1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:04,440 Speaker 1: Yeah, welcome to Stuff from the Science Lab from how 2 00:00:04,480 --> 00:00:16,280 Speaker 1: stuff works dot com. Wow, hey guys, a welcome podcast. 3 00:00:16,320 --> 00:00:18,520 Speaker 1: This is Alice Manauth, the science editor at how staff 4 00:00:18,520 --> 00:00:20,680 Speaker 1: works dot com. And this is Robert Lamb, science writer 5 00:00:20,760 --> 00:00:23,000 Speaker 1: at how stuff works dot com. And since you guys 6 00:00:23,040 --> 00:00:25,720 Speaker 1: are listening to us, you often can't tell what shenanigans 7 00:00:25,760 --> 00:00:28,320 Speaker 1: were up to here at the house Stuff Works headquarters 8 00:00:28,400 --> 00:00:31,880 Speaker 1: in Atlanta. But one of the shenanigans we have going 9 00:00:31,960 --> 00:00:34,840 Speaker 1: on is a grilla gardening escapade. And you can talk 10 00:00:34,840 --> 00:00:36,720 Speaker 1: a little bit more about this than I can. Yeah, 11 00:00:36,720 --> 00:00:39,800 Speaker 1: a few of our co workers, um Mark, Candice and 12 00:00:39,880 --> 00:00:44,559 Speaker 1: Marie um set out to occupy our empty planners out 13 00:00:44,560 --> 00:00:46,320 Speaker 1: on the patio. We have a five of these things, 14 00:00:46,360 --> 00:00:50,839 Speaker 1: like big concrete monstrosities, and for like over a year, 15 00:00:51,040 --> 00:00:53,519 Speaker 1: all they've had in them have been dirt and uh, 16 00:00:53,880 --> 00:00:56,240 Speaker 1: like a few weeds and people have been I was 17 00:00:56,280 --> 00:01:00,000 Speaker 1: actually like occasionally composting like an apple core out there. 18 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:03,080 Speaker 1: So we had a few like doomed apple trees and 19 00:01:03,160 --> 00:01:05,319 Speaker 1: you know, coming out and occasionally someone thrown orange peel 20 00:01:05,360 --> 00:01:08,160 Speaker 1: in or or sadly a cigarette. But but that was 21 00:01:08,200 --> 00:01:10,679 Speaker 1: all and bet I know who that was. Yeah, yeah, 22 00:01:11,040 --> 00:01:14,160 Speaker 1: I think we probably both do. But but anyway, nobody's 23 00:01:14,160 --> 00:01:16,600 Speaker 1: doing anything with it. And for there was some rumblings like, hey, 24 00:01:16,720 --> 00:01:18,480 Speaker 1: you know, we should go out here and plant this, 25 00:01:18,480 --> 00:01:20,080 Speaker 1: because for a while you're like, oh, well, maybe you know, 26 00:01:20,160 --> 00:01:22,080 Speaker 1: somebody else is gonna do it, maybe like the building's 27 00:01:22,120 --> 00:01:24,600 Speaker 1: gonna take care of it. But they're not. So they 28 00:01:24,600 --> 00:01:26,720 Speaker 1: set out. They brought in some soil, they brought in 29 00:01:26,800 --> 00:01:29,120 Speaker 1: some some seeds and planet like some you know, it's 30 00:01:29,120 --> 00:01:32,080 Speaker 1: like tomatoes and basil and all this and lo and 31 00:01:32,120 --> 00:01:34,240 Speaker 1: behold it's sprouted and you can go out there now 32 00:01:34,280 --> 00:01:38,320 Speaker 1: and we have planners full of green things. However, if 33 00:01:38,319 --> 00:01:40,880 Speaker 1: you walk out on the patio, you know, right now, 34 00:01:41,000 --> 00:01:45,520 Speaker 1: in the heat of the Georgia summer, it's gonna be 35 00:01:45,560 --> 00:01:47,960 Speaker 1: a whopper. The sun is going to blast your face 36 00:01:48,000 --> 00:01:51,800 Speaker 1: off and the heat hits you almost like a physical force. Yeah, 37 00:01:51,840 --> 00:01:53,960 Speaker 1: it just it makes you slow and it makes you stupid, 38 00:01:54,600 --> 00:01:57,960 Speaker 1: which which we found out at the Discover Your Impact 39 00:01:58,040 --> 00:02:00,320 Speaker 1: day last week when we did this service project, right 40 00:02:00,360 --> 00:02:02,000 Speaker 1: right when we were digging in the dirt. Yeah, it 41 00:02:02,040 --> 00:02:04,080 Speaker 1: just makes you Like I was having a conversation with 42 00:02:04,360 --> 00:02:06,680 Speaker 1: one of our coworkers about how we used to have 43 00:02:06,720 --> 00:02:09,720 Speaker 1: offices on the eleventh floor. But now we're in and 44 00:02:09,919 --> 00:02:11,560 Speaker 1: uh and how I wasn't sure if we had something 45 00:02:11,560 --> 00:02:14,120 Speaker 1: on sixteen, but I was just saying fifteen for everyone, 46 00:02:14,320 --> 00:02:17,160 Speaker 1: So it was really confusing for him and I, you know, 47 00:02:17,280 --> 00:02:19,480 Speaker 1: it's just hapt your brain. But the thing is, it's 48 00:02:19,480 --> 00:02:21,480 Speaker 1: like if you walk out on that patio after the 49 00:02:21,520 --> 00:02:24,520 Speaker 1: sun has gone down, it's still hot because there's all 50 00:02:24,520 --> 00:02:28,000 Speaker 1: that heat still emanating up off the concrete. Robert. That 51 00:02:28,040 --> 00:02:30,280 Speaker 1: has a scientific name, doesn't it. Yes, that is the 52 00:02:30,280 --> 00:02:33,440 Speaker 1: heat island effect. Yeah, And like you might imagine, the 53 00:02:33,440 --> 00:02:36,400 Speaker 1: heat island effect is something that's largely confined to cities. 54 00:02:36,440 --> 00:02:40,160 Speaker 1: And why because cities are, of course mostly man made structures. 55 00:02:40,680 --> 00:02:43,799 Speaker 1: Cities are made with materials that often have low albedos, right, 56 00:02:43,880 --> 00:02:47,280 Speaker 1: or the ability of objects to reflect solar radiation. So 57 00:02:47,400 --> 00:02:49,440 Speaker 1: the classic example, I think, if you're wearing a white 58 00:02:49,440 --> 00:02:52,120 Speaker 1: T shirt, it's going to have high albedo, and a 59 00:02:52,120 --> 00:02:54,560 Speaker 1: black T shirt has low albedo, And cities are a 60 00:02:54,600 --> 00:02:57,920 Speaker 1: lot like those black T shirts, right. And when you 61 00:02:57,960 --> 00:02:59,639 Speaker 1: think about it, I mean, what is the city it's 62 00:02:59,720 --> 00:03:03,400 Speaker 1: you know, oh, it's asphalt that that absorbs all that heat. 63 00:03:03,520 --> 00:03:06,880 Speaker 1: It's um you know, city buildings, it's tenements, it's all 64 00:03:06,880 --> 00:03:11,160 Speaker 1: this stuff. It's enormous parking lots full of full of 65 00:03:11,400 --> 00:03:13,880 Speaker 1: you know, just black asphalt. And then of course you're 66 00:03:13,880 --> 00:03:16,320 Speaker 1: suffering from a lack of vegetation unless maybe you do 67 00:03:16,440 --> 00:03:18,720 Speaker 1: have a lot of green roofs or guerrilla gardening going 68 00:03:18,760 --> 00:03:21,480 Speaker 1: on in your particular city. And so that means cities 69 00:03:21,480 --> 00:03:25,359 Speaker 1: don't benefit from the cooling effects of something called evapo transporation. 