Archive for August, 2012

Rooftop Farms: Taking Seed In Hong Kong
August 14th, 2012

Via Seed Daily, an interesting report that rooftop farms are taking hold in Hong Kong: On the rooftop of a tower block above the hustle and bustle of teeming Hong Kong, dedicated growers tend to their organic crops in a vegetable garden. Against a backdrop of skyscrapers and jungle-clad hills, earth-filled boxes are spread out […]

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Solar Economics: Lease Vs. Own
August 3rd, 2012

Via The Institute for Local Self Reliance, an interesting analysis of the economics behind solar power: It’s a case study of solar in Ithaca, NY, but it provides a good framework for comparing leasing to ownership in any place in the U.S. Comparing solar ownership to a solar lease can be tricky.  The following analysis […]

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Betting On The Decline Of Residential Solar PV Financing
August 2nd, 2012

Via Greentech, a contrarian view on the massive amount of funding (more than $250 million) that has poured into third-party solar firms such as SolarCity, Sunrun, OneRoof, and Borrego Solar in just the last few weeks. Many people think it is a growth segment in solar and a bright spot in the industry, but here […]

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BrightFarms = Bright Future?
August 2nd, 2012

Via Reveries.com, a quick review of BrightFarms: Paul Lightfoot is a “supply-chain guy” and environmentalist with a plan to deliver fresher produce at lower cost to more retailers, reports Jane Black in Fast Company (Jul/Aug 12). His enterprise is called BrightFarms and his plan is “to build and manage hydroponic greenhouses on store rooftops, parking […]

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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.”