Growing Grass Turns Roof Into a Lawn (Jan, 1933)
Filed under: Architecture — @ 12:45 am
Source: Popular Science ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Jan, 1933
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Source: Popular Science ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Jan, 1933
| Buy on Ebay
Growing Grass Turns Roof Into a Lawn
Covering a roof with growing grass might seem fantastic to most persons, but Louis Koefoed, an architect of East Rockaway, N.Y., has found it practical as well as decorative. Since he applied a roofing of sod over tar paper to his dwelling last fall he has experienced a welcome decline in his coal consumption. Moreover, he expects the heat-insulating covering to keep his home twenty degrees cooler next summer. Pipes along the peak of the roof spray the growing grass with water and keep the “lawn” roof green.
I hope that roof was made to support the weight of the wet grass……love the idea though – I’ve only ever seen it on flat roofs, or on custom-designed houses….
uh oh – did I just read ’sod over tar paper’? what on earth happens in the event of a leak?
Comment by Erika — September 20, 2007 @ 6:55 am
And I think the frosty winters in Long Island would be a bit hard on that pipe.
Comment by Stannous — September 20, 2007 @ 5:25 pm
I like the way he has to mow the roof. Risky!
Comment by Rick Auricchio — September 20, 2007 @ 9:45 pm
Uh-0hh… would make a quite challenging GOLF terrain.
Comment by Steve Z — October 9, 2007 @ 11:21 am
Didn’t the Viking houses had the same idea already? For their pre-Columbus settlement of North America.
Comment by Steve Z — October 9, 2007 @ 11:22 am
This is still quite common to see here in Norway, particularly on cabins, and I’ve seen it in Ireland as well. Ancient idea.
Comment by NightRaven — March 3, 2008 @ 2:33 pm