Norwegian Green Roof Log Cabins in the USA
Around 50 years ago there was trend in the USA of having Norwegian Log Cabins as a second home.

Norwegian Green Roof Log Cabins in the USA
Around 50 years ago there was trend in the USA of having Norwegian Log Cabins as a second home.
Green Roofs and Fireworks
Practically all dry organic materials are combustible at relative low temperatures. Roof shingles or many waterproofing membranes on roofs are typically petroleum-based products (including Asphalt) and there is hardly any difference to dry organic materials. Some products are equipped with chemical fire retardants that could decrease the risk of spreading fire, unfortunately not the risk of leaks cause by heat and impact.
The living vegetation of fully functional and well-engineered green roofs contains moisture and most plants (especially succulent plants on large extensive green roofs) have a fraction of the energetic potential comparing to all other components used in a building. The green roof growing media (soil for the green roof plants) is a blend of different mineral components with an organic content of typically less that 15%. It is practically impossible to set this material on fire – even when the natural moisture content is not considered.
Fires or leaks on non-vegetated roofs caused by consumer or display fireworks could have been prevented if the building would have had a fully functional green roof without mono-culture vegetation, or if conventional roofs would be well-maintained (regular removing of organic debris from the roof and gutters).
Certainly a fire is the worst-case scenario; however in most cases smoldering firework parts (and cigarettes) are only causing leaks on unprotected roofs that are discovered much later and relate to costly repair. Roof warranties typically don't cover any sort of mechanical impact and they are -again- worthless. See blog post from 2014.
Any sort of fireworks damages or many other mechanical impacts are unknown on functional green roofs. Green roofs prevent leaks or even a fire and so it is the best payback is right there.
See also Fire Safety on GreenRoofs
Nature is (literally) so cool.
Happy New Year!
Green Roof Maintenance During Holiday Season
Do it like Santa Clause!
During Holiday season, Santa Clause and his Reindeers simply enjoy their Green Roof. Certainly, every Green Roof requires project specific maintenance and when this is well organized, professional, and done by experienced people, there is no reason to be concerned. Something the Easter Bunny even knows while he eats the fresh lettuce on a roof top farm.
In the southern hemisphere, the year-end is during summer and all above applies as well.
The reason why this works around the globe: Plants cannot read a calendar. They are much more advanced and able to adjust to the current conditions in no time. They take every day as it comes and with a row of days they “know” in what direction they have to adjust and prepare.
If there is a problem on a Green Roof, it is typically caused by humans and their desperate conception of tidiness or hopeless desire to control nature. Whether they try doing by squeezing many plants in a tiny plastic box, using endless “engineered” layers, use materials that might serve a different purpose, or run an irrigation system whenever they see a weather application alarming them on their smart phones.
Sometime people like train plants to do what people want and create a dependency of the plants on humans. If you are such a control freak you might have a lot to do during the Holiday Season.
Green Roof Service LLC – Green Roof Technology does what the plants need and want. We understand the plants. Hence, our clients and we can lean back during the Holiday Season and enjoy this fabulous time with friends, family, and our pets – in house, outside, or on the Green Roof.
Happy Holidays!
Solar Garden Roof team and
Jorg Breuning and GRT-Team
see also: Winter Maintenance for Green Roofs
Do Green Roof Failures increase with Roofing Manufacturers?
In the last two days I visited four of my projects that are between 14 years and 1 year old.
Each of these Green Roof has an own interstesting history and with the exception of the “cozy” Green Roof, each of the extensive green roof host over 25 and 40 plant species in excellent health.
None of them was ever irrigated and the oldest was fertilized the last time 10 years ago. All of them require hardly any maintenance (2 hours per 5,000sf / year). One Green Roof is maintained only once every 3 years.
For these amazing, inexpensive and resilient green roofs a special thank to all who participated!
In contrast:
I was on one roof that was installed and maintained by a roofing company with materials from a famous roofing manufacturer. This roof is basically going down the drain because of incompetence, sloppy work, and inappropriate materials.
This roof came with a costly single source warranty that –as always – doesn’t cover anything of the green roof. The cost for this worthless application was around 25% higher than a fully functioning Green Roof from well trained gardeners.
This is one of many projects around the Nation where I am questioning myself whether roofing manufactures and roofing companies should work in the Green Roof field. As a matter of fact in last decade 90% of roofing manufacturers offered Green Roof Systems that consistently underperform or that are not maintained properly. Actually most of these manufactures changed their systems and approaches to Green Roofs more often than they changed the management of these multi-million Dollar corporations.
While many of these manager focuses on how increase revenue and some of them how to fix the problems with Green Roofs their quality of the waterproofing and craftsmanship of their installations went down. Striving for more revenue is not a wrong thing in general but when this is done on the backbone of the Green Roof industry and our all prospect clients it is more than questionable.
As client you have to figure out whether it is more important to make unknown stockholder happy or yourself.
I don’t fall for roofing warranties and sales forces with nice brochure
At this time of Thanksgiving celebration our thoughts turn gratefully to you with warm appreciation.
We would like to take this time to express to you our sincere appreciation for your confidence and loyalty.
We are deeply thankful and extend to you our best wishes for a happy and healthy Thanksgiving Day!
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In our dense Cities, more and more intensive Green Roofs are being built.
Besides all the environmental reasons, building owners recognized that a Roof Garden – usable green on the roof - creates additional value with a fast and consistent payback. A building with a roof garden is simply more attractive for tenants and potential buyers.
Typically, structural loads reduce this fantastic idea to a low profile extensive Green Roof or to an intensive green roof that is landscaped with Geofoam.
All professionals know that expanded polystyrene (Geofoam) is questionable from an environmental perspective. Some horticulturalists know that Geofoam has no benefits for the plants – actually, it reduces their rooting space for the plants (grass can root up to 3 feet deep) and consequently it increases maintenance and irrigation needs. As a result, most of these Roof Gardens with Geofoam are elevated intensive care nurseries.
Hardly any Roof Garden in Europe utilizes Geofoam because of the high risk of rodents and environmental conflicts. These roofs are being built with Foam Glass Gravel. Over the last 25 years Foam Glass Gravel replaced Geofoam and eliminated all the related disadvantages of Geofoam.
Foam Glass Gravel is 95% recycled glass, has a much higher compressive strength, the roots can practically expand like in a natural soil horizon and if combined with low-tide/high-tide irrigation the water and fertilizer consumption can be reduce by up to 75%.
The savings in no waste installations, less complicated irrigation systems, in water reduction and less maintenance make this material cheaper than any Geofoam application.
European architects also like the idea that you can create any type of landscaping on a roof without any problems, fully organic and without additional components. Foam Glass Gravel allows adding walkways, roads or other structures on top of it. Foam Glass Gravel has the best lightweight – compressive strength of all mineral materials available on earth.
The picture below shows typical setups of intensive Green Roofs with Foam Glass Gravel, like nature does it and to compare how people still do it with Geofoam.
Green Roof Service LLC - Green Roof Technology is proud to be the first that utilizes this advanced Green Roof solution with Foam Glass Gravel on projects in North America for amazing and low impact intensive Green Roofs.
There are many reasons for building owners to question things in the process and to ask for a third party advice e.g. experienced Green Roof experts. The costs for advice are typically only a percentage of potential savings before construction and likely save expensive repair, renovation or rebuild in the first 5- 6 years.
Our advice: Don't play cards - ask for advice.1