70 00:03:25,840 --> 00:03:30,160 Speaker 1: And evapo transporation facilitates more cooling by using heat to 71 00:03:30,200 --> 00:03:33,320 Speaker 1: evaporate water from the whatever you're you're growing the plants 72 00:03:33,320 --> 00:03:34,880 Speaker 1: in and the plant surfaces. So this is kind of 73 00:03:34,920 --> 00:03:37,960 Speaker 1: a handy process that we like a lot of appo transporation, right, 74 00:03:38,080 --> 00:03:41,560 Speaker 1: not happening so much in the cities, right. But yeah, 75 00:03:41,600 --> 00:03:44,800 Speaker 1: back to the patio. The patio is not a green 76 00:03:44,880 --> 00:03:48,200 Speaker 1: roof today. We're talking about green roofs. Yes, indeed, the 77 00:03:48,200 --> 00:03:50,320 Speaker 1: patio is just you know, it's good. It's it's a 78 00:03:50,440 --> 00:03:53,080 Speaker 1: it's a great thing we're doing out there. Uh you know, 79 00:03:53,120 --> 00:03:55,839 Speaker 1: it's it's making things a little prettier. Air qualities maybe 80 00:03:55,880 --> 00:03:58,920 Speaker 1: a little better, but maybe with some fresh tomatoes with lunch. Yeah, 81 00:03:58,960 --> 00:04:03,240 Speaker 1: But but no green roof is something um a little different, right, 82 00:04:03,280 --> 00:04:04,640 Speaker 1: So what is a green roof? I mean, on a 83 00:04:04,680 --> 00:04:07,240 Speaker 1: basic level, it's really just a layer of vegetation on 84 00:04:07,840 --> 00:04:12,920 Speaker 1: a home, on a commercial building, any structure with the roof, basically, 85 00:04:13,040 --> 00:04:16,000 Speaker 1: unless the roof is so pitched that having a green 86 00:04:16,080 --> 00:04:19,080 Speaker 1: roof would be impossible. Yeah, and may I know maybe 87 00:04:19,080 --> 00:04:20,560 Speaker 1: if you had like a f roof, you could like 88 00:04:20,560 --> 00:04:23,120 Speaker 1: grow things in it. I suppose so, And we could 89 00:04:23,120 --> 00:04:25,880 Speaker 1: be talking about anything from just putting groundcover up on 90 00:04:25,920 --> 00:04:28,520 Speaker 1: top of the roof to building a huge park. And 91 00:04:28,560 --> 00:04:31,760 Speaker 1: I think when most of us think things like green roofs, 92 00:04:32,560 --> 00:04:35,560 Speaker 1: we think of, you know, this lush setting. We think of, 93 00:04:35,920 --> 00:04:38,119 Speaker 1: you know, lots of plants. We think a little walk ways, 94 00:04:38,160 --> 00:04:40,320 Speaker 1: We think of a bench maybe to sit down and 95 00:04:40,360 --> 00:04:42,719 Speaker 1: eat your tuna fish sandwich. What's the one in Chicago 96 00:04:42,800 --> 00:04:45,599 Speaker 1: that looks amazing Chicago City Hall? Yeah, Like you see 97 00:04:45,600 --> 00:04:47,360 Speaker 1: pictures of that and it's like it's like an eden 98 00:04:47,480 --> 00:04:49,760 Speaker 1: up there. It's like the hanging you know, gardens of Babylon. 99 00:04:49,880 --> 00:04:52,640 Speaker 1: You can imagine Chicago. You can imagine what was the 100 00:04:53,200 --> 00:05:00,200 Speaker 1: mayor daily the governor. Yeah, you can just imagine him 101 00:05:00,279 --> 00:05:03,520 Speaker 1: up there, like being fed grapes as you like reclined 102 00:05:03,560 --> 00:05:07,719 Speaker 1: on something. You know, that's exactly what I think of, right, 103 00:05:07,800 --> 00:05:10,080 Speaker 1: So in that and that can be a green roof, 104 00:05:10,800 --> 00:05:13,880 Speaker 1: but not necessarily right, So that kind of roof that 105 00:05:13,880 --> 00:05:16,320 Speaker 1: we're talking about, this lush setting is going to be 106 00:05:16,360 --> 00:05:19,000 Speaker 1: an intensive green roof. And there are really two main types. 107 00:05:19,200 --> 00:05:22,120 Speaker 1: So intensive is one, and uh, it's gonna be park 108 00:05:22,200 --> 00:05:23,760 Speaker 1: like like we're getting at. And it's also going to 109 00:05:23,800 --> 00:05:26,520 Speaker 1: be a heavier load to bear on the underlying structure. 110 00:05:27,040 --> 00:05:29,000 Speaker 1: I mean, after all, you're gonna have people chomping around 111 00:05:29,080 --> 00:05:31,960 Speaker 1: up there, and uh, it's going to be more costly, 112 00:05:32,720 --> 00:05:34,640 Speaker 1: and of course you'll need an irrigation system for all 113 00:05:34,680 --> 00:05:38,640 Speaker 1: those plants, those lovely plants you'll have. But so you 114 00:05:38,680 --> 00:05:40,880 Speaker 1: still want to do a green roof, but maybe you're 115 00:05:40,880 --> 00:05:45,080 Speaker 1: not interested in something so extraordinary. So yeah, so in 116 00:05:45,120 --> 00:05:47,560 Speaker 1: that case, you go with what they call an extensive 117 00:05:48,279 --> 00:05:51,600 Speaker 1: green roof, right, less maintenance, it's less lush, and you're 118 00:05:51,600 --> 00:05:55,000 Speaker 1: gonna have substrate between less than an inch and six inches. 