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.

Environment-US: Growing Oases in the Sky, IPS News Agency

| June 7, 2007 | Categories: Environment, Green Roofs, Media Coverage
SAN DIEGO, Jul 5 2007 (IPS) – An industrial park seems an unlikely location to find a native plant garden. “It’s mind-blowing,” says Jim Mumford, who ripped up his old roof and replaced it with something alive and verdant atop a small one-storey building that he’s converted into a haven for wayward butterflies and pollinating plants. As the founder and president of Good Earth Plant Co., a container plant and design firm, Mumford combines business acumen with the enthusiasm of an amateur naturalist. He wants to turn neglected urban landscapes into green space for workers and wildlife, beginning with his own commercial property in the gritty neighbourhood of Kearny Mesa, San Diego.… Read More

Businessman hopes rooftop vegetation will be a growing trend – Bend Weekly News, Bend, OR

| April 13, 2007 | Categories: Green Roofs, Media Coverage
In a gritty industrial section of San Diego, “plantscaper” Jim Mumford is putting down roots. On his roof. The result, which will come to life this morning, is an elevated oasis in a desert of concrete and metal. Trucks rumble below. Small planes buzz past wispy clouds above. On one recent afternoon, Mumford settled into a lawn chair on what he bills as the first vegetated roof on a commercial building in the county. “We’ve planted a seed,” said Mumford. Read more: http://www.bendweekly.com/Business/4783.html

First Green Roof Designed for San Diego – San Diego Earth Times

| April 1, 2007 | Categories: Environment, Green Roofs, Media Coverage
Though it is virtually unheard of in Southern California, Jim Mumford of Good Earth Plants in Kearny Mesa plans to demonstrate how to create a green roof specifically designed for San Diego. While creating a green retreat, Jim will be monitoring reduced energy usage and storm water runoff. Green roofs will be installed on two of the three buildings at Good Earth Plants. The third building will be kept as a control. Centrally located, the site is five miles from the Pacific Ocean and sits between the coastal and inland weather patterns. As evidence continues to mount that climate changes and polluted coastal waters have a negative effect on our environment, green roofs are being considered to improve the environmental and energy performance of buildings.… Read More