We analyzed landcover change in Porto, Portugal, using satellite imagery from 2017 and 2022. K-Nearest Neighbor classification revealed increases in impervious surfaces and decreases in vegetation, highlighting opportunities for green roof interventions and the importance of climate justice considerations.

Green roofs and photovoltaic arrays can coexist, enhancing biodiversity and solar energy generation. In a simulated study, pollinator plants thrived better under PV arrays due to favorable microclimate conditions, suggesting benefits for urban habitat diversity and plant establishment.

Green roofs can sequester carbon dioxide, but their contribution is often overlooked. Plants on green roofs allocate more biomass below ground to cope with stress and benefit from symbiotic fungi. This suggests green roofs significantly aid in carbon sequestration.

This paper evaluates carbon sequestration on green roofs. Results suggest shallower beds with native grasses may offset deeper beds, aiding climate mitigation with proper irrigation.

This study aims to describe the integration of green wall technologies and a tunnel ventilation facility, and models the potential ambient air quality improvement the green wall plants have through PM2.5 dry deposition.

This study repurposes automotive sheet metal into 300 modular living wall system (MLWS) planters, observing the cooling effects of 25 plant species on southeast-facing MLWS during summer. Results show Coreopsis lanceolata 'Sterntaler' achieving a 3.4 °C cooler ambient air temperature, highlighting MLWS's notable cooling effects in humid subtropical climates.

Discover how lettuce cultivation thrived on a shallow substrate, overcoming temperature extremes and low fertility. Learn about the impact of fertilizers and weather conditions on crop productivity.

This report describes the continued observation of the plant development on a green roof on a retrofit building in Berlin from 1986 to 2019. This project symbolizes a shift in the urban planning paradigm in post-war Berlin away from demolishing blocks of the housing that survived World War II to gradual renovation of the remaining historic rented courtyard buildings.

New research shows that LiveRoof’s innovative new Blue-Green Roof product, RoofBlue® RETAIN™ has the ability to reduce stormwater runoff, conserve irrigation water, and enhance plant growth.

The abiotic conditions of the ExGR substrate are analogous to those of native dry grasslands (poor, shallow and highly drained soil), providing opportunities for diversifying ExGR with native flora. This study characterized vegetation and substrate dynamics of a sown native dry grassland community on a 254 m² ExGR in relation to microenvironmental conditions.

Dr. Stephan Brenneisen, the father of green roof and biodiversity research discusses how to design green roofs for biodiversity, green roof policy in Basel Switzerland and his future plans.

Rooftop agrivoltaics are cutting edge technologies that consist of the integration of rooftop farming with solar photovoltaics. With an estimated 1.2 million acres of rooftops in the US suitable for solar panels, discover the latest research on agrivoltaics.

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.

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.

There is a great potential for and an essential role for making green roofs with native plants. If conservation practices are not taking place at the ground level, or if the native plant communities have already been significantly altered, then living roofs may provide a last chance to support the ecological heritage of the region. This article explores four approaches to make living roofs with native plants.

Journal of Living Architecture, Volume 8 Number 2 Pages 1-19

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.

The green infrastructure industry has an incredible responsibility to provide the best possible green solutions for the 66 percent of the world’s population that will live in urban areas by 2050. We can only get there through excellent research and rigorous science, as well as close collaborations with civil engineers.

A lot has been said and written about green roofs and fire safety which is inaccurate. Regulations and norms can vary from country to country or even city to city. Gaps in research on fire and green roofs means we are left to draw conclusions from private research or extrapolations from research conducted on standard roofing systems.

A green wall at Kwantlen Polytechnic University in Langley, BC captures water that drains off roofs and uses it to grow an array of plants, while supplemental irrigation is powered by solar panels with battery backup.