The Future of Green Roofing

Green roofs involve growing plants on rooftops, thus replacing the vegetated footprint that was destroyed when the building was constructed.

Germany is widely considered the leader in green roof research, technology and usage. It is estimated that 12% of all flat roofs in that country are green and the German green roof industry is growing 10% to 15% per year. In North America the concept of green roofs is still fairly new.

Will green roofs ever catch on in the United States like they have in Europe? Several barriers to widespread acceptance exist such as a lack of awareness regarding green roofs, potentially higher installation costs, limited quantifiable data pertaining to the benefits they provide, no technical information on how to build them, and a lack of government incentives or tax breaks. However, all of these problems are currently being addressed. These barriers are not insurmountable, as the same barriers have been overcome in Germany. In the U.S. the concept of green roofs is just now being introduced and will likely become more common in the future. They represent an entirely new market for landscape designers/architects, nursery operations, and landscape contractors; and the potential market includes all existing and future roofs in the country.