I am...slowly... reaching the age where my friends have steady jobs in the careers in which they've received degrees, and therefore, buying homes. Now, I know that the economy this past year hasn't been well...stellar, but none-the-less we're not renting anymore. I have been trying to hint to my friends' parents that are re-modeling or building or just moving that there are some great new options that will reduce their heating bill (Midwest) and air conditioning bill (far west) but they're just too old to grasp the idea of change. So, I'm forced to look to MY friends, who, in all honesty, are my best bet in getting this message across.
Green Roofs are the wave of the housing future! Don't you laugh at me, but a green roof is when you lay grass on your roof. Think about it, when you go to lay on your lawn on a hot summer day, it's always cool, right? RIGHT. And it has a thick layer of insulation- dirt, right? RIGHT. So why is it so far fetched to put grass on your roof at home? IT'S NOT. Here are the reasons why :
**Pink Panther insulation wasn't around for the Vikings of Newfoundland, so they used Grass to keep in the the kind of air they wanted, depending on the season.
**If you have a way to get up to the roof, it can be another garden! Grow veggies on your roof and you don't have to run to the grocery store for that Onion he forgot to buy on the way home from work.
**In areas of the world where it rains a lot, it is your natural gutter. It absorbs the water and therefore you don't have run-off.
**You're giving back to the environment! Mother Earth gives you so much, how long has it been since you've given her a mothers day gift? you're doing good by filtering pollutants and CO2 out of the air.
Besides from all of the above, it's actually really cool aesthetically speaking. I was recently on vacation in Door County Wisconsin. There is a Swedish restaurant nearby in Sister Bay and it has a green roof, it even has goats grazing on it! You don't have to do that, but it's cool, huh?
These roofs can be colorful too. You don't dye them with food or hair coloring, you plant flowers! If you intersperse different kinds that bloom at different times of the year, I guarantee your house will be the house that all the neighbors envy.
Photos:
- School of Art, Design and Media at Nanyang Technological University; Singapore
- The great city of Chicago
- Hundertwasser's Waldspirale, Austria
- The city of Baltimore
- Al Johnson's Restaurant, Sister Bay, Wisconsin
2 comments:
The roof is definitely an ideal place for a garden. Plants and vegetation are directly exposed to sunlight which they need in order to survive. As an owner, you will just have to water them every day so they would not be overly exposed. I can actually imagine one filled with colorful flowers and plants - a whole house will definitely look beautiful with a garden roof.
- Joanne Barragan
“If you have a way to get up to the roof, it can be another garden!” – I totally love that idea. I am currently working on my rooftop garden, and I can’t get enough of planting! That space used to be useless, but now it has become very useful. And you’re right; I should plant some vegetables while I’m at it. =)
Rolf Matchen
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