A green roof—essentially, a garden atop any office building or home—helps save energy, promote drainage, and feed you.
Why Build a Green Roof?
Sod roofs are common on the Faroe Islands, west of Norway. Traditionally the roof was covered with sod on top of several layers of birch bark over wooden boards.
Related Post: Green Roof Resources
Today, commercial roofing felt is used underneath the sod. Sod is an excellent insulator in a cold climate. Many residents mow or weedwack their roofs a few times during the summer months. Picture by Eileen Sanda flickr.com
The World’s Most Amazing Green Roof Buildings
Green Roof, Lakeland, UK Wildroof Landscapes www.wildroof.co.uk
Picture taken two years after planting with mixed plug plants. Pic: flickr.com
Green Roof on Faroe Islands, Norway. Pic: DaScott www.flickr.com
Sod Roof Torshavn, Faroe Islands Pic by DaScott www.flickr.com
Start Your Green Roof With Sedum
The most popular choice for green roof plants are sedums. They’re attractive, resilient, and accustomed to wet and dry conditions so long as they have good drainage. Here are some seeds you could buy to get started:
Sedum Blue Spruce: 5,000 seeds. An eight-inch perennial that mimics the look of a much larger plant.
Sedum Dragon’s Blood: 5,000 seeds. This striking perennial grows to six inches high.
Sedum Seeds Roof Garden Mix: 2,000 seeds. A mix of seeds—and when they grow, a mix of colors that will change through the year. Pick 5,000 seeds at checkout.
Find more sedums for sale at All Succulents.
Living Roofs – Farm buildings in Heidal, Gudbrandadal, Norway. Pic: Roede
Green Roofed Arbor, Tatton Park. Wildroof Landscapes UK pic: flickr.com
Green roofed shed near Penrith, UK. Planted with wild flower and grass plugs – the growing media is 100mm (4in) deep with 20% lightweight coir potting compost. The photo was taken one year after planting. Wildroof Landscapes www.wildroof.co.uk
Findhorn, Scotland. Pic by Padroes Naturais Solucoes Sustentáveis flickr.com
Ancient Green Roof – the folk museum at Glaumbaer, Iceland. The buildings are partly constructed with turf, with inner hallways between the buildings. f1f11.blogspot.com
Green-roofed Blue Wagon Coffee Shop, Glenelg, Scotland. Via Cabin Porn.
Green Roofed Arbor, Mississippi — msucares.com
Green Roofed Shed constructed from found materials by Mark and Rebecca Ford Art Sculpture markfordsculpture.blogspot.com – flickr.com
Green Roofed Arbor in Mississippi by Felder Rushing. oursquarefootgarden.blogspot.com
Green Roof Garden Shed in Raleigh, NC by Living Roofs, Inc. livingroofsinc.com More images: greenroofs.com Plans: www.greenroofplans.com
Living Roof Hessen, Germany. Architect: Gernot Minke gernotminke.de
Green Roof by Feldman Architecture, Inc. San Francisco. www.feldmanarchitecture.com
Green Roofed M2 Hill House by Bjarke Ingels Group, Denmark. More pics: www.big.dk
OUTrial House Ksiazenice, Poland by Robert Konieczny www.kwkpromes.pl
Three sloped green roofed homes, each windowed southern exposure looks upon the neighbor’s north facing green roof. Jojko+Nawrocki Architects Pictures: www.jna.com.pl
As above. Each windowed southern exposure looks upon the neighbor’s north facing green roof. Jojko+Nawrocki Architects Pictures: www.jna.com.pl
OS House by Nolaster – Cantabria, Spain www.archdaily.com Real!
Villa Bio, Spain by Enric Ruiz Geli www.ruiz-geli.com
Green Roof- Sky Garden House, Guz Architects on island of Sentosa adjacent to Singapore. www.guzarchitects.com
.jpg "home with green roof")
Green Roof – Earth House Estate Dietikon, Switzerland by Peter Vetsch www.erdhaus.ch
Green Roof — Saksun, Faroe Islands. Pic by Hans J. Hansen flickr.com
Green Roofed Viking Houses, a recreation, Newfoundland, Canada. Not a new idea! Green roofs have been covering our heads for thousands of years. Pic: Dylan Kereluk
Green Roofed Church, Hof, Iceland. Pic: Ira Goldstein
Green Roofed Church – at Vidimyri, Iceland is considered to be “the purest example and the most beautiful keepsake of Icelandic architecture.” Note the sod stacked sidewalls. f1f11.blogspot.com
Grass Roof — Saksun, Faroe Islands. Pic by Felix van de Gein flickr.com
Back to Nature. Neglecting that once a year weedwack = Christmas trees sprouting from the roof.
