Living Roofs

[Nightwalker]

driving back home from Shropshire this weekend I spotted six deer which was nice but I also saw my first 'living roof'. Which just looked like a luscious green mat of thick grass covering a building's roof, which was a modern business-style property, possibly a car-sales room, im not sure I didnt really take in the forecourt. But I thought it was a beautiful addition to the norm of ugly urban buildings. Its the first time I've seen a living roof and it got me thinking not only does it look superb, but it must be great for nature, insects & birds etc. and the environment in general, got me wondering why this was the first I had seen in person, why isn't this be done more often?

I will research into living roofs, but if anyone has experience in this and would like to indulge me in the pro's & con's of a living roof please do! Anyone here got a living-roof on their properties?

Here's one on the top of Barclay's Bank in the middle of the London Docklands:

In Chicago:

Some random ones:

 

[Ben_Hillwalker]

If you are interested then the big-cheese on green roofs in the UK is Dr Nigel Dunnett at Sheffield Uni. He has a book on the subject: Planting Green Roofs and Living Walls (Timber Press).

In fact, there is a lot of green roof development going on across Sheffield carried out by the GroundWork Trust in conjunction with the Uni.

Green roofs have advantages in terms of insulation (heat and noise), control of rain water run-off and reducing pollution. They also look quite nice are mini wildlife habitats.

They're not especially difficult to put up on small structures, but if you are planning on green-roofing your house then I would talk to an expert first.

 

[Toddy]

How cool is that

I've got four sheds in my garden.....this is sooo tempting.......wait until HWMBLT hears what I want to do now

cheers,
Toddy

 

[perpetualelevator]

One of our outfitter-type stores in downtown Toronto, MEC, has a living roof, among other environmentally friendly practices. A few years ago they had a family of ducks nesting on the roof. Don't know what happened to them, though, it's a long walk to the lake...

http://www.mec.ca/Main/content_text.jsp?FOLDER<>folder_id=2534374302883381&bmUID=1190901696487

 

[JohnC]

http://www.english-nature.org.uk/pubs/publication/PDF/LivingRoofs.pdf

http://www.appropedia.org/CCAT's_living_roof

had some interesting things about makingthem

 

[mazeman]

One of our outfitter-type stores in downtown Toronto, MEC, has a living roof, among other environmentally friendly practices. A few years ago they had a family of ducks nesting on the roof. Don't know what happened to them, though, it's a long walk to the lake...

Never mind ducks, what about bushcrafters!

 

[John Fenna]

Saw a living roofed cottage in West Wales with a horny old goat grazing on the roof...

 

[mazeman]

Saw a living roofed cottage in West Wales with a horny old goat grazing on the roof...

Anyone we know?

 

[Jodie]

The Horniman museum in Dulwich has a building a bit like that.
http://www.livingroofs.org/NewFiles/pg32_35_Space_n_action_revi[1].pdf

 

[perpetualelevator]

Never mind ducks, what about bushcrafters!

Never saw any bushcrafters nesting on the roof, but maybe the Greater Canadian Toque-wearing Bushcrafter needs somewhere a bit more protected from the elements and marauding polar bears. The walk to the lake, however, is quite manageable for us.

 

[demographic]

Bit of an article on living roofs and their beneficial effects for cities in NEW SCIENTIST.

 

[Nomad_Of_Soul]

Here's Tony Wrench's fantastic living roof in Pembrokeshire, unbelievably, the Pembrokeshire County Council and Pembrokeshire Coast National Park consider it to have a "negative impact on biodiversity and the environment" and "an unsightly and incongruous appearance" and want it destroyed. Some people are plainly in the wrong job.

One day, long after this house has been destroyed, the local authorities will replace it with more houses like this which Pembrokeshire has an abundance of which obviously don't have a "negative impact on biodiversity and the environment" or "an unsightly and incongruous appearance".

 

[GreenmanBushcraft]

I live in parts of Scotland for a couple of months each year and next to us we have some cottages with living roofs, and I must say they attract a lot of wildlife. The ones near me have Ravens and seabirds on them most of the time, not to mention the flowers! I have been invited to a talk on the subject later this month!