Summary

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.

Publisher's Weekly Review

As major cities turn to ecological solutions to address problems such as stormwater overload and urban heat island effect, green roofs are becoming mainstream. This comprehensive manual gives architects, designers, and property owners imaginative, practical guidance in understanding the process of creating a green roof and successfully seeing it through. The book explains the huge range of disciplines that green roof designers need to consult and integrate, from the inspiration of fine art, architecture, interior design, and ecology to the technical expertise of engineers, roof specialists, landscape designers, and horticulturalists. The book is lush with photographs of projects by an international selection of designers, including beautiful and whimsical work such as the wild orchid meadow on the roof of Seewasserwerk Moos in Wollishofen, Switzerland, and Benjamin's own Joseph Cornell-like "bug hotel," a wall panel designed to provide habitat for cavity nesting bees, beetles, and spiders. The expert advice of Dakin and Benjamin, both cutting-edge green roof designers, is interspersed with interviews with others in the field, and the book concludes with a "virtual round table" of major figures in the field discussing key issues and future prospects. 166 color photos. (Feb.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Booklist Review

Undoubtedly one of the most invigorating and innovative trends in landscape design in recent years, the blooming of green roof gardens in both commercial and residential settings has energized cities and suburbs. Evolving dramatically from early examples reliant upon uninspired swaths of buffalo grass and cactus beds, green roof gardens can now employ the same panoply of plant materials available to on-ground gardens, thanks to a deeper understanding of design and construction techniques. The key to a successful green roof is the essential combination of aesthetic inspiration and the mastery of practical considerations critical to an installation's favorable outcome. Covering design criteria such as color, shape, and texture as well as such fundamentals as site analysis, infrastructure, and operating costs, authors Dakin and Lisa Lee Benjamin provide a full-scale guide to both the design and building of ecologically friendly and pleasing even spectacular green roof gardens. Though suitable for landscape professionals, this volume will also be greatly appreciated by home gardeners.--Haggas, Carol Copyright 2010 Booklist

Choice Review

As the title suggests, this book discusses green roofs from a design perspective. The main theme is connecting humans with nature through the utilization of previously unoccupied outdoor space. The focus is really roof gardens, not extensive (shallow) green roofs. Landscape specialists Dakin and Benjamin and design/garden/landscape journalist Pantiel provide much valuable information for those designing roof gardens, including discussions of plant palettes, seasonal color and texture, leaf shapes, and hardscapes and furniture. Unfortunately, the theme may be a little overly optimistic as the vast majority of roofs will not hold the weight necessary for these types of installations. The book is organized in two sections. The first deals with design form and function, and the second goes through the steps of site analysis, programming, master planning, design, construction documents, contracts, and maintenance. The most interesting part of the book is the discussion about the future of green roof design in the final chapter, raising questions related to aesthetics, ecology, water, and maintenance. Overall, the authors write in plain language that green roof novices can easily understand. Includes numerous excellent photographs. Summing Up: Recommended. General readers and homeowners, two-year technical program students, and professionals/practitioners. B. Rowe Michigan State University

Library Journal Review

Landscape designers Dakin and Lisa Lee Benjamin and writer Mindy Pantiel (Kids, Teachers, and Computers) present a beautiful collection of successful green roof projects. Interviews with designers of these roofs examine their creative processes. Planning and development details tie into requirements for LEED certification. VERDICT Most of these case studies feature large commercial and urban installations. Although photos of beautiful green roof designs are provided, this work is aimed primarily at professionals. The general reader may come away inspired but lacking the information needed for smaller DIY application. Those looking for information about installing green roofs at home may find Edmund C. Snodgrass's Small Green Roofs more applicable. Still, this lovely study is recommended. (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.