We have written about green roofs before, but have never seen them on houses designed for animals until now. Sustainable Pet Design claims the Greenrrroof Animal Home "smells good, grows plants, attracts butterflies, filters water, insulates, and repels fleas, naturally"...
The house are custom built and custom planted for your pet. Though pre-planted houses cannot be shipped outside of CA, the company will ship unplanted homes and recommend appropriate plants to pet owners in other states. The houses are built from untreated red cedar, painted with zero VOC paint, and waterproofed using beeswax.
Given the high prices (the red home posted above starts at $1000 for an extra-small dog while the birdhouse to the left is $300), these are obviously designed for a niche market.
We do however believe this would be a great DIY project for a handy pet owner- any takers? If you build it, we promise to post pictures!
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perhaps if placed in the right light, you could grow your own cooking herbs on the roof. granted, you'd first have to look up which plants would be OK (and not attractive!) to your pet.
view *heather leaf*'s profile
Tell this to the dogs and explain that they cannot jump on the roof and dig out all the plants and do their you know what business. Also most dog homes should be placed in the shade for comfort on those hot hot days.
view poptart's profile
The plants on top plus the soil they're set in act as insulation from heat/cold. The roof is applied on a slant with a built-in drainage system to wick away rain.
No reason at all you couldn't design & build your own. In fact, if memory serves, the article a couple months ago about these in the Seattle Times included either how-to directions or a website to go to to get some.
view ldevere's profile