国家地理-2008-06-30 Green Roofs Are Nothing New 草坪屋顶有利环保

Walk through any town or village in the Faroe Islands, located between Iceland and Scotland, and it will be hard not to notice the green grass roofed houses on every street. A local historian says, because of the lack of natural building resources on the islands, the Vikings used grass on their roofs to provide stability and extra insulation¹.

 "The grass is something that roofs here when the Viking came and started it, or maybe even the monks² started it with the grass roof. We don't know."

 He says young people on the islands continue to build their houses with traditional grass roofs, not only to continue the tradition, but also because there are environmental advantages. Grass roofs filter pollutants³ and CO2 out of the air.

"Here, you have this waterproof⁴ membrane⁵, and the first you have to do that, the, actually, grass is against this waterproof membrane. The root is up. To keep to hold this made mechanical ,and then you have to put this fishnet here, and this will be tied around the edges of the house. Afterwards you take the second lay of the grass and put it over."

  Yore says having a grass roof is a way for people on the islands to take responsibility for the environment. He says, if a house has 150 square meters of grass roofing, the grass would produce enough oxygen for one person per day. Jacob Mittyord has incorporated a grass roof into his new house design.

 "There are two reasons. The first is the aesthetic⁶, we want it to look nice. And the second is the tradition. It's an old tradition in the Faroe Islands, so we asked our architect to get some solutions, where we could combine this new art style, that (went) well together with this old fashion."

 Last fall, former U.S. president Bill Clinton visited the Faroe’s capital for a conference, and spoke⁷ on the effects of climate change.

"I look at the old-fashioned roofs with the grass on it, and I was thinking how far ahead of us you're now. All over America we're in a mad rush to green all of our roofs , to put vegetation on our roofs, to cut down on the electric cost and the CO2 emissions⁸ that come from having inefficient⁹ buildings."

 The Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands has a grass roof on his house.

"First of all, I think it's very important that we all, very all, we in the society, politicians, or a school teacher, or a fisherman, that we're putting the climate in focus, that we're thinking about the climate change all the time."

1 insulation   

n.隔离；绝缘；隔热

参考例句：

• Please examine the insulation of the electric wires in my house.请检查一下我屋子里电线的绝缘情况。
• It is always difficult to assure good insulation between the electric leads.要保证两个电触头之间有良好的绝缘总是很困难的。

2 monks   

n.修道士，僧侣( monk的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The monks lived a very ascetic life. 僧侣过着很清苦的生活。
• He had been trained rigorously by the monks. 他接受过修道士的严格训练。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 pollutants   

污染物质（尤指工业废物）( pollutant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Pollutants are constantly being released into the atmosphere. 污染物质正在不断地被排放到大气中去。
• The 1987 Amendments limit 301(g) discharges to a few well-studied nonconventional pollutants. 1987年的修正案把第301条（g）的普通排放限制施加在一些认真研究过的几种非常规污染物上。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

4 waterproof   

n.防水材料；adj.防水的；v.使...能防水

参考例句：

• My mother bought me a waterproof watch.我妈妈给我买了一块防水手表。
• All the electronics are housed in a waterproof box.所有电子设备都储放在一个防水盒中。

5 membrane   

n.薄膜，膜皮，羊皮纸

参考例句：

• A vibrating membrane in the ear helps to convey sounds to the brain.耳膜的振动帮助声音传送到大脑。
• A plastic membrane serves as selective diffusion barrier.一层塑料薄膜起着选择性渗透屏障的作用。

6 aesthetic   

adj.美学的，审美的，有美感

参考例句：

• My aesthetic standards are quite different from his.我的审美标准与他的大不相同。
• The professor advanced a new aesthetic theory.那位教授提出了新的美学理论。

7 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

8 emissions   

排放物( emission的名词复数 )； 散发物（尤指气体）

参考例句：

• Most scientists accept that climate change is linked to carbon emissions. 大多数科学家都相信气候变化与排放的含碳气体有关。
• Dangerous emissions radiate from plutonium. 危险的辐射物从钚放散出来。

9 inefficient   

adj.效率低的，无效的

参考例句：

• The inefficient operation cost the firm a lot of money.低效率的运作使该公司损失了许多钱。
• Their communication systems are inefficient in the extreme.他们的通讯系统效率非常差。