Green Roofs

Marcie Sillman
05/05/2004 at 9:00 a.m.

Can grass on the roof revolutionize the world's construction industry, save energy and protect the planet from global warming? The new Seattle City Council Chambers are topped with a green roof, a strengthened and well drained roof planted with shrubs and flowers. These roofs are not add-ons but integral to the building, helping regulate heat, improve the air and water quality in cities. Though green roof technology has been developing in Europe, and encouraged with government research grants, it is only now catching on in the U.S. Green roof products and services abound in Europe and Australia. Will we see a similar flourishing in the U.S? Just what could a green roof expansion do for the environment, energy consumption and the economy? A Conference on Green Roofs is taking place in Portland next month.

Guests:
Patrick Carey building designer and Director the NW Ecobuilding Guild's Green Roof Project. His company, Hadj Design, has just started to design and install green roofs as a business.
Steven Peck founder of Green Roofs For Healthy Cities and the foremost organizer of green roof policy development and research in North America
Linda Velasquez landscape architect and founder/publisher of Greenroofs.com
Katrin Scholz-Barth former Director of Sustainable Design at HOK Planning Group