119 00:05:55,040 --> 00:05:57,400 Speaker 1: And all they mean here is think about the level 120 00:05:57,400 --> 00:05:59,520 Speaker 1: that you're going to go down to plant. Right, that's 121 00:05:59,560 --> 00:06:01,359 Speaker 1: where we're at. That's what we're talking about. With a substrate, 122 00:06:01,440 --> 00:06:03,640 Speaker 1: think of your vegetative layer and then all the way 123 00:06:03,680 --> 00:06:07,080 Speaker 1: down to uh the actual roof lair. So if you 124 00:06:07,080 --> 00:06:10,440 Speaker 1: think of that distance, um, with an extensive green roof, 125 00:06:10,720 --> 00:06:13,080 Speaker 1: that distance is going to be about six inches, whereas 126 00:06:13,120 --> 00:06:17,320 Speaker 1: if you have an intensive green roof, the vegetation can 127 00:06:17,360 --> 00:06:20,000 Speaker 1: go down to about four ft. I've seen Yeah, I 128 00:06:20,000 --> 00:06:22,360 Speaker 1: actually got to see an extensive green roof last week 129 00:06:22,400 --> 00:06:25,760 Speaker 1: at the Woodroof Arts Center here in Atlanta, right and 130 00:06:25,760 --> 00:06:27,479 Speaker 1: you've blogged about it too. There are pictures of it. 131 00:06:27,520 --> 00:06:31,720 Speaker 1: What I'm saying, Yeah, from part of our energy three deal. Um. Yeah, 132 00:06:31,760 --> 00:06:33,200 Speaker 1: they let me go up there and uh and take 133 00:06:33,200 --> 00:06:35,800 Speaker 1: a look at the rooftop and it's you walk up 134 00:06:35,839 --> 00:06:39,359 Speaker 1: there and it basically looks like someone just took a 135 00:06:39,440 --> 00:06:42,120 Speaker 1: bunch of planners with like, you know, some gravel and 136 00:06:42,160 --> 00:06:44,800 Speaker 1: some little seed ums, you know, these semi succulent little 137 00:06:45,160 --> 00:06:47,520 Speaker 1: desert plants. A big fan of the seed um by 138 00:06:47,520 --> 00:06:49,279 Speaker 1: the way, I don't know if you've put a planet 139 00:06:49,360 --> 00:06:51,120 Speaker 1: any of those with your wife, but you know, we 140 00:06:51,120 --> 00:06:53,159 Speaker 1: have a little a little succulent garden. I think we 141 00:06:53,200 --> 00:06:55,520 Speaker 1: have set ums in there right well, and that's key 142 00:06:55,640 --> 00:06:57,760 Speaker 1: to what you plant on your roof, because of course 143 00:06:57,760 --> 00:06:59,919 Speaker 1: they're gonna be bearing the brunt of this intense sun, 144 00:07:00,040 --> 00:07:02,000 Speaker 1: especially in the summertime, it might not be getting a 145 00:07:02,000 --> 00:07:04,520 Speaker 1: lot of rain. Um, Like like in Atlanta, you know, 146 00:07:04,520 --> 00:07:06,920 Speaker 1: we're kind of prone to droughts recently, right, So you're 147 00:07:06,920 --> 00:07:10,280 Speaker 1: gonna want to make sure plants are heat and drought tolerant, 148 00:07:10,800 --> 00:07:13,200 Speaker 1: and then you're also going to want to supplement their 149 00:07:13,240 --> 00:07:15,800 Speaker 1: water use with the irrigation system. Depend upon what you 150 00:07:15,800 --> 00:07:17,280 Speaker 1: have going on up there. Yeah, Like for instance, the 151 00:07:17,280 --> 00:07:20,480 Speaker 1: would roof they have there what wood, Well, it's basically 152 00:07:20,560 --> 00:07:22,400 Speaker 1: walk up there. It's like a grid of planners, like 153 00:07:22,440 --> 00:07:25,200 Speaker 1: the whole rooftop flat roof grid of planners, and then 154 00:07:25,200 --> 00:07:27,480 Speaker 1: it's two different rooftops where they have this system set up. 155 00:07:27,840 --> 00:07:32,600 Speaker 1: And I believe they had somebody. It's scad um actually designed, 156 00:07:32,640 --> 00:07:34,320 Speaker 1: Like there's like if you really look at it, there's 157 00:07:34,360 --> 00:07:36,080 Speaker 1: like a swirl kind of pattern because they use different 158 00:07:36,160 --> 00:07:39,640 Speaker 1: varieties of seed them um. But this is basically for 159 00:07:39,800 --> 00:07:41,600 Speaker 1: if you're you know, if you're a bird, or you 160 00:07:41,640 --> 00:07:43,520 Speaker 1: live in one of the taller buildings around it, you know, 161 00:07:43,680 --> 00:07:45,320 Speaker 1: or if you're one of the you know, tour groups 162 00:07:45,400 --> 00:07:49,000 Speaker 1: or you know, or or podcasters guess to come up 163 00:07:49,000 --> 00:07:51,040 Speaker 1: on the roof. You know, you can appreciate it. But yeah, 164 00:07:51,040 --> 00:07:53,800 Speaker 1: it's just a grid work of these planners and then 165 00:07:53,840 --> 00:07:55,960 Speaker 1: they have they have some of the irrigation stuff up 166 00:07:55,960 --> 00:07:57,840 Speaker 1: there for you know, just in case and you know 167 00:07:57,960 --> 00:08:01,120 Speaker 1: it's you know it's becomes a drought such suation and 168 00:08:01,200 --> 00:08:03,440 Speaker 1: actually that and then the water for that comes from 169 00:08:03,480 --> 00:08:06,880 Speaker 1: you know, their their rainwater, you know, drainage systems. So 170 00:08:07,560 --> 00:08:09,560 Speaker 1: uh so, yeah, it was actually really cool but also 171 00:08:09,760 --> 00:08:12,800 Speaker 1: really hot. So you can definitely see why there are 172 00:08:12,880 --> 00:08:17,160 Speaker 1: desert plants growing up there because it's you're really blasted. 173 00:08:17,520 --> 00:08:20,480 Speaker 1: So what have they noticed, if anything benefits from from 174 00:08:20,520 --> 00:08:22,800 Speaker 1: their green roof? Um, well, I mean it pretty much 175 00:08:22,840 --> 00:08:25,600 Speaker 1: lines up along the accepted benefits. I mean it's um 176 00:08:25,640 --> 00:08:27,440 Speaker 1: you know, it's it's part of an overall effort that 177 00:08:27,480 --> 00:08:30,920 Speaker 1: they're doing there to to tweak their energy usage, which 178 00:08:30,960 --> 00:08:34,199 Speaker 1: involves like there's they have some smart grid technology going 179 00:08:34,240 --> 00:08:37,360 Speaker 1: on where they can track their energy usage in real time. Um. 180 00:08:37,760 --> 00:08:39,880 Speaker 1: They The big thing they did is that they just 181 00:08:40,240 --> 00:08:42,839 Speaker 1: like through they had a big energy add at a 182 00:08:42,840 --> 00:08:45,800 Speaker 1: few years back, and they just threw themselves at at 183 00:08:45,880 --> 00:08:49,480 Speaker 1: at revamping their heating and air conditioning, uh, in terms 184 00:08:49,520 --> 00:08:51,720 Speaker 1: of the hardware, but also in terms of like how 185 00:08:51,760 --> 00:08:54,080 Speaker 1: they use it, like they figured out how you know, like, oh, well, 186 00:08:54,120 --> 00:08:57,320 Speaker 1: you know we probably shouldn't, you know, air conditioned everything 187 00:08:57,640 --> 00:08:59,200 Speaker 1: on a weekend. You know, so it's like what can 188 00:08:59,200 --> 00:09:01,200 Speaker 1: we not air condition? And you know, and and then 189 00:09:01,280 --> 00:09:03,840 Speaker 1: you know, how much are we using this particular space, etcetera. 