For husband-and-wife duo Edmund and Lucie Snodgrass, it?s easy being green.
The pair recently wrote “Green Roof Plants: A Resource and Planting Guide,” a book which defines green roofs and highlights their benefits, challenges, design, construction and plant selection.
“I decided to write the book about two or three years ago, when it was clear to me that the interest in this was growing rapidly,” Lucie said. “[Edmund] talks to landscape architects every day, and no one understood well enough the types of plants that could be planted on a green roof.”
The owner and president of Emory Knoll Farms, the first green roof nursery in the U.S., Edmund has collaborated on green roof research with colleges and universities. Lucie, a professional writer, previously served as a policy advisor and stays abreast of environmental issues.
A green roof is partially or completely covered with vegetation and soil, planted over a waterproof layer. “A green roof is, essentially, a living roof,” Lucie explained. “The roof itself is a series of layers to allow plants to thrive.”
The book focuses on extensive roofs, which are meant to be mostly self-sustaining and require minimum maintenance. Chief environmental reasons for having a green roof include temperature reduction and storm water runoff elimination.
“Stormwater runoff is a huge issue. Because there is so much developed land, the ground can no longer absorb the rainwater, it flows into the sewage systems, and it pollutes the Chesapeake Bay,” Lucie said. “A green roof will keep up to 50 percent of the rainwater that falls. It?s a tremendous benefit.”
Green roofs in city environments could help reduce heat and humidity. “Remember when it was about 103 degrees? In the county, it cooled off at night. But in the city, it stays hot,” Edmund said. “The reason for that is that the cities have essentially eliminated all vegetation. But green roof modeling shows that you could drop city temperature six to eight degrees overall if more buildings had green roofs.”
The authors, who are Harford County residents, will speak about green roofs at the Harford County Public Library on Saturday.
“We see it as our role as a library to provide relevant information to the public,” said HCPL Director Audra Caplan. “Learning how to preserve our environment is crucial to sustaining the planet.”
IF YOU GO
Edmund and Lucie Snodgrass sign “Green Roof Plants: A Resource and Planting Guide”
WHERE: Bel Air Branch of Harford County Public Library, 100 E. Pennsylvania Ave., Bel Air
WHEN: 2 p.m. Saturday
“Green Roof Plants: A Resource and Planting Guide”
Published by Timber Press
204 pgs.
$29.95
