Introduction to Green Roof Ecosystems

Abstract

Green roofs have been heralded as a “sustainable building practice” in cities throughout the world as one response to mounting environmental stresses. A range of stressors plus erosion of aesthetics and human well being in urban areas have initiated policies and practices often with incentives to develop green infrastructure such as green roofs. They provide a suite of public and private benefits most of which map onto services generally provided by the ecosystem. Green roof development imbeds in environmental design processes and is constrained by both human and environmental factors.