190 00:09:03,840 --> 00:09:07,600 Speaker 1: So it's you know, smart management, smart smart tech, upgraded materials, 191 00:09:07,720 --> 00:09:10,600 Speaker 1: you know, tweaking everything, so they've saved you know, bunches 192 00:09:10,640 --> 00:09:15,120 Speaker 1: of money. Um, it's really cool. Yeah, So you might 193 00:09:15,160 --> 00:09:17,760 Speaker 1: be wondering how much a green roof could cost you. 194 00:09:17,800 --> 00:09:19,200 Speaker 1: So I pulled a couple of numbers when we were 195 00:09:19,200 --> 00:09:22,680 Speaker 1: researching this podcast, and I came up with ten dollars 196 00:09:22,679 --> 00:09:25,360 Speaker 1: to twenty five dollars square foot according to the e 197 00:09:25,480 --> 00:09:28,120 Speaker 1: p A. And of course you're gonna have some annual 198 00:09:28,160 --> 00:09:30,240 Speaker 1: maintenance costs thrown in there, and those are going to 199 00:09:30,360 --> 00:09:34,560 Speaker 1: range from cents to a dollar fifty because again, the 200 00:09:34,600 --> 00:09:37,120 Speaker 1: idea is that you're not gonna need to go up 201 00:09:37,120 --> 00:09:40,680 Speaker 1: there a lot and manage this stuff. It's it's hardy growth. 202 00:09:40,840 --> 00:09:43,400 Speaker 1: That's the idea, right, right. Of course, some of your 203 00:09:43,400 --> 00:09:45,320 Speaker 1: plans are gonna die. Stuff is going to go wrong. 204 00:09:45,360 --> 00:09:47,520 Speaker 1: You will have to do some stuff, and that's where 205 00:09:47,520 --> 00:09:50,520 Speaker 1: the maintenance costs come in. But yeah, hopefully it's running 206 00:09:50,520 --> 00:09:53,320 Speaker 1: smoothly or running greenly, as the case may be. And 207 00:09:53,400 --> 00:09:55,200 Speaker 1: just for comparison, do you have any idea what the 208 00:09:55,240 --> 00:09:58,160 Speaker 1: cost of a regular roof is? I wanted to see. Oh, 209 00:09:58,160 --> 00:10:01,800 Speaker 1: thank goodness, I don't have any personal experience that yet. Yeah, 210 00:10:01,880 --> 00:10:05,000 Speaker 1: I don't really eat either until this afternoon. Um, so 211 00:10:05,120 --> 00:10:07,520 Speaker 1: there was a there's, of course a little handy roofing 212 00:10:07,600 --> 00:10:10,480 Speaker 1: calculator online and I ran the numbers and it's so 213 00:10:10,559 --> 00:10:15,520 Speaker 1: it's about for a roof that's thirty six ft by right, 214 00:10:15,760 --> 00:10:18,400 Speaker 1: made from your basic asphalt jingles, you know, the black 215 00:10:18,480 --> 00:10:20,840 Speaker 1: kind of sparkly jingles you see on a lot of houses. 216 00:10:21,920 --> 00:10:24,280 Speaker 1: So that's gonna be roughly five dollars per square foot 217 00:10:24,360 --> 00:10:27,360 Speaker 1: compared to the ten dollars to twenty dollars to even 218 00:10:27,400 --> 00:10:31,600 Speaker 1: I saw forty dollars per square foot for a green roof. Yeah, 219 00:10:31,640 --> 00:10:34,400 Speaker 1: so it's costly, but you can argue that the payment 220 00:10:34,480 --> 00:10:36,000 Speaker 1: is going to come in the long term. It's just 221 00:10:36,040 --> 00:10:41,079 Speaker 1: are you patient enough for that? Mm hmm return on investment? Okay, yeah, 222 00:10:41,120 --> 00:10:44,200 Speaker 1: they said with um at the would reflect. The main 223 00:10:44,480 --> 00:10:47,640 Speaker 1: um expense in setting it up was just using a train, 224 00:10:48,040 --> 00:10:50,800 Speaker 1: not a train, but using a crane to move everything 225 00:10:50,880 --> 00:10:53,440 Speaker 1: up there. That the you know, the the actual materials 226 00:10:53,440 --> 00:10:56,760 Speaker 1: were minuscule. Okay, yeah, that makes sense. Yeah, and you know, 227 00:10:56,800 --> 00:10:58,839 Speaker 1: if you don't have the funds for a green roof. 228 00:10:59,080 --> 00:11:01,679 Speaker 1: Um one of the things it we came across was 229 00:11:01,960 --> 00:11:04,120 Speaker 1: a white roof. Have you guys heard it is? Yeah, 230 00:11:04,160 --> 00:11:06,600 Speaker 1: painted white. It's like the opposite of the stone song 231 00:11:06,760 --> 00:11:12,800 Speaker 1: everyone's we have of that podcast we did on fighting asteroids. Yeah, 232 00:11:12,800 --> 00:11:14,480 Speaker 1: where you just if you want to deflect an asteroid, 233 00:11:14,520 --> 00:11:17,880 Speaker 1: you just painted white so that the solar radiation just 234 00:11:18,080 --> 00:11:21,280 Speaker 1: s gradually pushes it off course, right right, right, So 235 00:11:21,679 --> 00:11:23,840 Speaker 1: the idea behind a white roof is that, of course 236 00:11:23,880 --> 00:11:26,199 Speaker 1: you paint it white and you reflect more sunlight and 237 00:11:26,520 --> 00:11:28,880 Speaker 1: it can cut your energy demand during the hot months. 238 00:11:29,280 --> 00:11:32,200 Speaker 1: And it's it's kind of like rubbery almost, That's what 239 00:11:32,280 --> 00:11:35,040 Speaker 1: I read. So you have kind of this rubbery white 240 00:11:35,040 --> 00:11:38,000 Speaker 1: stuff on your roof now that I don't know if 241 00:11:38,040 --> 00:11:40,880 Speaker 1: it would fly. And this historic just drink that we're 242 00:11:40,880 --> 00:11:43,880 Speaker 1: trying to build a house, and yeah, your historic districts 243 00:11:43,880 --> 00:11:45,880 Speaker 1: I guess you're gonna want to go for Italy houses 244 00:11:45,920 --> 00:11:49,840 Speaker 1: that at least look like they're poorly designed, right, No, 245 00:11:51,040 --> 00:11:52,480 Speaker 1: like the you know, like you know what I'm saying, 246 00:11:52,520 --> 00:11:54,520 Speaker 1: It's like they're not gonna be cool with. Like someone 247 00:11:54,559 --> 00:11:56,200 Speaker 1: comes in, it's like, hey, I need to you know, 248 00:11:56,240 --> 00:11:59,360 Speaker 1: I'm using this geometric design. You know, my house is 249 00:11:59,360 --> 00:12:01,360 Speaker 1: gonna be made out of mud, you know, and it's 250 00:12:01,440 --> 00:12:05,000 Speaker 1: it's more ecologically, uh, you know, ideal for this number reason. 