Last week, we asked HuffPost Green readers to send in their photos of green roofs. To recap, when we say "green roof," we mean putting plant life on top of a building to help with insulation, rain runoff, carbon emissions and the heat island effect. But as our readers' photos show, green roofs are pretty easy on the eyes, too!
We put together a slideshow of the best submissions. Below the slideshow, you'll find some details about each roof -- and you'll get to vote on your favorite.
Vote on your favorite of the roofs below -- but be sure to read the details on each roof for more information! Thank you to everyone who sent in their photos, even if yours wasn't chosen for the final slideshow. We received lots of great submissions.
#1
"I am a net producer of solar--that is, every year I produce and excess of solar over my total usage. Only the top roof is solar--these are Unisolar panels that are laminated directly to my steel roof. This solar home of 3,500 s.f. cost $117 per s.f. just 5 years ago." Sent in by Loren Cole.
#2
From a collection of old buildings in a park in Sweden. Sent in by Will Wilson, Durham, N.C.
#3
"Sod roof on a straw-bale house built in 2007 at Blue Oak Farm, seven miles southeast of Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park in the Motherlode of California. No air conditioning needed (none installed) in summer with temperatures routinely over 100 F, wood fire keeps 1,800-square-foot house cozy in winter."
#4
Residential green roof sent in by Seattle architect Geoff Belau.
#5
"Here's a snap of a green roof that I think is a little different from the normal green roofs you might see - this part of the green roof is a little lawn (there's more to this particular roof, including sedums and fruit trees, but it's the lawn that sets it apart, I think). It's on the 6th Floor of a building in chinatown, NYC." Sent in by Amy Trachtman, www.goodegreennyc.com.
#6
"This is a shot of our green roof on our barn. In my youth I was milking cows under that roof. I am the fifth generation on the farm and have now migrated the farm to a niche business supplying plants for green roof."
#7
"This is a 9,000-square-foot green roof covering part of the Albemarle County Office Building in Charlottesville, Virginia. It was the first green roof in the region (completed in July 2005) and has received thousands of visitors. Monitoring indicates that the temperature of the green roof is cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter (than conventional roofs) and that approximately 0.5 inches of rainfall is retained on the roof." For more info, see www.albemarle.org/greenroof
#8
"Our roof is covered with 8 species of sedums planted by our office staff in a modular system designed by Green Roof Blocks. This roof has been growing for nearly 2 ½ years. Since this roof in planted outside of our office windows, we see birds, butterflies, bugs of all sort, and even hawks populating our roof." Sent in by Jared Gilbert, Cook+Fox Architects.
#9
Earthbag storm/rootcellar built for Mother Earth News magazine by Owen Geiger of EarthbagBuilding.com.
#10
555 South Dearborn in Chicago. Sent in by Katherine Darnstadt of Box Design Studio.