The Professional Design Guide to Green Roofs

I use this to advise others as to roof possibilities and necessary structure. These have come far since the one on Heidi's grandfather's house!

This book was presented with very clear information and I liked the way it was laid out. The photos were also excellent . Lisa Lee Benjamin has been a dedicated plant and soil specialist and world traveler always open to learning and leaving behind inovative new ideas for communities to easily incorporate into their lifestyles. She connects talented people with talented people as she moves forward. She is a true visionary.

There are two aspects of this book that make it stand out from others: firstly, the approach being heavily rooted in the arts with a primary focus on design; secondly, the absolute accessibility of the book for non-professionals. Those of us who are closet (meaning would-be) landscape architects and designers now have a point from which to leap when considering our own projects, even of not of a commercial dimension. A well recommended read in blossoming field.

Let me start off by saying the pictures and variety of green roofs in this book blew me away. Other green roof books I have read have a good deal of information but are limited on the variety of green roofs.This book is a polar opposite of those with its great imagery from green roofs all over the world. Throughout the book it is almost a who's who of green roofs. Which is made possible because every image has a credit that lets you know where it is in the world and who designed it.I found this very helpful in that if there was something that caught my eye, like the English garden planting on the top of Vancouver's Fairmont Waterfront Hotel, I could easily look up more about it.Another aspect of this book that sets it apart is the Q&A sections throughout the book with professionals in the industry. They answer the questions on everything from design to roof membranes. I found these sections to be a nice addition to the information contained in each chapter.In my review title I say it is for the none professionals as well. The reason I say this is because the authors write in an approachable way that makes the topic easy to understand. That along with great images anyone interested in green roofs can learn how they work, find someone to help build one, and dream of what they can do with their own roof.So what's in it for the professionals? There are no recipes for how to build a green roof but there is the process of how to design, create constructions documents and build a green roof. The pitfalls one could run into where pointed out clearly and the questions a professional should ask of his or her team where given.One example of this is the approach of designing a green roof as a part of a building. I thought I could look at it like any other garden design and then lay it over a roof. But the authors stop that line of reasoning and explain how a green roof is part of a building and there are many factors that have to be accounted for from load, to wind, to building performance, to outside views, to accessibility and drainage.These are just the layers of information that earn this book its title. A wonderful all around green roof book for the professional just getting into green roofs or for anyone else that has an interest. An easy 5 Stars.

If you are planning to hire a professional to make a green roof for you, you don't need this book...unless you need the name of a professional. If you are a professional, you shouldn't need this book either. If you are a homeowner looking for creative ideas and suggestions, you will probably be as disappointed as I was. Where is Patrick Blanc and his inspiring living walls?

This is a good reference, but it is sadly lacking in details on the projects, and almost nothing is included on that actual plants for green-roofs, which is largely the point of the exercise. Putting plants where none would be.