Issues

Some of the hard lessons of the pandemic hold promise for the green roof and wall industry, and for society as a whole, and may help designers respond to the new wave and waves to come.

The Jeffrey L. Bruce Awards of Excellence winning Powderhouse intensive green roof in Somerville, MA illustrates the function and beauty of integrating nature and built form into design. The former elementary school - vacant for 15 years - was brought back to life by a team featuring Recover Green Roofs.

There is a growing demand for planting exterior green walls in cold climates, but freezing temperatures can take a toll on plants in these systems. Three experts weigh in to share their winter survival secrets: Joep van Vilsteren of Sempergreen; award-winning green roof and wall designer Randy Sharp; and Lucas Moran of green wall manufacturer New Earth Solutions.

Green roofs can recover space for pollinators in dense urban environments, where native ecosystems once persisted. This article is the first of several that will focus on the unique role of living roofs made for the preservation of native pollinators - looking at Sedums in particular.

In densely populated cities, land values are often at a premium, and land for parks or urban farms is often too expensive to provide. This makes the provision of roof parks an opportunity for building owners, planners, and politicians to accomplish multiple goals. A review of parks like the Salesforce Transit Center in San Francisco demonstrates how converting air space over infrastructure into roof parks should become more commonplace.

Over the past decade, there has been a lot of talk, research, and pilot projects around the concept of "smart cities", integrating technology into our cities. For the most part, nature, the very foundation on which cities are built, has been left out of these discussions. Dr. Nadina Galle shares with us here her pioneering work on a new concept she calls the "Internet of Nature".

Green roofs and walls can provide a myriad of energy benefits, from moderating heat through the building envelope, to improving solar PV efficiency, to reducing the urban heat island, and more. A new report provides an exhaustive summary and literature review of these benefits and how designers can maximize them on their projects.

In Georgetown, the largest freestanding Green Wall in the Seattle area stands as a banner to community health in action, hiding an ugly concrete barrier. The Green Wall is not only a successful, sustainable structured landscape ‘intervention’ in its inherent functionality, but delivers benefits that satisfy the goals articulated in the participatory design process.

An anonymous, informal green roof survey completed by 160 students of P.S. 41 in New York City demonstrates the green roof's valuable emotional, social, and educational benefits, even compared to the lower-level playground.

Climate change (and associated weather impacts) is causing milder winters and as a result, increasing tick populations, particularly in Canada and the Northeastern US. Ticks are showing up not only in the countryside but also in urban areas.

We asked two experts, an architect, Lois Vitt Sale, and a scientist, Wolfgang Amelung - How Does One Design for Maximum Climate Mitigation and Adaptation Performance of Living Architecture. Their responses illustrate the complex nature of this fundamentally important question.

Through the use of tactics and strategies found in nature, green roofs can be designed to adapt to the inevitable cycles and stresses that climate can impose. This overview of ecosystem approaches shows how green roofs can be planted and designed for resilience, especially in hot, arid climates.

In 2020, Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez introduced legislation proposing a $500 million investment to green the rooftops of our public schools. We measure and value the potential benefits and quantify the job-creation impacts of this transformative investment.

Even outside of hurricane zones and green roofing - all roofing projects can be affected by wind, and uplift must be accounted for in every roof design. The University of Miami’s new Lakeside Village development features several hurricane-strength green roofs.