Green Roofs

A green roof is an engineered, lightweight roofing system supporting plants. Other terms are eco-roofs, vegetated roofs, or living roofs.

Good Earth Plant Company constructed San Diego County’s first commercial green roof in 2005 after being told it couldn’t be done in Southern California’s arid Meditteranean climate. It is still thriving today.

Green roofs on a building are roofs partially or completely covered with vegetation, along with a growing medium, installed and planted over a waterproofing membrane. They often include additional layers such as a root barrier, drainage system, and irrigation system.

A green roof does not have to be flat. Green roofs can accommodate up to a 40 percent slope. Each and every green roof is unique, and is engineered, designed, and installed to your custom specifications and needs.

An extensive system may reduce a building’s cooling needs by 25 percent and prevent heat loss by 26 percent. This can be substantial energy savings as every one degree Fahrenheit can reduce electricity use for air conditioning by eight percent.

Green roofs significantly contribute to a building’s LEED rating, with as many as 15 credits available depending upon design and level of integration with other building systems.

Good Earth Plant Company loves building small residential projects. We can provide a beautiful view out a second-story window, or in place of a balcony.

Greenroofs.com video: Seasons 52 Edible Wall & Living Wall

| May 6, 2014 | Categories: Case Studies, Green Roofs, Living Walls, Media Coverage
GreenScaped Buildings is thrilled to be part of the featured project of the week on the leading industry website Greenroofs.com The GreenScaped Buildings team installed both an edible wall and a living wall on the patio at the Seasons 52 restaurant in Santa Monica, California. We love all our projects, but we admit this one exceeded our expectations thanks to the passion of our client at Seasons 52, especially Executive Chef Clifford Pleau who originally envisioned the living chef’s garden inside the restaurant, a first. There are 125 types of culinary herbs on the wall, and now all the chefs and the bartenders make use of those herbs in food and beverages.… Read More

Don’t Miss The Plant Bargains at the Good Earth Plants Open House

| April 24, 2014 | Categories: Gardening, Good Earth Plant Company, Green Roofs, Indoor Plants, Living Walls
We are knee-deep in palms, ficus and orchids here at Good Earth Plants and busy getting ready to welcome you to our Spring Plant Sale and Open House on Friday, April 24 from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Have you sent your RSVP yet? What are you waiting for! The greenhouse and demonstration garden have never looked better with living wall and green roof displays and “Plant Portrait” samples fully planted and lush with spring growth. Some of the smaller living walls will be on sale and you can take one home with you. We also have a number of assorted items for sale from indoor green plants and pottery  to 10-foot Queen palm trees.… Read More

Welcome Spring at the Good Earth Plants Open House and Plant Sale

| April 17, 2014 | Categories: Gardening, Good Earth Plant Company, Green Roofs, Indoor Plants, Living Walls
The Good Earth Plant Company green roof seven years ago and today.
The buds are bursting, hotels are filled and days are longer. It must be spring in San Diego.  It’s also time for the Good Earth Plants crew to sweep up and dust off our warehouse and demo garden so we can show off some exciting new projects at our Open House and Plant Sale on Friday, April 25 from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Opening the doors to guests is a great way for us to see our operation with fresh eyes. Our talented staff coaxes new growth to show off our living wall displays and our now seven-year-old green roof, one of the first in San Diego.… Read More

GreenScaped Buildings: Top Five Green Roofs and Living Walls Trends

| March 15, 2014 | Categories: Good Earth Plant Company Tips, Green Roofs, Living Walls
Take a look at our latest: the innovative living wall at LPL Financial including a flat screen TV display.
If I am still awake at 11:45 p.m., I am compelled to prop my eyes open long enough to catch late night talk show host David Letterman’s “Top Ten List.” He keeps things light while skating right on the edge of being controversial. Good stuff! While my list isn’t quite as edgy or as long, my Top Five Green Roofs and Living Walls Trends are a cool way to quickly catch up on what’s new in our industry. The benefits of having a green roof are tremendous, from long-term energy savings to being just plain beautiful. It’s a growing niche business and we are proud as parents when one gets completed and is up and growing on its own.… Read More

