Advocacy Essay -- Sample 3

AE – Sample 3 -­‐-­‐ 1 NOTE: Sample papers have been reformatted with 11 pt. text and 1.5 paragraph spacing to save paper. Advocacy Essay, Sample 3: Green Roof Technology: Beijing’s Central Air Filtration SystemBeijing is considered to be a city with one of world’s worst air qualities. Its concentrations ofparticular matter and sulfuric compounds are more than 7 times of the World Health Organization’s safetystandards (Xinhua Media 2006). Air pollution in Beijing started in the early 1980’s and it was caused by avery rapid urban development which was a result of the economic reform. Since that period, there hasbeen a dramatic increase in population and economy, which triggered a growth in automobiles,industrialization and real estate development, all which became the main sources of air pollution inBeijing. Though the government had created and “implemented” many regulations, they had little or noeffect on air pollution. This is caused by the lack of political integrity within China’s bureaucratic system.Corruption not only made the regulations invalid, it also encouraged the problem and worsened airpollution. In order to fundamentally resolve the problem of air pollution, there needs to be a dramaticreform in the Chinese government. The most definite solution would be overthrowing the currentgovernment and establish a new one. However this solution is clearly not feasible and it had failed in thepast during the 1989 student protest in Beijing. An alternative solution might be creating more strictregulations which are also not feasible due to the lack of reinforcement. Currently, Beijing should focuson a solution that would reduce air pollutant emission at its secondary source level and avoid interactionwith the political sector. There is such a solution and it has the support of the Beijing government and thatis green roof technology. However, the current limited number of green roofs cannot improve air quality.Beijing still needs more green roofs in order to utilize this technology to improve its air. Though greenroof has its own disadvantages such as high construction and maintenance costs, drainage problem, andpotential damages caused by strong roots, green roof is still a superior solution due to its property of airfiltration, noise insulator, temperature management, and its contribution to reducing cardiovascularmortality in local residents. It also has no connection to the strategy of fundamentally altering thegovernment.Green roof technology started in the 7 th Century B.C.E. in Babylon which is in modern dayIraq. It was first created by King Nebuchadnezzar II for his wife as the Hanging Garden. Ever since then,emperors and rulers throughout the world had begun to construct similar structures. It was especiallypopular during the period of Holy Roman Empire. (Encyclopædia Britannica 2011). Green roofs hadalways been a wonder and sign of strength for cities until the industrial revolution. In the late 1800’s, the

AE – Sample 3 -­‐-­‐ 2 invention of steam engine forever changed the way that botanists and landscape architects use green rooftechnology (Edge Energy 2006). As air pollution increased, more studies and research were conducted toinvestigate plant’s property of air filtration. Since then, humans continue to gain working energy from theprocess of fossil fuel combustion which caused green roofs to become a mean of air purification insteadof the singular purpose of decoration. Currently, as greenhouse gas and air pollution increases, green rooftechnology starts to be adapted worldwide to improve air quality in cities. There has been an increasinginterest in green roof technology from the Beijing government due to its city’s degrading air quality.Steven Holl, a leading U.S. architect based in New York, has designed a number of green roof projects inChina. During an interview, he said the demand was the largest in his Beijing office (AP 2006). Greenroof technology is usually constructed on top of an energy-saving building. In late 2006, China launcheda nationwide drive to construct energy-saving buildings that conserve fuel and reduce greenhouse gases.The government also agreed with the United Nations (UN) to promote environmentally-friendly practicesin staging the 2008 Beijing Olympics (MSNBC 2006). However, limited number of energy-savingbuildings cannot outmaneuver the current level of air pollution. Hence the current number of green roofshas little impact on air quality. Beijing still needs a very large increase in green roofs in order to seedramatic improvements in its atmosphere. Berlin, Germany has a better air quality record than Beijingdoes. It has more than 50 square miles of green roofs and it is still increasing at an average rate of 5square miles per year (AP 2006). In an alternative calculation, the 50 square miles of green roofs cover344.3 square miles of Berlin’s total area, which equivalents to at least 14.5% of the total area, indicating14.5% of green roof coverage would produce visible impact on air quality. Beijing has a total area of6,487 square miles and 14.5% coverage would be approximately 940.6 square miles. Currently, there isno sufficient data regarding the total area of green roofs in Beijing. However, an estimation could bederived through the total number of energy-saving buildings and the area of their roof tops. The total areaof functional green roofs in Beijing is about 1 square miles which is far less than 940.6 square miles.Evidentially, Beijing needs far more green roofs in order to utilize this technology to improve air quality.Though green roof technology has been proven to significantly reduce air pollution and welldecoratea city, it also has some disadvantages. The very obvious disadvantage occurs in the early stage ofinstallation, and that would be the initial cost and maintenance cost being relatively higher than theregular roofs’. Currently we do not have a mean to accurately measure the cost of green roof, becausethere is no generic model and the cost also varies depending on the species of plants, architectural design,size, local climate, and the building it is constructed on, however we have decent information regardingthe different components of the cost. Initial cost usually includes several components – drainage is to beconsidered primarily because green roofs contain plants and they often require irrigation; in addition, rainwater accumulation also needs to be considered in the architectural design. A special drainage layer needs

AE – Sample 3 -­‐-­‐ 5 any means. Furthermore, it has many supports from the government. Therefore, green roof technology isclearly the most superior solution for fundamentally resolving the issue of air pollution in Beijing.Work CitedAP, . "Landscape architects tend to a green roof." Online Posting. 28th April 2005. MSNBC. 25th-Feb.-2011. Beijing Daily, . "Beijing air quality continues to improve, 52.6% green rate." Beijing Daily 14th Oct.2010: . 24th-Feb.-2011. .Carter, Timothy, Fowler, Laurie. "Establishing Green Roof Infrastructure Through Environmental PolicyInstruments." ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT” (4th April, 2008): 151-164. 4th March,2011. .Dunnett, Nigel, Kingsbury, Noël. Planting green roofs and living walls. Portland, Oregon: Timber PressInc., 2004. 5th-March-2011.Hainer Inc., . Green Roof Technology. Hainer Inc.. 2010. 4th March, 2011.."Hanging Gardens of Babylon." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online.Encyclopædia Britannica, 2011. Web. 28 Feb. 2011..House-energy.com, . GREEN ROOFS: PROS AND CONS. House-Energy. 2006. 25th-Feb.-2011..Edge Technology, . Green Roof Technology. IfEnergy. 2006. 25-Feb.-2011..McGregor, Richard. The Party The Secret World of China's Communist Rulers. New York, NY, USA:Harper, 2010.The Official Website of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, . Beijing improves urban eco-environment bypushing roof greening. Beijing 2008. 11-Nov.-2007. 28-Feb.-2011..

AE – Sample 3 -­‐-­‐ 6 Xinhua Media. “Beijing's air pollution is the worst in Asia, five to six times more than the WHOstandards.” china.com.cn. 2006. 01-Feb.-2011. .Yang, Minxu, Pan, X.. "The Relationship between air pollution and cardiovascular mortality in localresidents -- an analysis by chronology and orders." Environmental Health 25.4 (2008): 294-297. 01-Feb.-2011.