Send Us Photos Of Your Green Roofs!

I've lived in urban apartments for all of my adult life, which means I haven't had a garden, and I certainly haven't had a victory garden. That might explain my fascination with green roofs. I love 'em.

Point is, we want to see your green roofs! Please send images to [e-mail]. We'll look at images of green roofs at your homes, your workplaces, or even places around your hometown that you want to show off (ask around -- there has to be one with a cool view somewhere, right?).

Let us know about the roof in a few sentences, too!

Then we'll pick the best images to put into a slideshow here on HuffPost Green -- and maybe we'll have a vote to see which roof the readers like best. You don't have to send us giant images, but it's helpful if they're 600x400 or larger.

And these photos, of course, should be photos you've taken or have the rights to, since we're going to be posting them here. Don't send them if they're not yours.

FYI: We were experiencing a small problem with the submissions email earlier today, but it's now working properly, so send away!

If you don't already know...

A green roof is where you've got a little vegetation on your roof, which helps with insulation, it helps fight the urban heat island effect and it looks nice. For more, check out this guide on how to make a green roof from our friends Rebekah and Stephen Hren.

Here are a few examples of green roofs:

• • • • • •

Amy Norquist, who supplied us with the above photos, is president of Greensulate. She also gave me these new reasons to appreciate green roofing:

They also dramatically increase the life of the roof itself and act as a fire retardant. They provide habitat for birds and bees and they look so much better than the common tar and gravel version. And municipalities recognize the benefits too. Green roofs dramatically decrease the volume of storm water runoff and they clean the air and decrease (summertime) temperature in urban environments. A recent study by Columbia University and NASA have placed green roofs (in combination with street trees) as a top strategy for mitigating the affects of global warming.

While it is essential to assess the structural capacity of any roof prior to installing a green roof, there are systems as light as 10lb per square foot and engineers are working on even lighter systems. It is also good to make sure the roof itself is sound and waterproof. Ideally a green roof is installed on a brand new roofing membrane, complete with warranty.

So, if you've got a green roof, photograph it and send it our way. If you don't, do what I do: close your eyes and pretend for a minute that you've got the scratch to build one. And if you've never heard of green roofing, be on the lookout in your own town -- there might be a few around that you didn't know to look for.

Comments

[ShortHair]

They also help with storm water run off, preventing pollutants from going into watersheds.

[LITNUP]

What a day,,,, Bobby Redord is called racist by AA for his Globalphobic attacks on energy .... The Globalwarming cult will say GLobal warming causes cooling ,,, Oil is at $35.00 ( of course that is evil) And Clean Coal ( yes it can ) is running the physical plant at Southern Illinois U

[iPolitics]

Love the images

[MagisterLudi]

GREAT IDEA!
Some countries use solar energy exclusively.
In Israel, 90% of Israeli homes have solar water heaters fitted on their roofs. Not attractive but very eco- friendly. See the pics.

http://www.instablogsimages.com/images/2008/07/04/solar-hot-water-heater-rooftops-israel2_UMvkj_5784.jpg

http://www.metaefficient.com/wp-content/uploads/solar-water-heaters-on-roof.jpg

California, Arizona and other sunshine states should follow.

[tailgateshirts]

Yea... they are very ugly there but they heat the water!

[sloreader]

The entire Southern half of the U.S (w/ few exceptions) could go solar for heating water and producing electricity in a matter of just a few years...

[sheila]

the only green roof i've ever seen is one covered in solar panels. we DESPERATELY need buildings to become self-sufficient, in order to spare the slaughter of MILLIONS AND MILLIONS of acres of our wilderness for mercenary Industrial Solar and Industrial Wind. PLEASE will you emphasize the need for financing and incentives for rooftop solar? this is critical, and the more fragile, carbon-absorbing desert ecosystem that's destroyed, the greater the global warming threat.

we are being scammed by Big Energy again, which is frantically trying to recentralize and remonopolize power generation in an era of ubiquitous sun and wind. time to wise up and demand that OUR resources flow to US instead of to these wilderness-killers.

[dvoconnor]

The Ballard Library has a great roof!

http://www.spl.org/pdfs/branch/Ballard_stormwater.pdf

[civilstreak]

I have been trying to submit a photo of my universally designed active and passive solar home here in Sonoma, CA and your system keeps rejecting the email. Is there some magic formula required in order to get it accepted? Thanks

[Dave Burdick - Huffpost Blogger]

Thanks for the heads up -- we're looking into it right now.

[Dave Burdick - Huffpost Blogger]

The email is now functioning as intended. Sorry for the delay and thanks again for the tip.

[kingcityguru]

You do realize that much of the US is experiencing the coldest temperatures in a hundred years (and before you say it, last year also had a record cold winter).

Fire up the SUVs -- the sun is getting less hot.

[Aabby]

Extereme weather is a syptom of Global Warming ..Too hot, too cold bot good.

[SolarPowerGuy]

You do realize that the West Coast of North America is simultaneously experiencing record WARMTH this winter (and before you say it, the last two winters were also on the warm side)?

Cherry-pick your weather stories, and you can tell any lie you like.

[Merckx]

It never ceases to amaze me the cluelessness of Global Warming deniers.
In addition to contributed to green house gases that lead to Global Climate Change and warming SUVS are inherently dangerous to drive, pollute the air we breath at a greater rate than more efficient cars, cost more to purchase, insure and repair, are a hazard to other sensibly sized vehicles on the road and increase our dependence on foreign oil which keeps our trade deficit out of balance and weakens our national security by enriching the very governments who which to destabilize us.

[tailgateshirts]

Its not nec. Global Warming as much as it is Global Temperature Volatility

[thefalcon7]

That's why the scientists­/meterolog­ists call it *climate change*.

It's climate volitility....

[Greenguy25]

Nice program, cheers to you Huff Post. I look forward to seeing some of the pics.

http://www.mygreenscene.com