Green Roofed Home with ladders for the goats. robinlaureltree.blogspot.com
Green Roof by Troy Wagner Tacoma, Washington www.greenroofs.com
Green Roof/Walls = Cube in Venice, Calif. latimes.com
Green Roofed Shed set up for a show. Pic: croom.wordpress.com
Living Roof Shed dreamhousecammy.blogspot.com
Living Roof in San Francisco by Jonathan Feldman greenarchitecturenotes.com
Green Roof on Hobbit House. Via: www.tumblr.com
Green roof on Shed. By landscape architect Joy Kuebler. All materials used to build the shed came from Buffalo ReUse. www.buffalorising.com
In Germany, experts estimate that 12% of all flat-roofed buildings are living roofs, a number that is rapidly increasing as the German green roof industry continues to grow 10 to 15% per year.
The Best Green Roof Books
- Planting Green Roofs and Living Walls by Nigel Dunnett and Noel Kingsbury
- The Rooftop Growing Guide: How to Transform Your Roof into a Vegetable Garden or Farm by Annie Novak
- Green Roof Plants: A Resource and Planting Guide by Edmond and Lucie Snodgrass
- Small Green Roofs: Low-Tech Options for Greener Living by Nigel Dunned, Dusty Gedge, John Little, and Edmund Snodgrass
- The Farm on the Roof: What Brooklyn Grange Taught Us About Entrepreneurship, Community, and Growing a Sustainable Business by Anastasia Cole Plakias
The Two Types of Green Roof
Intensive (labor-intensive): Found on flat roofs and require about 4-24 inches of planting medium that is able to grow conventional lawns, vegetable gardens, small shrubs and even small trees. Intensive rooftops require sophisticated structural support and possibly irrigation. Typically weigh 80-120 lbs. per square foot, fully saturated. Are often park-like gardens for public or private use.
Extensive (sedum or grass): Designed to be virtually self-sustaining and require low to no-maintenance. Needs a planting medium of 1-4 inches on a flat or gently sloping roof. Best with native vegetation or drought-resistant, cold-resistent, shallow-rooted plants, sedum, herbs, mosses or grass which generally grow no higher than several inches. They typically weigh 10-50 lbs. per square foot, fully saturated, depending on what type of growing medium is used.
Why Build a Green Roof?
Green roofs are excellent insulators. Studies have shown that a green roof can reduce your cooling costs by 50% and more during the summer months and in the winter your home will retain 15-30% more heat than if you had a conventional roof. On a sunny, 80-degree-F day, a black roof can reach 180 degrees F; a white roof 120 degrees; and a plant-covered roof 85 degrees. You save money and use fewer energy resources.
Cost. There are many modular green roof kits available that might bring the costs down. Extensive green roof: $8 to $20 per square foot. Intensive green roof: $15 to $50 per square foot. A 2006 study by the University of Michigan comparing costs of conventional and green roofs showed that, on average, installing a green roof costs about $22.00/sq. ft. versus $16.00/sq. ft. for a conventional roof. In its life, however, the green roof would save over $200,000 with two-thirds of that coming from reduced energy needs.
Reduced storm water runoff. When the water falls on a typical roof, it’s often funneled off into storm water drains, collecting pollution along the way and polluting our waterways or increasing the amount of sewage to be treated. Green roofs ‘harvest’ rain water and put it to beneficial use.
Increased longevity of roofing membranes. The plants and growing medium are absorbing the solar rays, protecting the roofing materials from UV breakdown.The green roof also shields the membrane from extreme temperature variations, another cause of hastened degradation. According to Penn State’s Center for Green Roof Research, a green roof will lengthen roof life by two to three times.
Sound proofing. An extensive green roof can reduce sound from outside by 40 decibels, while an intensive roof can reduce sound by 46-50 decibels (Peck et al. 1999).
Aesthetic appeal. Nature relaxes, promoting psychological well-being.
Carbon is sequestered. Through the process of photosynthesis, carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere and stored as carbon in biomass.
Urban Heat Island Effect. If an urban area has numerous green roofs, heat island effect is lowered.