251 00:12:05,040 --> 00:12:06,920 Speaker 1: They're not gonna fly with that. They're gonna be like 252 00:12:06,920 --> 00:12:09,439 Speaker 1: like that, that house looks stupid. Well, so we had 253 00:12:09,480 --> 00:12:12,280 Speaker 1: to go for the before the Historic District Committee. And 254 00:12:12,320 --> 00:12:14,360 Speaker 1: one of the things that they suggested to us, so 255 00:12:14,480 --> 00:12:17,199 Speaker 1: that was passed around before we could move on in 256 00:12:17,240 --> 00:12:20,320 Speaker 1: the permitting process to get this house rolling, was they 257 00:12:20,559 --> 00:12:22,880 Speaker 1: thought our flat roof was going to be so ugly, 258 00:12:23,240 --> 00:12:25,080 Speaker 1: so they suggested, well, why don't you just put a 259 00:12:25,080 --> 00:12:28,680 Speaker 1: green roof on it to mask the ugliness, But that 260 00:12:28,679 --> 00:12:31,920 Speaker 1: that's not in the budget. Yeah I don't think. So 261 00:12:31,960 --> 00:12:34,439 Speaker 1: you decided to go to geodesic dome, right, Yeah, that's 262 00:12:34,440 --> 00:12:36,840 Speaker 1: the final and then in the straw Straw Bill garage 263 00:12:36,960 --> 00:12:39,719 Speaker 1: right next door, Yeah, we have a fine article on 264 00:12:39,800 --> 00:12:42,199 Speaker 1: straw Bill Holmes. I want to add by Molly Edmunds. 265 00:12:42,440 --> 00:12:44,200 Speaker 1: It was one of the first articles I ever did. 266 00:12:44,520 --> 00:12:47,760 Speaker 1: Ed do we have one on geodesic domes. We have 267 00:12:47,920 --> 00:12:51,760 Speaker 1: one on a couple of other alternative home styles. Cool. 268 00:12:51,960 --> 00:12:54,400 Speaker 1: Now you should look at that podcasting. We have so 269 00:12:54,440 --> 00:12:56,760 Speaker 1: many light Yeah, Like I can't even necessarily keep track 270 00:12:56,800 --> 00:12:59,320 Speaker 1: of all we have. I discovered new how stuff works 271 00:12:59,400 --> 00:13:02,760 Speaker 1: articles every week. I think. Yeah, so, how else are 272 00:13:02,800 --> 00:13:04,360 Speaker 1: you going to benefit from a green roof if you 273 00:13:04,400 --> 00:13:09,000 Speaker 1: decide to go this route, Well, the roots gonna last longer, right, Yeah, 274 00:13:09,080 --> 00:13:11,240 Speaker 1: that's just it. And it's another it's another layer of 275 00:13:11,240 --> 00:13:14,400 Speaker 1: insulation as well. Yeah. So I mean it's gonna be 276 00:13:14,400 --> 00:13:16,000 Speaker 1: a little cool things down, it's going to be able 277 00:13:16,040 --> 00:13:19,600 Speaker 1: to insulate your house, and it's gonna give you some shade, right, 278 00:13:20,200 --> 00:13:22,640 Speaker 1: And I feel like we should talk about we should 279 00:13:22,720 --> 00:13:25,839 Speaker 1: quantify how much cooler are we talking? So there was 280 00:13:25,880 --> 00:13:28,440 Speaker 1: one floor to study commissioned h They found that the 281 00:13:28,480 --> 00:13:31,600 Speaker 1: average maximum surface temperature of a green roof was eighty 282 00:13:31,640 --> 00:13:35,360 Speaker 1: six degrees fahrenheit. Meanwhile, the nearby light colored roof was 283 00:13:35,400 --> 00:13:39,720 Speaker 1: a hundred and thirty four degrees fahrenheit. Right, seriously, eighty 284 00:13:39,760 --> 00:13:43,400 Speaker 1: six degrees versus a hundred thirty four degrees, that's significant. Yeah, 285 00:13:43,400 --> 00:13:45,560 Speaker 1: it is pretty significant. Of course, I don't know how 286 00:13:45,760 --> 00:13:49,440 Speaker 1: big that steady was, and but still that's a that's 287 00:13:49,440 --> 00:13:53,839 Speaker 1: a that's a big difference. And also rooftop plants that 288 00:13:53,920 --> 00:13:56,920 Speaker 1: they can suck up the carbon. So yeah, we like that. Yeah, 289 00:13:57,160 --> 00:13:59,960 Speaker 1: so that's good. It's always nice to have another car 290 00:14:00,040 --> 00:14:01,920 Speaker 1: in storehouse around. Yeah, and you get it right on 291 00:14:01,960 --> 00:14:04,679 Speaker 1: top of that way. And then there's a whole stormwater 292 00:14:04,760 --> 00:14:08,199 Speaker 1: runoff issue, right, so if you have a green rooftop, 293 00:14:08,240 --> 00:14:10,439 Speaker 1: a lot of that water that's coming down during a storm, 294 00:14:10,480 --> 00:14:12,280 Speaker 1: it's going to hang with the plants, and you know, 295 00:14:12,360 --> 00:14:14,679 Speaker 1: as a bonus, it might be filtered and or absorbed 296 00:14:14,679 --> 00:14:17,760 Speaker 1: by the plants instead of swirling gutters and jumping directly 297 00:14:17,760 --> 00:14:20,160 Speaker 1: into a wastewater chances instead of going into the sewer. 298 00:14:20,360 --> 00:14:23,920 Speaker 1: It's it's it's generating life on your roof. Yeah, that's 299 00:14:23,920 --> 00:14:29,400 Speaker 1: pretty sweet. Um, yeah, let's see producing energy use touched 300 00:14:29,400 --> 00:14:31,320 Speaker 1: on that. You know, it's just you're more instant and 301 00:14:31,360 --> 00:14:34,760 Speaker 1: more insulated, so you're gonna cut down on your heating 302 00:14:34,800 --> 00:14:36,920 Speaker 1: and cooling cost and pluses that we touched on a 303 00:14:37,040 --> 00:14:39,640 Speaker 1: little bit earlier. Your neighbors like might like it. I 304 00:14:39,640 --> 00:14:42,280 Speaker 1: mean it has some aesthetic value, right, Yeah, it depends 305 00:14:42,320 --> 00:14:43,920 Speaker 1: where you where you live, Like, what is it the 306 00:14:43,960 --> 00:14:46,400 Speaker 1: Late clear Land Trust here in Atlanta, they'd be cool 307 00:14:46,400 --> 00:14:48,560 Speaker 1: with green roofs. Is that the is that the hippie 308 00:14:48,600 --> 00:14:52,040 Speaker 1: that's the hippie place? Yeah? Offcandler Yeah yeah yeah, where 309 00:14:52,040 --> 00:14:54,080 Speaker 1: they have like the gross stuff, and they have drum circles. 