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Growing food in your own backyard is hardly a new concept, nor is utilizing any open space available if you live in the city, but turning your rooftop into a garden?  Well that idea has caught on in cities throughout the world, and now is starting to gain a foothold in the United States as well.

Rooftop gardens are by no means new.  Forward thinking, environmentally conscious, or penurious city dwellers have been doing it for as long as there have been city dwellers.  But recently the rooftop garden movement has started to gain some traction, inspired by the environmental benefit of more green space in a city (it reduces the “heat island” effect), and the appeal of home grown organic veggies just steps away have given the movement some serious traction.

Large metropolises across North America - including New York City, Washington DC, and Chicago have also sweetened the deal by offering tax incentives and subsidies to encourage green rooftops, and Toronto, Canada also has a new law requiring buildings of a certain size to have a green roof.  Though the Green Roof Bylaw in Toronto has garnered some criticism (mostly from developers) it has been well received by residents in the city as a means to increase the amount of green space, offset their carbon emissions, and generally to be a greener city.

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The City of Toronto’s Planning and Growth Committee met earlier this week to discuss the proposed and highly controversial ‘Green Roof’ by-law. A green roof is partially or completely covered with vegetation and soil that has been planted over a waterproof layer. The benefits of these roofs include reduced energy use, reduced storm water runoff, and increased longevity of the roof by protecting it from natural elements.

The original version of the by-law would have made green roofs mandatory in new construction of condos higher than 7 storeys and office or retail complexes greater than 54,000 square feet beginning in 2010. The law was to require 30-60% of subjected buildings’ roofs to be green (depending on the size of the building) and violators would be subject to fines up to $100,000.

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The GreenRoofs.org “Green Roofs for Healthy Cities”  Conference is on the horizon in Atlanta this coming June 2009! It is just ideal for:

• those interested in creating Green Roofs.
• studying the future of Vertical Gardens/Green Walls.
• raising awareness for green roofs and living walls (vertical gardens).
• engineers, architects, landscape architects, landscape designers,  property managers, developers, roofing contractors, and students.
• anyone interested who wants a 2-day crash course in green roofs and all the beautiful benefits they bring to cities.
• creative city gardeners of all sorts.

“Green roofs are an important component of green infrastructure. They provide valuable public benefits related to stormwater management, reduction of the urban heat island, improvement of air quality (including removal of particulate matter), and general improvement of the quality of life in communities.”  ~GreenRoofs.org

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North of the border a controversy is starting to gain steam in the nation’s largest city, Toronto. The city has proposed a by-law that would make ‘green roofs’ mandatory in new construction of condos higher than 7 storeys and office or retail complexes greater than 54,000 square feet (about 1/4 of a Wal-Mart Supercenter). The proposed law would require 30-60% of the surface area of buildings’ roofs to be green (depending on the size of the building) and violators would be subject to fines up to $100,000.

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[Photo via Community Growers CSA wiki]

It’s really more than a rooftop garden, it’s a rooftop farm! Check out this interview with the farmer, including a little tour of the garden!

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What do the Westfield shopping centre, Canary Wharf and a Victorian museum have in common? They are all at the vanguard of a move to encourage biodiversity in buildings that could take on an unprecedented scale if guidelines published today are adopted.

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Pullen’s church expansion had to uphold the church’s tradition of cherishing the earth, so what better way to do so than by incorporating a green design? The desire to be “as green as can be” and still be affordable, is always a challenge faced by any homeowner or organization wanting to make ‘green’ renovations to their home. Pullen chose green design elements that allowed it to meet its goals within a healthy and comfortable structure that offers reduced maintenance and operation costs.

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Forget the need for economic stimulus, Barack, can you come up with a better plan for the raccoons? The Obama family is always looking for opportunities to put action behind their beliefs, so would it be better for them to send out a pro-wildlife message by letting the raccoons stay?

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The founders Christine Thüring and Jörg Breuning are green roof professionals who have collaborated in the past on green roof tours in conjunction with the World Green Roof Congress.

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What got me most excited about the project that the Stromberg’s are working on is that they are setting up the roof of the row home to be able to accommodate a green roof. Green roofs in a city environment have enormous environmental benefits. They do things like lower the temperature around the building, improve the air quality in the area, help with water retention and create urban wildlife habitats.

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If you live in a city or suburban area, you can help. Directly below are three unique ways that you can use to join the effort to protect urban wildlife as well as make some positive additions to urban ecosystems at the same time. Some of these ideas you might be familiar with, and others you might not. In any case, spread the word!