Habitat. When planted with native vegetation, a green roof becomes a habitat for indigenous species and migrating butterflies, birds and bees.
Green Roof Research
- Penn State University horticulture.psu.edu
- National Research Council of Canada found that an extensive green roof reduced the daily energy demand for air conditioning in the summer by over 75% www.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca
- Study as to effect of substrate depth and composition. Michigan State University www.hrt.msu.edu
- Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, Green Roof Environmental Evaluation Network www.green-siue.com
Green Roof Organizations
- Green Roofs for Healthy Cities greenroofs.org
- GreenRoofs.com greenroofs.com
How to Build a Green Roof
- How to build a Green Roof www.readymade.com
- How to: www.selfbuild-central.co.uk
- Shed Plans with green roofs: www.greenroofplans.com
- Small Shed, step by step photos, how to: flickr.com
- Large shed DIY: greenroofs.com
- Succulent Roof: www.youtube.com
Great! I’ve never seen something like that. Wonderful…
thanks for this~ it’s beautiful and informative.
well done!
The most attractive and useful site I have found so far about green roofs and Real green architecture! Would love to be updated when you add information to it! Well in short would love to keep in touch with like minded people.
All my best wishes to you!
Anne (got a facebook page on the same subject but that’s not even half as good as yours 😉
I wish I could rebuild my 1918 garage/studio and put on a roof like one of these.
this is perfect If everyone had this the world would be a better place.. If only if only
This is the direction we MUST return to if this planet and humanity are to survive.
such a great concept, and a fantastic website! has very helpful resources- i am currently designing a sustainable home for a school project and have attained so much information from this site. so thankyou!
do you have to mow your roof
An amazing collection of photos. Did they all get their inspiration from Vikings?
Anyway, if more and more people adopted this, then it will solve many problems. And what about animals + insects that make the green roofs their home?
Thanks. Great site. I have linked it to the Sustainable society of 2040: https://ufbutv.com/2012/08/23/the-sustainable-society-of-2040/
siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiikkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk
Love the green roof’s … think I’ll make my new shed w/ a garden top!!
Love the site and all the web links at the end. I have been planning my dream green home for a while and your website is quite inspiring. Hope to find more information with the links at the end of the page.
Again, great page, and hope to find new information about sod roof in the future.
I have a sod roof in the Hill Country, Texas. It keeps my home cool in the summer and warm in the winter. I originally planted grass sod but the birds have blessed me with wild flowers, wheat, blue berries and I planted iris which bloom in the spring. The home is built of stone, steel and concrete. The walls are 2+1/2 ft thick. The roof is concrete and steel. The moisture barrier was put on by Sarnafil. If you would like a photo, send me an e-mail and I will send one.
Hi Jan,
I am a Natural Builder in Austin. I have now founded a non-profit building coalition of our local Natural Builders to assist more people to build their own homes. I would love to meet you and see you home. It would really inspire others here in Central Texas. If that’s too much for you, I’d love to be able to share your pictures or story with others.
Please feel free to email or text me.
austinearthbag@gmail.com
512-576-3483
Wow! Your home sounds amazing! And sounds like you payed careful attention to every detail! Would absolutely love to see a picture!!! Thx so much, Keiren
I would love to have a green roof! We have currently been looking into eco friendly roofing at http://www.wproofing.ca . I cant wait to get started on it.
Nice sharing. Green roofing are looking good it keeps our house cool in summer and warm in winter, even my also using green roof in my home that concept should be given by a roofing repairs Cardiff i like that concept and it really works .
Hey Green Folks, Absolutely wonderful, I wish I had something to contribute. Stumbled across this. What I advocate for is cold fusion and other Black Swan technologies. They’re pretty GREEN as well. At first glance anything with Nuclear in itsm name putsmfear in some folks hearts, but LOW ENERGY NUCLEAR REACTIONS create NO radiation above background, and produce a lot of heat that can be turned directly into electricity using Thermiionic technology or produce steam to turn a turbine.
Whatta ya think?
Paul
http://www.coldfusionnow.org
This looks great, however in order to keep evenything nice ad tidy wouldnt you have to mow your roof? I imagine that would be quite difficult?
Wonderful work! More projects like this
Superb…. Love to participate on something like this in SE of Spain.
What are sod roofs and are they in Ireland???
Hmm
The concept is great but I have concerned that over time, material such as dust will slowly accumulated on the vegetation soil roof over time. And this weight willkeep increasing over time which can pose a structural problem.