Green Roof Movement

We took a field trip to the largest green roof in new york city.

Green roof movement.

Toronto was the first city in north america to pass a green roof law in 2009 requiring new buildings or additions that are greater than 21 000 square feet to cover between 20 and 60 percent of. Green roofs for healthy cities grhc is the north american industry association for the green roof and wall sectors. Green roofs are already improving city life and providing habitat to plants and animals but there s an even better idea hiding below the surface. The international greenroof greenwall industry s resource and online information portal.

According to its survey toronto and chicago led the continent in 2016 with the addition of more than 600 000 square feet of green roofing followed by washington d c seattle and philadelphia. Then we imagined what the city could be like if all of its roof space was green. This green roof can be described as a combination of an extensive and intensive roof and therefore is also called a hybrid roof. Unlike former green roofs this first approach offered reliable technology that provided sophisticated irrigation and protection against root ingress for rooftop gardens.

Green roof for healthy cities a nonprofit green roof trade association reports the industry grew by 10 percent from 2015 to 2016. Over the past 10 years the green roof movement has gone mainstream. Modern green roof technology began in the early seventies in germany when the first green roof systems were developed and marketed on a large scale. A variety of plants that grow well in a soil depth of five to seven inches are good to use including certain perennials ornamental grasses herbs shrubs and sedums.

Green roofs have now been adapted by cities across the globe from toronto to seattle paris to singapore melbourne to basel.