Green roofs are sprouting up around the globe, on both complex commercial and public buildings and tiny backyard sheds. Green roofs are planted with grass, flowers, shrubs and other greenery atop a waterproofing membrane and help to reduce heating and cooling loads, reduce stormwater runoff, filter pollutants and greenhouse gases out of the air and increase natural habitats in urban areas. Here are 10 beautiful green roofs from Tokyo to Wisconsin that illustrate just how versatile this concept really is.
(image via: Inhabitat)
This incredible green roof is at the School of Art, Design and Media at Nanyang Technical University in Singapore. The 5-story facility blends in effortlessly with the wooded campus around it, blurring the line between nature and architecture.
(image via: thegrowspot.com)
If it weren’t for the perfect dome shape and the skylights, you might not even be able to tell from atop the California Academy of Sciences that there’s a building under there. It’s been called a “masterpiece of sustainable architecture”, and it’s easy to see why.
(image via: GreenRoofs.com)
Chicago’s Millenium Park is the biggest green roof in the world at 1,067,220 sq.ft. Hidden beneath the vast expanse of grass and flowers is a parking garage.
(image via: Flickr user Bockstark Knits)
The Waldspirale is a residential complex in Darmstadt, Germany covered with grass, shrubs, flowers and trees. ‘Waldspirale’ means ‘wooded spiral’, a name that reflects both the unusual shape of the building and its green roof.
(image via: Metaefficient)
The ACROS Fukuoka building in Fukuoka, Japan looks like a conventional office building on one side, but features a dramatic terraced green roof on the other. The garden terraces contain around 35,000 plants representing 76 species.
(image via: Environment Solutions)
Grassy roofs have been a tradition in Norway for hundreds of years. These ‘torvtaks’, or ‘turf roofs’ can be seen all over the country, even on the humblest of buildings.
(image via: ABC News)
The green roof at the Library Square building in downtown Vancouver, British Columbia was planted with kinnickinick in a pattern that mimics the flow of the nearby Fraser River.
(image via: Apartment Therapy)
Apartment Therapy spotted this green roof in Iceland, planted with grass and flowers. Green roofs are gaining popularity around the world for both commercial and residential buildings alike.
(image via: StreetsBlog)
What could be more relaxing in a big, bustling, concrete jungle like New York City than to escape to your rooftop and enjoy the sights and smells of greenery? Green roofs are slowly growing more popular in big urban cities not just for their ecological benefits but as relaxing getaways. This one is atop the Solaire Building in Battery Park.
(image via: Treehugger)
Goats on a green roof? Why not? Al Johnson’s Swedish Restaurant in Door County, Wisconsin employs goats to graze away all summer long, with the benefits of both neatly trimmed grass and grabbing the attention of tourists passing by.
