The American Society of Landscape Architects has launched a new Green Roof Education Site that maintains a delightful amount of accessible and technical information on green roofs. They include an inspiring tour of the ASLA building’s green roof.
Green roofs have caught on more in Europe (Germany especially with 14% of new flat roofs vegetated) than here in the US, but with so many new projects going after green roofs, we can feel optimistic about our national meter of design. The ASLA leading benefit of green roofs, “saving the environment,” is actually all about saving ourselves. Each of the benefits of green roofs represents how inextricably connected we are to our environmental conditions. The site reviews the keys to green roofs as:
- contribution to heating/cooling buildings (reducing operating costs)
- stormwater management (maintaining our drinking supply), the urban heat island effect (keeping us healthy)
- urban wildlife habitat (keeping ecosystems functioning)
- aesthetic resources (give us a sigh of relief)
With so much energy being expended into heating and cooling buildings and destitute watersheds from stormwater flash floods, somehow green roofs seem an absolutely necessary penitent action. A Bioscience study shows that green roofs can even contribute to bird and invertebrate habitat in urban settings.
