Energy Efficient Living Roofs

One of the things we love here at 21 acres are innovation and simple changes to make your Building and living structures more energy efficient - such as Living Roofs or Green Roofs.

Living roofs have the potential to do a number of wonderful things for the environment—they create habitats for local birds, control harmful stormwater runoff and, by alleviating the urban heat-island effect (and the intense need for air conditioning), reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

When rain falls on open, undisturbed land, water goes through its natural cycle and returns to the atmosphere through evaporation and transpiration (or drains into the soil). However, when rain falls onto buildings with impervious surface cover, a staggering 75% of the rainwater becomes surface runoff which often drains into and pollutes open water bodies. By installing a living roof you will mitigate the impact of new construction and reduce future water use. 

A living roof, or green roof as it is sometimes called, is a vegetated roof cover with a layer of soil or a growing medium and plants taking the place of gravel, shingles or tiles. The layers and the layer placement vary from system to system and living roof type, but at the very least all living roofs include a single to multi-ply waterproof layer, drainage, the growing medium and plants covering the entire roof surface.

Living roofs are created with the beauty and anticipation of the changing seasons with a wide variety of plantings. Sedums and other succulents, flowering herbs, grasses and mosses are used in a virtual living carpet or tapestry varying from season to season as plant communities naturally migrate in their random regenerative patterns.

Please use the Contact form on the right for Energy Efficient Living Roofs information and ordering.