Featured green roof: Minneapolis Central Library - Minneapolis, MN

19,000 square feet of green roof can be found on the Minneapolis Central Library, located in the heart of downtown Minneapolis. The roof was completed in 2005 and is composed of 4 inches of lightweight soil media. The green roof uses native species in its plant selection, thereby increasing urban wildlife habitat, emulating a native plant community, and providing a more dynamic, regional character when viewed from library windows or downtown skyscrapers. This project is a model for how green roof design can go beyond the tried-and-true Sedum based green roof to celebrate the local ecology, context, and aesthetic. The species were chosen from Minnesota's Bedrock Bluff Prairie plant community, a subtype of dry prairie that occurs on thin soil over bedrock on bluffs along the nearby Mississippi River.

Building Architect: Cesar Pelli & Associates

Landscape Architect: The Kestrel Design Group, Inc.

This is a collection of green roofs from around the world. Click on the photo above to see a larger image or click on the thumbnails below to feature a different green roof.

Living Roofs, Inc.

Living Roofs, Inc. is the first company in North Carolina specializing in professional green roof services. Living Roofs Inc. teams with landscape architects, architects, artists, and structural engineers to provide high quality green roof systems for commercial, residential, and institutional structures including new construction, retrofits, and ongoing maintenance services.

Living Roofs, Inc. is committed to the development of green roof technologies and expanding upon the social, economic, and environmental benefits of green roofs. We are proud to be performing research to further develop green roof systems and their contributions to the environment and society.

Who We Are

Emilio Ancaya GRP, founder of Living Roofs, Inc., is influenced greatly by his training in ecology. Emilio received his B.S. in Biology from Lees-McRae College and followed with a M.S. in Biology from Wake Forest University. His studies were based in Plant Ecology; the relationship between plants and their environment. Emilio has extensive experience in all sizes and types of green roofs and has supervised and installed projects in New York City, Washington D.C., Portland, OR, CT, MD, VA, SC, and of course NC. His work at Living Roofs, Inc. is centered on merging ecological principles with the built environment and balancing the relationship between culture and nature.

Kathryn Blatt Ancaya LEED AP, received her B.A. in Anthropology at Wake Forest University and her M.L.A. from the College of Design at North Carolina State University. Her professional and academic experience in anthropology/archeology and landscape architecture stem from her interests in how humans interact with and create/modify their environments. Her design approach is nested closely with her belief that sensitive, ecologically responsible, and restorative design can have an incremental effect on the larger social and environmental health of our surroundings. Her work at Living Roofs, Inc. is focused on design; specifically ensuring the green roof design chosen is appropriate for the clients' and users' needs, as well as the site, and larger region.

Alan Myers-Davis received his B.S. in Geology and Environmental Geosciences at the College of Charleston. We were lucky to meet Alan during his time at C of C when he successfully created and implemented the GREENS Fund. Upon graduation Alan did not stop there; he helped create Charleston's first Community Supported Agriculture Program (CSA), and continually educates himself and attends workshops on topics such as permaculture design, natural building, bio-fuels conversion, organic food production, and of course green roofs. Alan believes in the potential for green roofs to minimize the impact on the natural world and is working to integrate more food production within the green roofing industry. "The installations are fun, but teaching others about what we do is even better."

Living Roofs, Inc. is a proud member of the following organizations:

Western North Carolina Green Building Council
Triangle Emerging Green Builders, North Carolina
North Carolina Sustainable Energy association
Green Roofs for Healthy Cities

Featured green roof: Minneapolis Central Library - Minneapolis, MN

Living Roofs, Inc.

Who We Are

Living Roofs, Inc. is a proud member of the following organizations:

Living Roofs, Inc. is a proud contributor for the following organizations:

Living Roofs, Inc.