310 00:14:54,840 --> 00:14:57,640 Speaker 1: What's with drum circles? I like drum circles. I'm just 311 00:14:57,640 --> 00:14:59,920 Speaker 1: saying that as long as they complaine play djano with 312 00:15:00,000 --> 00:15:01,720 Speaker 1: their feet. Do you think they can play jangle with 313 00:15:01,760 --> 00:15:04,560 Speaker 1: their feet? That they can do all kinds of things 314 00:15:04,560 --> 00:15:09,080 Speaker 1: with their feet. Yeah, And as you were saying, um, 315 00:15:09,080 --> 00:15:11,120 Speaker 1: the green roof actually could last you longer than a 316 00:15:11,160 --> 00:15:14,080 Speaker 1: conventional roof. And then of course you have a little 317 00:15:14,200 --> 00:15:17,840 Speaker 1: nice sound installation and a habitat for wildlife. Which brings 318 00:15:17,840 --> 00:15:20,280 Speaker 1: me to one story that I was reading about. So 319 00:15:20,400 --> 00:15:22,760 Speaker 1: there's this Virginia man that was thinking about putting a 320 00:15:22,800 --> 00:15:25,840 Speaker 1: green roof on his log cabin and he wrote into 321 00:15:25,880 --> 00:15:28,280 Speaker 1: the U. S. Green Building Council's Green Home Guide about 322 00:15:28,560 --> 00:15:32,040 Speaker 1: you know, the wisdom of such an effort and the 323 00:15:32,080 --> 00:15:37,000 Speaker 1: consultant who answered called called that idea a real expensive 324 00:15:37,000 --> 00:15:39,680 Speaker 1: squirrel feeder. I was just I was just thinking about that, 325 00:15:39,760 --> 00:15:42,160 Speaker 1: Like could I just put nuts all over my roof 326 00:15:42,160 --> 00:15:43,880 Speaker 1: and have like a brown roof where it's just nothing 327 00:15:43,880 --> 00:15:48,280 Speaker 1: but fat squirrels, right, because essentially the cabin owner isn't 328 00:15:48,320 --> 00:15:50,440 Speaker 1: gonna have to worry about the urban heat island effect, 329 00:15:50,880 --> 00:15:53,000 Speaker 1: you know, being a log cabin at all. I'm assuming 330 00:15:53,000 --> 00:15:56,000 Speaker 1: the log cabin is some some nice patch of Virginia 331 00:15:56,000 --> 00:15:59,000 Speaker 1: woods not necessarily situated in the heart of Richmond, and 332 00:15:59,040 --> 00:16:01,000 Speaker 1: he's not gonna really gonna have to worry about the 333 00:16:01,040 --> 00:16:04,200 Speaker 1: storm water over running the sewers. But yeah, the squirrels 334 00:16:04,240 --> 00:16:07,880 Speaker 1: would definitely be down with that. But then you need 335 00:16:07,960 --> 00:16:11,280 Speaker 1: like roof snakes and stuff. It just becomes a an 336 00:16:11,400 --> 00:16:15,400 Speaker 1: arms race squirrel traps or you know. I know all 337 00:16:15,480 --> 00:16:17,960 Speaker 1: my I know a lot about keeping squirrels out of attics, 338 00:16:17,960 --> 00:16:19,880 Speaker 1: but I don't know about keeping them off of the roof, 339 00:16:20,040 --> 00:16:23,320 Speaker 1: because you can keep them out of the attics by 340 00:16:23,600 --> 00:16:25,760 Speaker 1: like during the winter, by like putting up some hot 341 00:16:25,840 --> 00:16:28,640 Speaker 1: peppers in there, or have you tried this, Yeah, like 342 00:16:28,680 --> 00:16:30,440 Speaker 1: I've I've known, like when we first moved into our house. 343 00:16:30,480 --> 00:16:32,640 Speaker 1: They were hot peppers hanging up to keep squirrels out, 344 00:16:32,760 --> 00:16:34,120 Speaker 1: but I didn't recognize at the time, so I took 345 00:16:34,120 --> 00:16:36,040 Speaker 1: them down. And then you can like buy like these 346 00:16:36,320 --> 00:16:39,720 Speaker 1: spicy powder pellet things that are they are made for 347 00:16:40,480 --> 00:16:42,080 Speaker 1: you just make it too spicy for the squirrels to 348 00:16:42,160 --> 00:16:46,160 Speaker 1: stand it. And your wife was talking about putting the 349 00:16:46,240 --> 00:16:50,160 Speaker 1: strobe lights. Yes, that was this my my my father 350 00:16:50,160 --> 00:16:52,360 Speaker 1: in law did that, I believe right, putting the strobe 351 00:16:52,400 --> 00:16:54,640 Speaker 1: light in the attic and it got rid of the squirrels. Yeah, 352 00:16:54,720 --> 00:16:58,320 Speaker 1: that's so great because they hate disco. No, no, they 353 00:16:58,360 --> 00:17:01,760 Speaker 1: hate raved music. Sorry, they might hate disco too. I 354 00:17:01,800 --> 00:17:04,400 Speaker 1: don't know anything that's shiny lights. I think just because 355 00:17:04,440 --> 00:17:08,560 Speaker 1: coming back Robert is it, it might be good. Um. 356 00:17:08,600 --> 00:17:10,600 Speaker 1: So what's the setup here of the screen roof? You're 357 00:17:10,600 --> 00:17:12,880 Speaker 1: probably wondering? Um, Yeah, like if I wanted a green 358 00:17:12,960 --> 00:17:15,920 Speaker 1: roof tomorrow, could I get one? Well, let's talk about 359 00:17:15,920 --> 00:17:17,280 Speaker 1: it first. Let's let's run you through some of the 360 00:17:17,320 --> 00:17:19,399 Speaker 1: layers we've got going on here. So of course you 361 00:17:19,400 --> 00:17:22,440 Speaker 1: have your plants, your vegetative layer, whether it's seto, whether 362 00:17:22,480 --> 00:17:25,640 Speaker 1: it's grass or maybe even a tree or two. Um. 363 00:17:25,680 --> 00:17:27,440 Speaker 1: But again, you're gonna have to think about the roots 364 00:17:27,440 --> 00:17:29,399 Speaker 1: system here, so you're not gonna get big trees, and 365 00:17:29,440 --> 00:17:30,920 Speaker 1: of course you don't want the weight of a big 366 00:17:30,920 --> 00:17:34,119 Speaker 1: tree on your roof anyway. That doesn't seem so so smart. 367 00:17:34,160 --> 00:17:36,840 Speaker 1: So these are gonna be smaller plants. And then you 368 00:17:36,880 --> 00:17:41,880 Speaker 1: have whatever the plants are growing, and you're growing medium, 369 00:17:41,920 --> 00:17:43,399 Speaker 1: and then you're gonna have a barrier, and that's going 370 00:17:43,480 --> 00:17:46,479 Speaker 1: to provide stuff good stuff like drainage and aeration and 371 00:17:46,520 --> 00:17:49,879 Speaker 1: water storage. And then comes your insulation, and then you 372 00:17:49,960 --> 00:17:54,680 Speaker 1: have another protective layer, and then you have a roofing membrane. 