Hospitals “Greening Up” Healthcare

| March 6, 2014 | Categories: Biophilic Design, Green Roofs, Nature and Wellbeing
One of the patient rooms' at Sharp Memorial Hospital that looks out over the Good Earth Plants "green roof."
If you have visited a friend of family member in a hospital, chances are you brought them flowers or a plant. Why? Besides being a thoughtful gesture, studies have shown that plants play an important role in the healing process. Viewing settings with plants or nature for a few minutes can promote measurable restoration even in hospital patients who are acutely stressed. Patients heal more quickly, use less pain medication and complain less to staff. (Ulrich, 2002) I have read lots and lots of studies about plants and healing during my years in the plant industry. This is serious science and can be summed up in one sentence: Plants make us FEEL GOOD.… Read More

Look Who’s at the Expo: Good Earth Plants & Jim Mumford

| February 15, 2014 | Categories: Architecture and Design, Good Earth Plant Company Tips, Green Roofs, Indoor Plants, Living Walls
Jim Mumford at Landscape Expo
Jim Mumford and Good Earth Plants took the show on the road to Long Beach and the 2014 Landscape Architects Expo. Jim brought a living wall display and presented a seminar on living walls to landscape architects from Southern California and beyond. We hope to be working on some terrific projects with some of you soon.

See Jim Mumford and Good Earth Plant Company tonight on KPBS-TV

| February 6, 2014 | Categories: Architecture and Design, Environment, Good Earth Plant Company, Green Roofs, Media Coverage, Sustainable Living
Jim Mumford and Nan Sterman, KPBS TV
See Jim Mumford of Good Earth Plants on “A Growing Passion” tonight on KPBS  Thursday, February 6, 8:30 p.m. KPBS Channel 15 Cox Cable 1011 HD Time Warner Cable 711 HD Green roofs were once a novelty.  No more! Today, they are gaining popularity thanks to their ability to capture runoff and keep it from polluting beaches and bays, to moderate temperatures inside the buildings they top, reduce atmospheric heating, and offer a beautiful, interesting, even healing alternative to an expanse of glaring, bare rooftop. Nan Sterman, host of “A Growing Passion” on KPBS-TV, visits green roofs large and small across San Diego County including a few of Jim Mumford’s favorites created by Good Earth Plant Company and GreenScaped Buildings for our clients.… Read More

Water Water Nowhere: California’s Drought Crisis of 2014

| January 30, 2014 | Categories: Environment, Green Roofs, Indoor Plants, Living Walls, Sustainable Living, Water and Water Conservation
California’s water situation has officially become a CRISIS. Governor Jerry Brown has declared a State of Emergency for California and we are scheduled to have the driest year (2014) on record. Reservoirs are at very low levels and the snowpack is 20 percent of the normal average for January. That’s the bad news. And there isn’t much good news. For Good Earth Plants and GreenScaped Buildings, increasing water costs and less rainfall means a quantum shift in our thinking. Gone are the days of the lush green lawn. We are designing, installing and maintaining drought-tolerant plantscapes that rely on minimal irrigation.… Read More

Good Earth Plants Wishes You A Green And Happy New Year

| December 30, 2013 | Categories: Architecture and Design, Awards & Achievements, Green Roofs, Indoor Plants, Living Walls
Time to break out the bubbly and party hats. 2013 is in the rear view mirror and 2014 is in front of us. What a year it has been! From Boston to Seattle, the Good Earth Plants and GreenScaped Buildings teams have had their hands full with amazing projects and renewed enthusiasm. We wrapped up 2013 with a big, green bow and a nod of satisfaction. For the Good Earth Plants team, it was our time to shine with plantscaping the Old Police Headquarters and adding new life to our existing office building clients.  Debbie Hopkins and her talented crew brought new clients into the mix with cutting edge designs for lobbies and offices, including Illumina who added a new building to its office park, Encore in Mission Valley, and Co-Merge in downtown.… Read More

Boston Strong and Green at American Society of Landscape Architects meeting

| November 15, 2013 | Categories: Architecture and Design, Environment, Good Earth Plant Company, Green Roofs, Living Walls
Jim Mumford at ASLA meeting
I am in Boston representing Good Earth Plant Company and GreenScaped Buildings at one of my favorite events, the annual American Society of Landscape Architects Conference. Such a great group of people: friends, colleagues and some of the smartest landscape professionals you will ever meet. Friday I presented a talk on “Obstacles and Pitfalls to Successful Living Wall Maintenance,” and while it sounds like a mouthful, it brings up important issues. To design, install and maintain a living wall isn’t inexpensive. No one wants to get a living wall up and ready to grow only to see it wither under a poor maintenance program.… Read More