Greening education : challenges and prospects of implementing green roofs across Toronto public schools

Green roofs have been recognized as an important climate change adaptation and mitigation tool across North American Cities. As such, the City of Toronto sought regulation and incentives to encourage the adoption of green roofs across new developments and building additions, becoming the first North American City to establish mandatory legislation. While the policy has been mainly successful, Toronto School Boards have struggled to adhere to regulations. This paper seeks to identify the barriers that Toronto School Boards face in green roof implementation by undertaking an analysis of available data, resources, and literature. It also assesses the role of federal, provincial and municipal governments in alleviating barriers, providing recommendations on how they may be addressed. The aim of such research is to guide other Ontario municipalities who may look to Toronto when developing similar legislation, as the province moves to expand this permission to all municipalities. Key words: green infrastructure; green roofs; Toronto School Boards; green education