. .
Cohn, M. (2012). Look, up in the sky: green roofs. Retrieved 03 21, 2012, from Baltimore Sun:
http://www.baltimoresun.com/features/green/sns-green-eco-friendly-roofs,0,7902811.story
Dimball, E. (2011, August 30). 16.5 Million Gallons of Sewage Overflow Into Baltimore County Waterways . Retrieved 03
21, 2012, from North Baltimore Patch: http://northbaltimore.patch.com/articles/165-million-gallons-of-sewageoverflow-into-county-waterways
E. Carline Wicks, R. H. (2011). State of. Camridge, Maryland: IAN Press.
Kingsbury, N. D. (2004). Planting Green Roofs and Living Walls. Portland: Timber Press, Inc.
Osmundson, T. (1999). Roof Gardens: History, Design, and Construction. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.
Pelton, T. (2011, 08 29). Hurricane Irene Overwhelms Sewage Systems, Releases Millions of Gallons of Waste. Retrieved
03 22, 2012, from Bay Daily: http://cbf.typepad.com/bay_daily/2011/08/in-advance-of-tropical-storm-irene-thisweekend-the-maryland-department-of-the-environment-banned-all-harvesting-of-oysters.html
Scholz-Barth, S. T. (2004, September). Green Roofs. Retrieved 03 22, 2012, from Federal Technology Alert:
http://www.ecohusky.uconn.edu/documents/NRELFedTechAlert.pdf
Thomas, J. (2012, Janurary 06). Baltimore’s harbor health leaves room for improvement. Retrieved 03 22, 2012, from
University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science:
http://www.umces.edu/hpl/project/baltimore%E2%80%99s-harbor-health-leaves-room-improvement
Werthmann, C. (2007). Green Roof-A Case Study. New York: Princeton Architectural Press.
Wheeler, T. B. (2011, December 10). Sewage leaks foul Baltimore streams, harbor. Retrieved 03 22, 2012, from THe
Baltimore Sun: http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2011-12-10/features/bs-gr-sewer-leaks-20111210_1_sewage-leakssewage-overflows-raw-sewage
Yanchulis, K. (2010, July 16). Inner Harbor Water: Unsafe Bacteria Levels, Test Shows. Retrieved 03 22, 2012, from News
21: http://chesapeake.news21.com/water/inner-harbor-water-unsafe-bacteria-levels-test-shows