Smart roofs: from Holland comes the software to make the most of your roof

In addition to the shelter function, the roof of a house offers many potentials; from hosting a solar thermal and/or photovoltaic system, it can become a garden, a meeting place or increase the volume of the house.

Thanks to RoofScapethe new software developed by the joint team of MVRDV, Superworld and by the City of Rotterdam, it will be possible maximize the surface area of ​​your home roof.

The program is a display engine able to create 3d images of the roofs of the city of Rotterdam which, thanks to a catalog that includes 130 proposalsprovides a number of concrete suggestions on how you can use them to implement the hanging greenery, favor water retention, increase the surface area, urban, produce electricity or even increase affordable housing.

Thanks to creating a digital twin, the software extrapolated over 18 square kilometers of coverage; each roof is identified with a color different according to the possible uses, and inserted in a digital map full of details.

Green roofs are those that lend themselves well to increasing biodiversity, yellow ones codify the surfaces suitable for the production of renewable energy from the sun and wind. Finally, the purple color identifies the roofs useful for possible housing expansions or for office use, the blue ones could become rainwater collection sites, and more.

“The software integrates expert knowledge while remaining simple enough for everyone to use”says Leo Stuckardt of MVRDV NEXT. “RoofScape Rotterdam is an unusual urban design ideal – which by its nature cannot be realized with one big decision, or even with one organization balancing the wishes of a thousand people. RoofScape addresses the diversity of ownership, dreams and ambitions that need to be negotiated and explores how municipalities can drive these developments through public policy”.

RoofScape is a great resource available not only to private citizens, but also to local administrationsas detailed and informative enough to assist policy makers and planners in making city planning choices.

Inside you can find extremely important details referring to the property, such as roof pitch, age, energy label, heritage status.

But also data provided by the administration, such as proximity to public spaces and mobility, proximity to green corridors, areas prone to flooding rather than heat islands. “The Roof Catalog has been a huge success in raising awareness of what we see as an asset to the city and generating some excitement for what could be done with it”says Paul van Roosmalen, the city’s Rotterdam Rooftops program manager. “This RoofScape prototype is a call to action. We hope to involve more cities and other stakeholders in the next phases of RoofScape”.