373 00:17:54,720 --> 00:17:58,240 Speaker 1: And lastly, and very important, you have your structural support 374 00:17:58,320 --> 00:18:02,040 Speaker 1: too to bear up the whole endeavor. Ye, Like in 375 00:18:02,040 --> 00:18:04,439 Speaker 1: the woodroofe case, they said that the roof of the 376 00:18:04,440 --> 00:18:07,439 Speaker 1: existing building was it was a pretty green design anyway, 377 00:18:07,520 --> 00:18:09,439 Speaker 1: and that it was. They said the roof was just 378 00:18:09,520 --> 00:18:12,440 Speaker 1: way over engineered to begin with, so like, wait, wasn't 379 00:18:12,480 --> 00:18:16,240 Speaker 1: even an issue. Really, that's pretty cool, yeah, And so 380 00:18:16,320 --> 00:18:17,960 Speaker 1: one of the interesting things was you can get this 381 00:18:18,000 --> 00:18:20,720 Speaker 1: in a modular system. I was reading about a green 382 00:18:20,760 --> 00:18:23,920 Speaker 1: grid system that consisted of a series of pre planted 383 00:18:23,920 --> 00:18:27,000 Speaker 1: modules and they're made of recycled plastics, and well, the 384 00:18:27,359 --> 00:18:31,200 Speaker 1: the trays that hold the plants, not the plants. Plants 385 00:18:31,240 --> 00:18:33,240 Speaker 1: aren't made out of recycled plus that would really be 386 00:18:33,240 --> 00:18:37,840 Speaker 1: a good joke. And these modules can be easily placed 387 00:18:37,880 --> 00:18:41,760 Speaker 1: on a roof or a different structure with the capacity 388 00:18:41,880 --> 00:18:44,240 Speaker 1: for it. Well that's cool. Yeah, So business with a 389 00:18:44,280 --> 00:18:47,760 Speaker 1: suitable roof, rooftop environment already, they can just start ordering 390 00:18:47,760 --> 00:18:50,280 Speaker 1: these things up, right, and you're gonna you're gonna want 391 00:18:50,280 --> 00:18:53,080 Speaker 1: to think about irrigation system too, depending on what kind 392 00:18:53,080 --> 00:18:55,440 Speaker 1: of system you go with. Yeah, and you can also 393 00:18:55,480 --> 00:18:57,919 Speaker 1: get a built in place system. But the trouble with 394 00:18:58,000 --> 00:18:59,760 Speaker 1: that is that you may have to roll back vegetation 395 00:18:59,840 --> 00:19:02,480 Speaker 1: if you have to troubleshoot something going wrong. God forbid, 396 00:19:02,680 --> 00:19:05,200 Speaker 1: you know your roof starts leaking, or all of a 397 00:19:05,240 --> 00:19:07,359 Speaker 1: sudden you s brought a route coming through one of 398 00:19:07,359 --> 00:19:10,400 Speaker 1: your air events and the ceiling. That would be bad um, 399 00:19:10,440 --> 00:19:12,840 Speaker 1: and you could wind up waiting a while for vegetation 400 00:19:12,920 --> 00:19:16,080 Speaker 1: to grow in and be green. So the question here 401 00:19:16,160 --> 00:19:18,760 Speaker 1: is can you get one? Can I outfit my house 402 00:19:18,840 --> 00:19:22,280 Speaker 1: or a business with one? Heck? Yeah, but it's gonna 403 00:19:22,320 --> 00:19:24,320 Speaker 1: be a little bit easier if you're building new right. 404 00:19:24,960 --> 00:19:27,840 Speaker 1: It ultimately comes down to the building design to UM. 405 00:19:27,880 --> 00:19:31,880 Speaker 1: If you have really steep, you know, highly pitched rooftop 406 00:19:31,960 --> 00:19:34,000 Speaker 1: going on, you know, you might not be able to 407 00:19:34,040 --> 00:19:36,640 Speaker 1: put planners up there. It just depends. Yeah, I probably 408 00:19:36,720 --> 00:19:41,000 Speaker 1: might slide right back off right. Although they can do um, 409 00:19:41,040 --> 00:19:44,720 Speaker 1: they can infect you green roofs on roofs with a 410 00:19:44,760 --> 00:19:47,320 Speaker 1: slight pitch to them, like but shelving up or something, 411 00:19:48,480 --> 00:19:52,520 Speaker 1: do a terracing system. I don't know. I'm not sure, okay, 412 00:19:52,800 --> 00:19:54,919 Speaker 1: but the take come here is that even if you 413 00:19:55,000 --> 00:19:59,000 Speaker 1: have like a more traditional, you know, Western style roof rooftop, 414 00:19:59,520 --> 00:20:01,480 Speaker 1: you might be I think they can work with a 415 00:20:01,520 --> 00:20:04,080 Speaker 1: slight pitch. I'm not sure that they can work with 416 00:20:04,280 --> 00:20:06,080 Speaker 1: you know, the roof. You picture if you were to 417 00:20:06,280 --> 00:20:08,840 Speaker 1: draw a house on a piece of paper and you 418 00:20:08,880 --> 00:20:12,040 Speaker 1: need to do do that triangle roof in the square house body, Yeah, 419 00:20:12,040 --> 00:20:13,720 Speaker 1: I'm not sure that roof is gonna work with a 420 00:20:13,800 --> 00:20:18,320 Speaker 1: with a green roof unless yeah, you can go with kutzo. 421 00:20:19,160 --> 00:20:20,640 Speaker 1: And the other thing is, if you're building new, you're 422 00:20:20,640 --> 00:20:22,439 Speaker 1: gonna have to deal with you know, hopefully you have 423 00:20:22,520 --> 00:20:24,520 Speaker 1: the funds to fund it, because like we said, this 424 00:20:24,600 --> 00:20:27,960 Speaker 1: can be up to forty dollars a foot and then um, 425 00:20:28,000 --> 00:20:30,040 Speaker 1: you know, getting it past your town or city officials. 426 00:20:30,040 --> 00:20:32,959 Speaker 1: Maybe they haven't seen a green roof yet. Um, so 427 00:20:33,080 --> 00:20:35,840 Speaker 1: that could complicate the process and in the time spent 428 00:20:36,280 --> 00:20:40,840 Speaker 1: getting one existing structure. Yeah, you could do that. How 429 00:20:40,960 --> 00:20:42,760 Speaker 1: much do you want it though? And do you have 430 00:20:42,800 --> 00:20:46,399 Speaker 1: a flat roof? Obviously, although you can do extensive roofs. 