Archive for January, 2011

Distributed Generation = Rooftop Opportunities
January 24th, 2011

Via The Energy Collective, an interesting article on possibility of aggregating rooftops for utilities: “…The Smart Grid offers ample opportunities to introduce disruptive technologies and disruptive thinking into the electricity supply chain.  Indeed, disruptive technologies and services that enable electricity production at the point of consumption or close to the point of consumption are prime […]

Read more »
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Sun’s Coming Up: The Largest Single-Roof Top Solar System in North America
January 17th, 2011

Via Solar Daily, news of the largest single-roof top solar system in North America.  As the article notes: “…Glimcher Realty Trust has announced plans for the largest single-roof top solar system in North America to be built on the roof of Jersey Gardens in Elizabeth, New Jersey. The 4.8MW solar array will generate enough power […]

Read more »
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

SEGlet: Crowdsourcing Roofspace
January 8th, 2011

Via Green Prophet, a detailed profile of an interesting roofspace listing service called SEGlet: Need a place to park your solar panels or urban garden? SEGlet’s website offers a revolutionary crowdsourcing solution Real estate has taken on a whole new dimension. Urban and vertical farming is becoming more popular, as is solar and wind energy […]

Read more »
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Cool Roofs: A Hot Market In The Future?
January 8th, 2011

Via CleanTechies, a look at the use of roofs as cooling mechanisms: Check out Google Earth – the ‘view from above’ of your favorite American city. And look at the roofs of the office buildings, warehouses, shopping centers, and even the homes. Most of them are probably pretty dark in color – and this means […]

Read more »
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

The Rooftop Economy: The Roof Is Now The Field
January 8th, 2011

Via Global Geopolitics, an interesting report on how the roof has now become the field for many.  As the article notes: “We grow on our roof because we are farmers but have no land now,” says Moatassan Hamad, 21, from Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza Strip. “Our family is large and thankfully what we grow […]

Read more »
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

  | 
About This Blog And Its Author
As potential uses for building and parking lot roofspace continue to grow, unique opportunities to understand and profit from this trend will emerge. Roof Options is committed to tracking the evolving uses of roof estate – spanning solar power, rainwater harvesting, wind power, gardens & farms, “cooling” sites, advertising, apiculture, and telecom transmission platforms – to help unlock the nascent, complex, and expanding roofspace asset class.

Educated at Yale University (Bachelor of Arts - History) and Harvard (Master in Public Policy - International Development), Monty Simus has held a lifelong interest in environmental and conservation issues, primarily as they relate to freshwater scarcity, renewable energy, and national park policy. Working from a water-scarce base in Las Vegas with his wife and son, he is the founder of Water Politics, an organization dedicated to the identification and analysis of geopolitical water issues arising from the world’s growing and vast water deficits, and is also a co-founder of SmartMarkets, an eco-preneurial venture that applies web 2.0 technology and online social networking innovations to motivate energy & water conservation. He previously worked for an independent power producer in Central Asia; co-authored an article appearing in the Summer 2010 issue of the Tulane Environmental Law Journal, titled: “The Water Ethic: The Inexorable Birth Of A Certain Alienable Right”; and authored an article appearing in the inaugural issue of Johns Hopkins University's Global Water Magazine in July 2010 titled: “H2Own: The Water Ethic and an Equitable Market for the Exchange of Individual Water Efficiency Credits.”