Romania's Urban Planning Code will require, from 1 January 2027, that office, commercial, industrial and storage buildings, including covered car parks, with a built area exceeding 1,000 sqm obtain authorisation only if green roofs adapted to local climatic conditions cover at least half of the roof surface. Industry association Converde welcomes the obligation, arguing that rooftops currently function as heat-accumulating surfaces that discharge rainwater rapidly into drainage systems, and that the new rules could turn them into active infrastructure for urban climate adaptation.
"A green roof acts as a sponge during heavy rainfall and as a natural cooling layer during heatwaves. At city scale, thousands of such surfaces can reduce pressure on drainage systems, limit neighbourhood overheating and return part of the space taken by construction to nature," said Zoltan Kolcsar, president of Converde.
"The benefits can be considerable. We are talking about a solution that can manage roughly half of rainwater, reduce roof surface temperature by 30 to 40 degrees compared with standard waterproofing and extend the service life of the waterproofing layer by up to double. Green roofs are not decorative elements but urban infrastructure," Kolcsar added. When deployed coherently and connected with other green spaces, vegetated rooftops can form biodiversity corridors rather than isolated green islands.
Converde warns, however, that the law's impact will depend on how authorities interpret the exemption clause, which allows the obligation to be waived when requirements cannot be met under technically and economically acceptable conditions. "Without clear and uniform criteria, this wording can lead to different interpretations from one authority to another and can turn the exemption into an easy route for avoiding the obligation. Technical and economic impossibility must be demonstrated through verifiable documents and assessments, not merely declared, and a higher initial cost alone should not be sufficient grounds for granting a derogation," said Kolcsar.
The association argues that technical regulations must define what constitutes a functional and effective green roof, specify the conditions under which an exemption is justified and set minimum standards for design, construction and maintenance. Economic assessments should account for the building's lifespan, long-term savings and public benefits, not only the initial investment. Converde says it is willing to collaborate with relevant ministries, local authorities, professional organisations and academic institutions to develop the regulations needed for consistent application of the law.
"We have a law that can visibly change Romania's cities and allow the industry to grow several times over in the coming years. Now we need to apply it properly. If we set clear standards, monitor the quality of works and prevent exceptions from becoming the norm, in a few years we will be able to see the difference not only from above but also at street level: cooler cities, better prepared for extreme rainfall and closer to nature," Kolcsar concluded.
