History
Forget about the few ancient examples and bizarre shepherd shelters.
Modern green roof technology began in the early seventies in Germany when the first complete green roof systems where developed and marketed on a bigger scale. The first approach was to offer reliable technology providing sophisticated irrigation and reliable protection against root ingress for rooftop gardens.
The second big step was the development of extensive green roofs in the late eighties. The goal was to create lighter and cheaper systems which could be applied to large flat roofs. The main motivation for extensive green roofs has been recovery of nature and protection roof membranes from temperature changes and the elements.
As extensive green roofs became object to scientific research additional benefits began to gain importance. Today, ecological benefits like reduced energy consumption for heating and cooling, storm water retention and heat island mitigation are the main reasons for the growing popularity of green roofs.
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