The Guardian reports that rooftops on new buildings built in commercial zones in France must either be partially covered in plants or solar panels, under a law approved on Thursday - France decrees new rooftops must be covered in plants or solar panels.

Inhabitat has a look at the effect habving a white or green roof can have on urban temperatures - How a White or Green Roof Can Keep Your Building Up to 84% Cooler This Summer

The benefits of white and green roofs are nothing new to us, but a recent study by two top NYC universities has shed light on just how effective these non-traditional roofs can be at lowering building temperatures. Non-reflective dark roofs are known to exacerbate the urban heat island effect and do absolutely nothing to reduce storm water runoff, which is why New York City sewers overflow almost every time it rains. But a recent study released by Columbia University and City University of New York has found that greening NYC rooftops or adding a few coats of white paint can reduce temperatures by as much as 84%! ...

In order to ascertain the real benefits of greening or whitewashing city rooftops, researchers studied three different roof surface treatments at the Con Edison Learning Center in Queens: a green roof, a dark roof and a white roof. Measurements on each one showed that on average the white roof was about 30 degrees fahrenheit cooler than the dark roof, while the planted sedum roof was a whopping 60 degrees cooler! NYC is working towards applying white paint to one million square feet of rooftop a year in order to reduce those draining summertime highs, but city dwellers can do their part by taking the initiative as well.

Inhabitat has a post on a rooftop farm in New York - Brooklyn Grange: World’s Largest Rooftop Farm Kicks Off Second Growing Season.

The second growing season is in full swing for the rooftop urban farmers at Brooklyn Grange. Located atop a six-story 1919 warehouse, the 40,000 square foot organic rooftop farm built by Bromley Caldari Architects is believe to be the largest of its kind in the world! The almost 1-acre farm is an oasis surrounded by little greenery and lots of concrete in Queens at 37-18 Northern Boulevard. After a successful first growing and selling season that began last spring, the farmers at Brooklyn Grange are continuing their production of organic produce that includes 40 varietals of juicy tomatoes, peppers, fennel, salad greens, kale, swiss chard, beans of all sorts and a variety of delicious root vegetables like beets, carrots, and radishes, as well as plenty of herbs. ...

Brooklyn Grange‘s organic produce is grown in 7.5” deep beds with Rooflite soil. Produced by Pennsylvania soil company Skyland, Rooflite is a lightweight soil composed of organic matter compost and small porous stones which break down to add trace minerals that are needed for the produce to grow into a healthy and mature state. The use of organic soil means that everything produced by Brooklyn Grange is sustainable and good for you. The farm had a nine-month growing season last year, and during the winter, they used cover-crops such as rye, buckwheat, vetch, and clove, resulting in a year-round production of organic goodness right in the heart of NYC.

Green Building of the week from Inhabitat is this design from Taiwan - BIG Unveils Gigantic Cube Building with a Rooftop Park.

We've admired some oddly-shaped buildings in our day, but there is something about this simple cube building by BIG Architects that is refreshing and elegant. Called TED, the 57m x 57m x 57m building resembles a gigantic sugar cube, and is meant to serve as a mixed use area for Taiwan. But there's more to the seemingly straightforward structure than meets the eye - a series of strategic hollows that have been tunneled out of the block add interest to the space and a green park that spans the entire rooftop will surely be a new favorite hangout spot for locals.

The main cutout in TED’s facade acts almost as a street, allowing visitors to walk right through the building. To make the smartest use of the space, the large tunnel coils upwards in an ascending spiral that leads from the ground floor all the way up to the verdant roof garden. The rooftop park will serve as a performance area, and restaurants on the penthouse level will open up onto the space, making it an ideal place to meet.

The building will house hotels, shops, showrooms, galleries, offices, and restaurants, welcoming in a mixed group of visitors. Composed of concrete lamellas that provide solar shading, the structure only appears to be a solid block from afar – the spaces between the ribs actually allow for ventilation and increased airflow.

WorldChanging has a post on the green roof at the Vancouver Convention Centre - Canada's Largest Green Roof.

You know an innovation has hit its stride when it becomes scalable. When we first started writing about green roofs, they were typically boutique projects -- and convincing city governments and developers to invest in their large scale production seemed like a major challenge. But decision-makers have gotten the message, and green roof design has risen to the occasion. Case in point: the new Vancouver Convention Centre, a major civic project which officially opened this past weekend, boasts the largest non-industrial roof in North America.

The six-acre rooftop garden is crafted as a habitat for the 400,000 native plants and grasses growing there, as well as for birds and bugs (it houses hives for 60,000 bees).

The building, designed by Seattle-based LMN Architects, in collaboration with Vancouver firms MCM and DA, is expected to achieve LEED Gold designation and incorporates significant green building technologies. Among them: natural daylighting, seawater heating and cooling, natural ventilation, and on-site blackwater treatment and desalinization systems that will reduce potable water use by as much as 60-70 percent (compared to similar-sized convention centers).

Another admirable detail: the center was designed to link visually and literally to the existing waterfront, providing usable public space instead of just swallowing it up. It adds 130,000 square feet of new waterfront promenade, and 120,000 square feet of new public plazas that flow (via the Seaside Greenway) into Stanley Park, Vancouver's well-used waterfront gem.