Research Guides: Horticulture: Sustainability and Landscaping: Green Technology

Library Catalog

On the Shelf at CCBC Libraries

The Professional Design Guide to Green Roofs by Karla Dakin et al Until recently, most green rooftop gardens were little more than variations on sedum mats on four inches of soil. Now, designers are creating cutting-edge green roofs that focus not only on critical environmental issue like heat, storm management, and ecosystem development, but also on the aesthetics, offering beautiful, livable, sustainable landscapes. The Professional Design Guide to Green Roofs is a comprehensive exploration of rooftop garden design and the process behind it. It covers everything landscape architects and garden designers need to know to create a beautiful garden in the sky. With lush photography, international examples, and solid how-to information, this is an essential resource for all design professionals.
Call Number: SB 419.5.D35 2013
Eat Up by Lauren Mandel Soaring prices and concerns about chemical-laden fruits and vegetables increasingly drive us to grow our own healthy food close to home. In cities, however, vanishing ground space and contaminated soils spur farmers, activists, and restaurateurs to look to the skyline for a solution. The hunger for local food has reached new heights, and rooftops can provide the space that cities need to bring fresh, organic produce to tables across North America. The first full-length book to focus entirely on rooftop agriculture, Eat Up views this growing movement through a practitioner's lens, explaining: Structural, access, and infrastructural considerations Zoning and building codes Proven growing techniques Business and marketing strategies This graphically rich guide provides inspiration and advice to aspiring growers through photographs of successful rooftop farms and gardens and interviews with industry professionals. Easy-to-use checklists and a decision tree are included to help gauge the viability of each unique rooftop opportunity. Essential reading for home gardeners, entrepreneurs, restaurateurs, policy makers, academics, and designers, Eat Up takes urban agriculture to a whole new level, proving that rooftop farming is not just pie in the sky--it is the future of urban food. Lauren Mandel holds a master's degree in landscape architecture from the University of Pennsylvania and a bachelor of arts degree in environmental science. She is a project manager and rooftop agriculture specialist at Roofmeadow, where she designs green roofs and oversees green roof and rooftop agriculture projects around the country.
Call Number: SB419.5 .M35 2013
Rain Gardens by Robert W. Domm; Lynn M. Steiner Rain gardens are at the forefront of the green revolution. This environmentally friendly landscaping captures rainwater runoff rather than redirecting it into storm drains. The result is less erosion, less water pollution, and a beautiful, low-maintenance, sustainable garden. This is the first rain garden handbook for the backyard home gardener. Co-authors Robert Domm and Lynn Steiner draw on hands-on experience to help homeowners build beautiful rain gardens in their own yards. Illustrated with color photography, this instructive book offers specific advice about planning, building, planting, and maintaining your garden. Learn about city grants, how to calculate runoff, rain barrels, attracting wildlife, gray water recycling, and much more.
Call Number: SB475.83 .S74 2012
Small Green Roofs by Nigel Dunnett et al Until now, the green roof movement has been limited to large-scale, professional endeavours and public buildings. But homeowners everywhere are catching onto the benefits of a green roof -- water conservation, energy savings, and storm water management. In Small Green Roofs authors Dunnett, Gedge, Little, and Snodgrass profile ordinary homeowners who scaled green roofs down to the domestic level. Small Green Roofs is the first book to focus on small-scale and domestic green roofs. More than forty profiles of small and domestic-scale projects of all shapes and sizes include green roofs on sheds, garden offices, studios, garages, houses, bicycle sheds, and other small structures, as well as several community projects. For each project, details are given for design, construction, and installation, as well as how-to tips on how the roof was planted and cared for. For readers looking for inspiration when hiring a contractor or taking the adventurous step of building their own, Small Green Roofs provides the knowledge and encouragement to make it possible.
Call Number: SB 419.5.S63 2011
The Green Roof Manual by Edmund C. Snodgrass; Linda McIntyre Green roofs--the ultimate in sustainable building practices--continue to generate enormous interest and enthusiasm among architects, landscape designers, and urban planners. Increasingly strict stormwater regulations and the appeal of LEED-related projects have also boosted the popularity and desirability of green roofs. Those who want to build green roofs, however, have few resources to guide them. Until now, no book has taken a comprehensive look at how to effectively adapt green-roof technology to the variable and extreme North American climate, and how to design projects that will function and endure as successfully as those in Germany, Switzerland, and other European countries. This book fills the gap by providing an overview of practices and techniques that have been effective in North America. The authors offer options regarding structure, function, horticulture, and logistics, as well as surveys of actual projects and analyses of why they have or haven't succeeded. Approachable and reader-friendly, the manual clearly explains how these complex systems function and how to plan and carry out projects successfully from concept through construction and maintenance. Ideally suited to professionals (including architects, landscape architects, engineers, and designers) and their clients, it brings together key lessons from leaders in the field. Numerous photographs highlight the range of design possibilities and show green roofs both during construction and at various stages of maturity. At last, those seeking basic information about how to design and build green roofs have a concise, authoritative guide to this exciting new technology.
Call Number: SB 419.5.S65 2010
The Rain Garden Planner by Terry Wallace Encourages the homeowner to conserve water by restoring natural processes that filter and return water to groundwater reservoirs. Learn the installation and maintenance of rain gardens. Provides garden plans and plant lists for different conditions and styles, including wildlife habitat, a pretty cottage border, and a formal garden. Discusses community gardens, ways that individuals can do their part in conservation, and provides many resources for further information. Rain gardens to suit any style or size of property are within the reach of anyone. Create a beautiful and enjoyable home garden while saving water and the natural environment.
Call Number: SB475.83 .W35 2009
Planting Green Roofs and Living Walls by Nigel Dunnett; Noël Kingsbury The latest techniques for planting roofs and walls to enhance our buildings and benefit the environment. The green roof industry is booming and the technology changing fast as professionals respond to the unique challenges of each new planting. In this comprehensively updated, fully revised edition of their authoritative reference, Nigel Dunnett and Noël Kingsbury reveal the very latest techniques, materials, and plants, and showcase some spectacular new case studies for the non-professional. Green roofs and walls reduce pollution and runoff, help insulate and reduce the maintenance needs of buildings, contribute to biodiversity, and provide habitats for wildlife. In addition to all this, they are attractive to look at and enhance the quality of life of residents. In Planting Green Roofs and Living Walls, Revised and Updated Edition, the authors describe and illustrate the practical techniques required to design, implement, and maintain a green roof or wall to the highest standards. This informative, up-to-the-minute reference will encourage gardeners everywhere to consider the enormous benefits to be gained from planting on their roofs and walls.
Call Number: SB 19.5.D85 2008

