Green Roofs: a Good Idea

If you had a green roof, back when I was growing up, it meant that you'd let the moss get ahead of you.

It also meant an expensive repair job and, if it really wasn't your year, trouble with city hall: some places are fussy about how home owners keep up their places.

Today, having a green room is a good thing. Not because we've become tolerant of moss on the shingles, but because new technologies have made roof gardens practical - and beneficial.

"Green Roofs / Design Page"
Urban Design Tools / Low Impact Development (LID)

"Green roofs, also known as vegetated roof covers, eco-roofs or nature roofs, are multi-beneficial structural components that help to mitigate the effects of urbanization on water quality by filtering, absorbing or detaining rainfall. They are constructed of a lightweight soil media, underlain by a drainage layer, and a high quality impermeable membrane that protects the building structure. The soil is planted with a specialized mix of plants that can thrive in the...."

With a diagram, a photo, references and links.