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In April, the not-for-profit industry association Green Roofs for Healthy Cities released its 2007 lists of the Top Ten Cities for Green Roof Installations. The Top Ten cities in the U.S. are as follows:

1. Chicago IL
2. Wilmington DE
3. Baltimore MD
4. Brooklyn NY
5. Virginia Beach VA
6. Royersford PA
7. Washington DC
8. Philadelphia PA
9. Amery WI

For lists of 2007’s top ten cities in North America and Canada, see the Final Report of the Green Roof Industry Survey.

Pacific Northwest Needs to Get Back in the Running

While Vancouver made the list for the Top Ten Green Roof Cities in Canada, the Pacific Northwest was not represented in the Top Ten for the U.S. (Portland was 9th in 2006). Cities in the Pacific Northwest (Portland and Seattle, especially) are regularly included in ‘Top Ten Green Cities’ lists that are compiled using broader criteria.

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If it looks green, smells green and feels green, it must be green. Right? The answer, it turns out, is more of a maybe. It is common knowledge that green technology has large positive environmental impacts: large-scale energy savings, run-off reduction and heat reduction among their chief assets. But as green builders continue to define the standards and guidelines for sustainable construction practices, different levels of earth friendly products continue to circulate the market. Green roofs in particular are taking a harder look at the sustainability of their component materials.

Make it last
Brad Budde of Conwed Plastics, Minneapolis, Minn., believes the future development of sustainable green roof products lies in the hands of builders. He suggests that as companies continue to understand the commercial concerns regarding the application of sustainable and earth friendly products that the market as a whole will become more educated about their applications, benefits and uses.

His company is a leader of earth friendly, compostible packaging materials as an alternative to traditional plastic bags, as well as biodegradable plastics that don’t leave the harmful, long lasting resins of other industry plastics. “It’s a really great product that solves some of the disposal concerns for traditional plastic products,” he says.

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Built in Darmstadt, Germany, this structure is called Waldspirale or “Forest Spiral.” It was designed by Friedensreich Hundertwasser, a celebrated Austrian architect and painter. Planted along the 12 floors of the rising roof are beech, maple, and lime trees. The structure even incorporates a running stream. The building comprises 105 apartments. In the tower on the Southeast corner, a restaurant and cocktail bar rises over the entire structure. Source: Wissenschaftsstadt Darmstadt.

Nestled in Pembrokeshire, in Southwest Wales, this structure is truly an eco-dream home. It was built about three years ago by a single family and their friends over the course of four months. The family estimates that it took about 1,000 to 1,500 hours of work and cost only about £ 3,000. It was constructed mostly out of logs, straw and mud, which acts as an effective insulator. According to the house’s inhabitants, the home “feels gentle. Feels to me more like being part of the (natural) world, less like a commodity in a box.” Source: Simondale.

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Roofs are subject to extremes of temperature, receiving the full exposure of the sun as well as suffering from the extremes of cold. No other part of the average home sees a wider cycle of temperatures. Precipitation and wind also provide a constant eroding force that wears at the roof and gradually contributes to breaking it down. Because of this exposure to the elements, roofs are typically elements that need to be replaced several times over the life of a building.

Are there greener options than a basic shingle replacement?

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User "Tool Using Animal" created a ‘Green Roofed Dog Veranda‘ that we were immediately drawn to as a project we wanted to feature on Green Options. While this wasn’t the overall contest winner, vegetated roofs (or green roofs) are a regular feature in some green buildings (and even more green building discussions).

Green roofed structures are appealing to many people, but they aren’t necessarily willing to take on putting one on their own home without more information. So there are growing numbers of green roofed doghouses and green roofed garden sheds and green roofed garages as people who are interested in green roofs try them out in less vital places where they have an opportunity to try it and see without putting their personal comfort at great risk.

This project doesn’t require any special materials or skills beyond those necessary for some of our other projects. A hammer and a saw and a few other woodworking tools are about all that is needed.

I personally would look for alternatives to using ACQ treated wood, even for a doghouse. A doghouse is not going to need decades of longevity, and cedar or some other naturally decay-resistant wood would seem to be a better choice. It should last as long as the structure is needed, but without the need for chemically treated wood.

I should also point out that this is not a complete green roof system. Commercial green roofs are more involved, but this should produce a working version that replicates some of the same principles. While it should function fairly well, even treated wood will eventually break down when in constant contact with wet soil, as is the case with this roof. But "Tool Using Animal" wasn’t trying to replicate a commercial green roof, and I think this is a great project.

The entire project can be viewed on one page here on the Instructables site.