Blogger and Northfield City Councilor Betsey Buckheit and her main squeeze, Justin London, installed a green roof (see more info on the Minnesota Green Roofs Council site) on a portion of their house on Saturday with more than a little help from friends and neighbors.
(Click any thumbnail and then scroll left or right through the gallery. The green arrow displays a larger size.)
In Thursday’s NY Times: White Roofs Catch On as Energy Cost Cutters.
I tried to comment earlier, but got snagged in Griff’s OpenID net.
Many thanks to the Locally Grown triumvirate – Griff only toted a camera, but since our hands were quite dirty we appreciate his documentary help. Tracy, on the other hand, not only got her hands dirty hauling a lot of dirt her own self, but brought her husband, daughter, and quite a few college aged people with strong backs so that by the time Ross showed up at about 10 am, there was nothing for him to do.
We can “blame” the entire project on Peter Schmelzer of Vivus Architecture and Design. He designed the (fabulous) addition to our house and said “What about a green roof?” Obviously, we said yes.
More about the process over on my blog.
Finally – have a shed or chicken coop you’d like to put a green roof on? We have leftover materials we’d be happy to sell for a very reasonable price and we’ll provide free advice, too.
Your blog post is very informative, Betsey… with some great photos, too.
Hey, since you’re a City Councilor, what about a green roof on the Muni? Or is it too late for that?
There’s always the new Safety Center!
See the St. Paul fire station green roof.
The process of doing the roof was interesting and informative, and now I’m inspired! The green-roofed chicken coop is a seriously great idea. We might have to wait till next spring to do it, though.
Griff, I think the NY Times got the inspiration for their “white roofs” article from the questions I posed in my LoGro post last February:
https://locallygrownnorthfield.org/post/8585/
Roof is planted – photos soon.
Photos up on my blog – wait for next year when all the plants have grown and covered the roof