Green Rooftops

Corrie Zoll

Minnesota Green Roofs Council

A green rooftop is a rooftop that incorporates plants as part of a buildingâ€™s roofing system. Properly designed, green roofs are stable, living ecosystems that replicate many of the processes found in nature. Green rooftops can provide multiple ecological benefits including stormwater management, water quality improvements, reductions in energy use, air quality improvement and increased wildlife habitat.

Green rooftops are becoming more popular in the Twin Cities as building owners become aware that the ecological benefits listed above are complemented by significant economic benefits. With green rooftops, building owners can see reductions in heating and cooling costs, reductions in stormwater management costs, and a doubling of the life expectancy of a buildings roof membrane.

Minnesota is home to nearly 100 green rooftops. That’s a million square feet of live plants on top of buildings rather than hot, hard roof surfaces. Green rooftops make roof membranes last longer while reducing energy costs and managing storm water. Expect to see the number of green roofs in the state double or triple over the next decade.

Hundreds of homeowners in Minnesota are trying to figure out how to incorporate green rooftops in their own back yard. RoofBloom is a program designed to help homeowners to implement a green rooftop on a garage or other small outbuilding. RoofBloom offers workshops, demonstration sites, hands-on training, printed materials, building plans, plant lists, planting plans, and advice.

Things to Consider When Planning a Garage Green Roof:

Weight. A basic green roof adds 10-20 pounds per square foot to the weight of a roof. You’ll need a structural engineer to make sure your building is strong enough.

Waterproofing. A quality waterproof membrane is needed. A green rooftop will double or triple the life expectancy of this membrane.

Erosion control. Simple materials are available to keep plants from sliding off a pitched garage roof. Green rooftops can be installed on roofs up to a 40% grade.

Growing Medium. Green roofs use a growing medium that is engineered to be lightweight and to support green roof plants.

Plants. A wide variety of native and non-native plant species will thrive on green rooftops. The best plants for green roofs are shallow-rooted, drought-tolerant, and provide solid ground cover.

Maintenance. Someone is going to have to get up on the roof to water, pull weeds, and inspect for problems.

View a green roof near you:

Phillips Eco-Enterprise Center (live web cam www.greeninstitute.org)
Loring Greenway (parts of the path are made up of green rooftops)
Brit’s Pub
Minneapolis Central Library (a small portion is visible from the Teen section)
Minneapolis City Hall (spring 2007)
Crowne Plaza Hotel 8th floor sky garden

Read Up

Green Roof Plants, Edmund Snodgrass and Lucie Snodgrass, Timber Press, 2006.

Planting Green Roofs and Living Walls, Nigel Dunnett and Noel Kingsbury, Timber Press, 2004.

Act Locally

The Bakken Museum
3537 Zenith Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN
(accessible to museum visitors)

Brit’s Pub
1110 Nicollet Avenue
Minneapolis, MN
(open seasonally to customers)

Lebanon Hills Regional Park Visitors Center
860 Cliff Road, Eagan, MN
(sloped green roof can be seen from the ground outside the visitors center)

Green Rooftops

Green Tips

Host an Art Night

Looking for a new way to connect with your neighbors, get free life advice, and spark your creative juices? Consider hosting an art night at your house, complete with paints, modeling clay, colored pencils and art smocks. Get messy, be creative, and let the conversation flow. For inspiration and resources, check out this article.

Choose Safe Art Supplies

Arts and crafts materials can be hazardous to your health and the environment. Even though the Labeling of Hazardous Art Materials Act of 1988 requires stringent labeling of hazardous materials in art supplies, many materials are out of compliance. This article offers tips to help you choose safe art supplies, plus substitutes to harmful substances.

Support a Local Business

Did you know that roughly 73 cents of every dollar spent at a local business stays within the community, compared to 43 cents for non-local chain stores? When you buy from local businesses, you help that business employ community workers, support other local businesses, and contribute to the community’s overall health. Read more here about the benefits of buying locally.

Buy Green Office Supplies

“Green” doesn’t necessarily mean “good” when it comes to so-called green office supplies. To help your office green up, consider durability, natural resource and energy use, recycled content and recyclability, toxicity, biodegradability and packaging before you purchase supplies. You can also set up a reuse system for the supplies you already have. For more tips on green office products, check out this article.

Think Twice About Bottled Water

If you live in an area with clean drinking water, fill a reusable bottle with tap water and bring it with you wherever you go to avoid buying bottled water. The U.S. sends 2 million tons of plastic water bottles to landfills each year—and producing those bottles requires oil and emits carbon dioxide. Some restaurants in the Twin Cities feel so strongly against bottled water that they refuse to sell it. Learn more.

Contact Your State Legislator

As a constituent, you are your local legislators’ highest priority. Why not share your views with them and ask them to support your position? It may seem like your letters and emails will get lost in a deep, dark political hole, but don’t despair. Whether you call, fax, email or visit in person, this article offers tips on how to effectively communicate with your elected officials and get them to listen.

Get Engaged!

Individuals’ actions are important in setting sound policy, so become an engaged citizen. Whether you call your legislator’s office, testify in a legislative hearing or attend a rally, you can make your voice heard. Still doubt that you can make a difference? This article addresses couple common concerns about whether civic engagement is worth it.

Take the Energy Challenge

The fastest, cheapest, easiest way to reduce your carbon footprint is through energy efficiency and conservation. Plus, you’ll save yourself money in the process! Need a little boost to get started? Join the Minnesota Energy Challenge and learn from thousands of Minnesotans who have pledged to reduce their energy use—and are finding fun, creative ways to do it. Read more about the Challenge here.

Make an Action Plan

Wait. Scratch that. Don’t make your own list of simple things you can do today to make a positive difference for the climate—use ours! This list offers 20 easy things you can do that will help you and your family lighten your load on the environment, keep more money in your pocket, and inspire you to find even more ways to tread lightly on this earth.

Check Out This Template for Action

Scientists say a global warming “tipping point” in the Arctic seems to be happening before their eyes. Sea ice in the Arctic Ocean is at its second lowest level in about 30 years. These news flashes are just some of our climate’s changes happening daily. You and your kids can help. Read more here, and then check out Climate Generations’s Take Action! Guide, which offers hands-on activities for grades 3-12.

How Our Food Choices Effect the Planet

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How Our Food Choices Effect the Planet

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