Rooftop garden anyone? These roofs are green in more ways than color; they're environmental rock stars, too. They insulate to keep your space cool in summer and warm in winter, which cuts down on energy use (and cost). They absorb rainfall to prevent landscape erosion and water waste, and they provide a healthy habitat for insects and birds.
It kinda makes a plain roof seem like a wasted opportunity.
Tell me, have you thought about investing in a green roof?
Shown Above:
1. Flickr user Alykat licensed for use under Creative Commons.
2. Flickr user phototouring licensed for use under Creative Commons.
3. JDS Architects
4. Patrick Bingham Hall for Guz Architects via Architectural Digest
5. Albert Vecerka/Esto via Architectural Digest
6. Photo of Des Moines Public Library/NRCS
7. Ben Rahn/A-Frame for Levitt Goodman Architects via Inhabitat
8. Alex McLean for his book Up on the Roof via Co.Design
9. Flickr user cdschock licensed for use under Creative Commons.
10. Flickr user adrimcm licensed for use under Creative Commons.
(Images: As credited above.)
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That 1st one is creepy-cool to me. Looks like a sci-fi flick and the grass or 'alien' is taking over. ha! ha!
I can't even get grass to grow in my front yard in Texas, much less on my roof. Also, with a permanent water restriction in Dallas, I'm sure they would crap if we all started watering twice as much!
@GODMOD
in that situation you use indigenous plants so that they grow naturally; this is asuming that someone has found a plant that can survive in texas
I've thought of doing this, but don't think my little old house is strong enough. Retrofitting would likely be out of the budget. But <3 #10: I want the green roof AND the goats on top!
This is a pretty great article about a green roof art installation of a Tamarac bog on the roof of Minneapolis College of Art and Design
http://www.land8.net/blog/2012/07/19/rooftop-bog/
A green roof can double the life of a flat membrane roof and significantly reduce cooling costs in the summer. Good stuff if you can afford it.
I like the idea, but I'd be afraid it would attract rodents and pests like cats.
Oh, Des Moines Library! Salt Lake City is gorgeous too.
Whooops cut & paste error - the second link (under ...gorgeous too) should go here.
There always has to be "the one":
@ TheDanMan: If one lives in a city they already deal with rodents (and insects!)- grass on the roof or not. And how would cats getting up on a grass covered roof be any different from cats getting up on a roof without grass or plants? If cats can get up on your roof in the first place they won't care if you have grass or not. If one lives in a rural area they already deal with rodents, insects, and cats!!!- grass on the roof or not. And... I think you get the idea...
I love the goats on the roof! What a great way to make the most of every inch of space (though I might worry about the goat smell permeating through the house)
How would one go about doing this on one's roof?
#10 is Al Johnsons Swedish Restaurant in Sister Bay Wisconsin http://www.aljohnsons.com/
I love living roof tops! And the one with the goats, well... I just really really want that!
The first picture is stunning. Great use of space and very eco-friendly. However, the building must be already designed and built with a green roof in mind. There is the additional weight of the soil and everything else, etc. but it is perfect for those who can afford it.
The last picture with the goats is priceless.
Hey, thanks for using my photo (#10) :) I'm glad everyone is getting a kick out of it.
@IKEV85 - Actually no. I took photo #10 with the goats on Vancouver Island in Canada, at a place called Coombs. It is a popular country market originally built by Finnish immigrants in the early 70s, who copied the traditional sod roofs found in Finland.
Google Earth: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=coombs+british+columbia&hl=en&ll=49.305552,-124.423863&spn=0.016146,0.038581&hnear=Coombs,+Nanaimo+Regional+District,+British+Columbia,+Canada&t=m&z=15&layer=c&cbll=49.305552,-124.423863&panoid=aXmSLYOD2TyxNuRyyR2Uuw&cbp=12,164.51,,0,-1.2
These make me think of a wonderful book my children and I love to read: The Curious Garden, by Peter Brown. A little boy discovers a little garden on an abandoned train rail (the NY overpass). As he tends to it, he watches it grow beyond the edges of the tracks and onto the whole city.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Curious-Garden-Peter-Brown/dp/0316015474/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1345165642&sr=8-1&keywords=the+curious+garden
In pictures #3 and #4, how do they mow the grass? It appears to be very well manicured and on a dangerous slope for a lawn mower. Any ideas?
That last photo is actually a restaurant in Door County, Wisconsin. They put the coats up there themselves though.
Sorry, Maybeamezzo, but the last photo really isn't in Wisconsin, as the photographer already posted earlier. It is on Vancouver Island. A very popular tourist spot and lots of fun for the goats too!