431 00:20:46,400 --> 00:20:50,880 Speaker 1: Remember extensive is the shallower, less complicated type of green roof. 432 00:20:52,119 --> 00:20:54,520 Speaker 1: But you're gonna want to consult a structural engineer who's 433 00:20:54,520 --> 00:20:56,040 Speaker 1: gonna be able to tell you whether your old roof 434 00:20:56,080 --> 00:20:58,280 Speaker 1: is designed to handle the load of plants and you 435 00:20:58,440 --> 00:21:01,720 Speaker 1: tramping across the top, And often the answers is no, 436 00:21:02,800 --> 00:21:05,800 Speaker 1: it can't. So you'd have to go back and do 437 00:21:06,000 --> 00:21:10,160 Speaker 1: some retrofitting. But don't lose hope because Chicago City Hall, 438 00:21:10,240 --> 00:21:12,240 Speaker 1: the famous one that we're talking about with the twenty 439 00:21:12,600 --> 00:21:17,400 Speaker 1: herbacious plans that covers you know, square feet of rooftop 440 00:21:17,400 --> 00:21:20,480 Speaker 1: garden um, that was a retrofitted green roof. Yeah, and 441 00:21:20,520 --> 00:21:23,440 Speaker 1: it looks amazing. And then I wonder if you could 442 00:21:23,440 --> 00:21:26,320 Speaker 1: do like a mini green roof, maybe just do part 443 00:21:27,080 --> 00:21:30,159 Speaker 1: better than nothing? Yeah, yeah, totally, So we'd love to 444 00:21:30,200 --> 00:21:31,960 Speaker 1: hear from you guys, if you if you have a 445 00:21:31,960 --> 00:21:34,360 Speaker 1: green roof or if you're thinking about implementing one, yeah, 446 00:21:34,480 --> 00:21:37,280 Speaker 1: or if your your company happens to have a green 447 00:21:37,359 --> 00:21:39,280 Speaker 1: roof project going on, let us know about it. You 448 00:21:39,320 --> 00:21:43,199 Speaker 1: know you'd love to hear your stories. And hey, speaking 449 00:21:43,200 --> 00:21:45,760 Speaker 1: of hearing your stories, do we have have a little 450 00:21:45,800 --> 00:21:48,440 Speaker 1: listener mail there? We do? We do? Um. I wanted 451 00:21:48,480 --> 00:21:53,760 Speaker 1: to share a couple that we received this week. First 452 00:21:53,760 --> 00:21:56,440 Speaker 1: one is from Katie from Seattle and she's a new 453 00:21:56,480 --> 00:21:58,560 Speaker 1: listener and Katie were to tell us some pretty cool 454 00:21:58,560 --> 00:22:00,919 Speaker 1: stuff about bats. If you guys remember we did a 455 00:22:00,960 --> 00:22:03,720 Speaker 1: podcast about bats and white nose syndrome a little while back, 456 00:22:04,440 --> 00:22:06,280 Speaker 1: and Katie writes, I'm not sure if you've heard this, 457 00:22:06,359 --> 00:22:08,719 Speaker 1: but a couple of years ago, scientists started noticing that 458 00:22:08,760 --> 00:22:12,160 Speaker 1: thousands of bats were dead around wind turbines, but apparently 459 00:22:12,160 --> 00:22:15,480 Speaker 1: not from impact with the blades. They discovered that the 460 00:22:15,560 --> 00:22:17,879 Speaker 1: spinning of the blades causes a drop in air pressure, 461 00:22:17,880 --> 00:22:21,040 Speaker 1: which effectively causes their lungs to fill with fluid, expand, 462 00:22:21,119 --> 00:22:23,320 Speaker 1: and kill them, similarly to the effects of the bends 463 00:22:23,520 --> 00:22:26,760 Speaker 1: have on divers. Many wind farms have since started turning 464 00:22:26,800 --> 00:22:28,560 Speaker 1: off their turbines at night, when the bats are of 465 00:22:28,560 --> 00:22:31,400 Speaker 1: course most active, which has greatly helped the bat population. 466 00:22:31,480 --> 00:22:33,359 Speaker 1: So that's pretty interesting, Katie. I we did not, in 467 00:22:33,440 --> 00:22:35,360 Speaker 1: fact come across that when we were researching the white 468 00:22:35,359 --> 00:22:38,520 Speaker 1: nose syndrome and bats, so thanks for bringing that to 469 00:22:38,520 --> 00:22:42,280 Speaker 1: our attention. We also heard from Matt, who apparently isn't 470 00:22:42,280 --> 00:22:46,000 Speaker 1: sleeping and is instead reading Enders Game constantly. Uh, he 471 00:22:46,119 --> 00:22:48,720 Speaker 1: writes a few days A few days ago, I listened 472 00:22:48,720 --> 00:22:50,920 Speaker 1: to Why Science Fiction Matters, and, seeing us I'm an 473 00:22:50,920 --> 00:22:54,440 Speaker 1: English major, that podcast was particularly enticing. I happened to 474 00:22:54,480 --> 00:22:56,520 Speaker 1: be passing a bookstore just as I finished listening, so 475 00:22:56,560 --> 00:22:58,680 Speaker 1: I stopped and I bought Enders Game. I hope you 476 00:22:58,680 --> 00:23:01,639 Speaker 1: guys have all this because it it really is worthy 477 00:23:01,680 --> 00:23:03,800 Speaker 1: of moving a little sleep. It's a really good book, 478 00:23:04,200 --> 00:23:06,160 Speaker 1: just really really good. So Masas, I rate to thank 479 00:23:06,160 --> 00:23:08,840 Speaker 1: you for recommending this book to your listeners. And I've 480 00:23:08,840 --> 00:23:10,680 Speaker 1: read a heck of a lot of novels and Ender's 481 00:23:10,720 --> 00:23:13,040 Speaker 1: Game is at the top of my favorites list. Awesome, 482 00:23:13,080 --> 00:23:15,439 Speaker 1: Matt cool. Yeah yeah. We threw out a number of 483 00:23:15,440 --> 00:23:19,720 Speaker 1: the suggestions there, so uh and and a few different 484 00:23:19,720 --> 00:23:22,440 Speaker 1: comments back we may uh well not just may I 485 00:23:22,480 --> 00:23:25,160 Speaker 1: think we're planning to revisit science fiction at some point 486 00:23:25,160 --> 00:23:27,040 Speaker 1: in the future. We definitely will, and maybe even with 487 00:23:27,080 --> 00:23:29,320 Speaker 1: a chapter on sci fi and film. What do you 488 00:23:29,320 --> 00:23:32,360 Speaker 1: think about that? Maybe we'll see if you guys want 489 00:23:32,359 --> 00:23:34,000 Speaker 1: to hear it. You know, we're to write a super 490 00:23:34,280 --> 00:23:37,080 Speaker 1: science stuff that has to freak dot com. And hey, 491 00:23:37,480 --> 00:23:40,919 Speaker 1: we are all over the social media space too, so 492 00:23:40,960 --> 00:23:43,480 Speaker 1: if you haven't joined up or on Facebook, you can 493 00:23:43,480 --> 00:23:46,719 Speaker 1: find us at stuff from the Science Lab and on 494 00:23:46,760 --> 00:23:50,960 Speaker 1: Twitter we are lab stuff and you'll see us tweeting 495 00:23:51,000 --> 00:23:53,840 Speaker 1: about different stuff. I'll tag my stuff r L, she'll 496 00:23:53,880 --> 00:23:56,480 Speaker 1: tag her stuff a L, and you can just check 497 00:23:56,520 --> 00:23:58,879 Speaker 1: out whatever we're talking about at the time. Yeah, we 498 00:23:58,920 --> 00:24:01,359 Speaker 1: are always thinking about science, so if you write to 499 00:24:02,119 --> 00:24:11,840 Speaker 1: check it out. And thanks for listening, guys. For more 500 00:24:11,880 --> 00:24:14,159 Speaker 1: on this and thousands of other topics, is it how 501 00:24:14,240 --> 00:24:17,920 Speaker 1: stuff works dot Com. Want more how stuff works, check 502 00:24:17,960 --> 00:24:20,120 Speaker 1: out our blogs on the house stuff works dot Com 503 00:24:20,160 --> 00:24:20,639 Speaker 1: home page.