Green facade coverage rapidly growing

The coverage of green roofs in US cities is growing by 125% a year, but vertical gardens are set to increase at an even higher rate, according to a report in Business 2.0.

The report quotes Steven Peck, founder of the Toronto- based green roof industry association Green Roofs for Healthy Cities. Peck says living walls can provide as much insulation as green roofs, but with less load-bearing strain on the building.

G-sky, a US-based green roof and wall company, lists supermarket chains,  Vancouver International Airport, and the W Hotels (Charts) chain as its green roof and wall customers.

According to the report:

G-Sky is looking long-term, to a world where carbon-trading is king and companies are eager to offset their greenhouse gas emissions. What better way to do that than to cover your building with greenery?

“Even in small plants, there’s a very easy calculation for how much carbon they offset,” [managing director Chad] Sichello says.

Green walls can also help offset the newly identified urban heat island effect: All the heat-absorbing surfaces in a city raise its temperature to as much as 8 degrees higher than that of the surrounding countryside. Peck says no North American city will have enough green roofs and walls to combat this effect before 2027–not even Chicago.

Green Roofs Australia is in contact with local companies who can design, engineer and install green roofs and living walls. We are currently updating our professional directory.

• Pictured: G-Sky partner Sugiko installed this 35,000-square-foot green wall in Aichi, Japan.