Streaming Video

The World's First Rooftop Farm
This episode of The Green Interview features Mohamed Hage, who is turning the flat rooftops of Montreal's industrial buildings into fertile farms that feed thousands—and he’s making a profit in the process. Hage, a self-described “technology geek” turned urban farmer, explains the genesis and genius of Lufa Farms in this Green Interview. After seven years, Hage and a small group of colleagues have created two rooftop greenhouse farms in Montreal and plan a third for Boston. The farms grow over 100 varieties of vegetables and herbs, and they feed about 5,000 people.

Websites on Rain Gardens

Native Plants for Rain Gardens
from: Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay
Rain Gardens
from University of Maryland Extension
Rain Gardens
from Maryland Sea Grant
Rain Gardens Across Maryland
from Rainscaping.org

Databases

GreenFILE This link opens in a new window
Articles on environmental topics.
Environment Complete This link opens in a new window
Articles about ecology, energy, natural resources, science, technology, law, public policy, and social impacts.
Science (Journal)
A weekly, peer-reviewed journal that publishes significant original scientific research, plus reviews and analyses of current research and science policy.
Science Database
Articles on both the applied and general sciences like aerospace, computers, transportation, and biology.
Biological Science Database
Articles on biology topics.

Online From CCBC Libraries

Essential Green Roof Construction by Leslie Doyle Simple green roof design and installation for the do-it-yourself builder Essential Green Roof Construction is a comprehensive, in-depth guide to building simple green roofs for houses and small buildings. Packed with detailed photos, illustrations, case studies, and code compliance advice, it offers clear step-by-step instructions necessary to create your own living roof on a new build or as a retrofit. Coverage includes: The benefits of a green roof The basics of planning and design Assessing site conditions such as aspect, slope, and loads Navigating building codes and working with building officials Material options, including professional grade and economical or local alternatives Planting suggestions for different roof climates and conditions, including food production When to call on professionals to ensure safety and integrity Step-by-step guidance for safe roof installation and detailing Annual green roof maintenance. Where common sense meets beauty -- a green roof is a system of layers that work together to support plant life, insulate homes, and make the world a greener place. Essential Green Roof Construction will give you the knowledge and confidence to install your own green roof.
Publication Date: 2021
Modern Construction Handbook by Andrew Watts The Modern Construction Handbook has become a building construction classic and is used as a textbook in many courses. Its systematic approach with chapters on materials, walls, roofs, construction and environment offers clear and efficient orientation. Digital fabrication techniques are included as well (complementing traditional production processes) and presented in an instructional book for the first time. The third edition has been thoroughly updated and now provides: More information - more annotation of drawings, more text on the page. Updated 'future' chapter with more emerging construction techniques. Updated essays on construction in the introduction Chapter 1. Mote technical data in the 'Materials' Chapter. The content in this third edition has been completely reworked which makes it an even more valuable companion for students and young practitioners!
Publication Date: 2013
Living Architecture by Graeme Hopkins; Christine Goodwin * Provides design inspiration and practical advice on using green roofs and living walls. Extensively illustrated with photographs and drawings, Living Architecture highlights the most exciting green roof and living wall projects in Australia and New Zealand within an international context. Cities around the world are becoming denser, with greater built form resulting in more hard surfaces and less green space, leaving little room for vegetation or habitat. One way of creating more natural environments within cities is to incorporate green roofs and walls in new buildings or to retrofit them in existing structures. This practice has long been established in Europe and elsewhere, and now Australia and New Zealand have begun to embrace it. The installation of green roofs and walls has many benefits, including the management of stormwater and improved water quality by retaining and filtering rainwater through the plants' soil and root uptake zone; reducing the urban heat island effect in cities; increasing real estate values around green roofs and reducing energy consumption within the interior space by shading, insulation and reducing noise level from outside; and providing biodiversity opportunities via a vertical link between the roof and the ground. This book will appeal to a wide range of readers, from students and practitioners of architecture, landscape architecture, urban planning and ecology, through to members of the community interested in how they can more effectively use the rooftops and walls of their homes or workplaces to increase green open space in the urban environment.
Publication Date: 2011