Greener on the roof
The 580 square meter flat roof of the main building at the B. Braun location in Milan has been shining in a special green since 2018: this special grass ensures optimal temperature control inside the building, in both warm and cold seasons. The roof lawn absorbs solar radiation in summer, the rooms underneath it stay cool. In winter, it also keeps the heat in the building so that less energy is required for heating. The plants also convert CO2 into oxygen and absorb fine dust from the air. Especially in cities, green roofs can greatly improve air quality.
Good climate and lower costs
The grass on the building also reduces our air conditioning use at the site and reduces the annual energy consumption from 705,000 to 586,000 kilowatt hours—a saving that amounts to the total electricity consumption of at least 30 three-person households. In winter, we save heating costs because the roof lets less warmth out of the building, and we reduce our gas consumption by 17 percent. The decision in favor of the green roof of our site in Italy was preceded by a long period of analysis and planning, which was worth it: because less energy consumption also reduced emissions, by around 41 tons of CO2 in the first two years. A similar amount of CO2 would be produced if you circled the earth four times by train.
