At a recent party in Brooklyn, I met Ross von Burg and we got to talking about green design. We could have gone on for hours comparing notes about green practices in USA, Dubai (UAE) and Singapore. He shared some very interesting facts about how Singapore is implementing green roofs, and bio-climatic practices. Especially those of bio-climatic architect Ken Yeang.
A green roof is a roof of a building that is partially or completely covered with vegetation and soil, or a growing medium, planted over a waterproofing membrane. This does not refer to roofs which are merely colored green, as with green roof shingles. It may also include additional layers such as a root barrier and drainage and irrigation systems. Container gardens on roofs, where plants are maintained in pots, are not generally considered to be true green roofs, although this is an area of debate. Rooftop ponds are another form of green roofs which are used to treat greywater. Finally, the term “green roof” may also be used to indicate roofs that utilize some form of “green” technology, such as solar panels or a photovoltaic module. Green roofs are also referred to as eco-roofs, vegetated roofs, living roofs, and greenroofs. (Wikipedia)
Here are some pics of a summer house in LA.
Ross will be meeting Ken again sometime this month and will hopefully bring back more interesting facts on green solutions by Ken.