In this post, I’m going to diverge from the format of my past several entries a bit and explore strategies for installing green roofs on pitched surfaces. The International Green Roof Association (IGRA) states that roofs with up to a 30 degree pitch can be outfitted with a green roof, and that “traditional” green roof […]
Installing a pitched green roof Read More »
We are designing a green roof in Park Slope, Brooklyn, for buildings that are joint condominiums. The total roof area is about 7000 sq.ft. Two design ideas are being thrown around, one with the walkway along the front wall perimeter and the other along the center of the buildings. Create Green Walkway The original idea
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We are a Brooklyn green roof installer and the question of sedum type comes up a lot. Cuttings, plugs or plants? Most people aren’t interested in seeds: Too complicated and too long to grow. My preference is cuttings. Fully grown plants are not a consideration for price and other reasons. Between plugs and cuttings: 1lb
Brooklyn Green Roof: Plugs or Cuttings? Read More »
My manager Jack and I were talking about the direction of Eco Brooklyn today and we were trying to put into words the concept of Eco Brooklyn’s services. Jack came up with a genius term: Urban Off Grid. That is exactly what Eco Brooklyn does. We create urban off grid houses. This does not mean
As part of our National Sustainable Building Adviser Course we visited the Queens Botanical Garden. It is amazing. The new building is totally decked out with the best of green building: solar, rainwater, gray water, toilet composting, natural vantialtion. You name it. But their greatest thing for me was their green roof. Really amazing. [salbumphotos=27,160,3,n,y,title
Queens Botanical Garden Read More »
Brooklyn NY brownstones are not built to carry heavy loads on their roofs. So when you install a green roof you need to build for it and know what the weights are. Here are the numbers from my friend Avra: Extensive – 10-50 lb/squ. ft Semi-intensive 30-90lb/sq. ft. Intensive 80-150 lb/sq. ft. Here are thicknesses
Weights of green roofs Read More »
Our Brooklyn Green Show House has doubled up joists in the roof in anticipation of a heavy green roof. I’m talking with my friends Atom and Lori, who are publishing a book on DYI green roofs in Brooklyn. We are seeing if they can install the roof on the show house as part of their
How to Make a Green Roof Thick and Sustainable Read More »
GreenRoofs.org is my favorite green roof resource on the web. Run by Green Roofs for Healthy Cities the web site is full of useful info. If you ever wanted to put a green roof on your New York home then that should be the first place to look. When we are researching the best way
Yesterday, right after finishing my last post about waterproofing membranes for green roofs, I got an interesting e-mail from a friend that I went to graduate school with. She is professionally involved in the green building industry and I contacted her for information on waterproofing membranes for green roofs when I first began investigating options
EPDM membranes for green roofs Read More »
In my last post, I identified factors that should be considered when installing a green roof (i.e. desired function, type of roof, whether structural modifications must be made to accommodate extra weight, composition of the roof system, proper substrate formula, appropriate mix of vegetative species, and desired time to maturity/planting method). In this post, I will begin to investigate
Waterproofing a green roof Read More »
