Welcome to the Blog

It’s no secret — the pandemic compromised nearly everyone’s mental health.Collectively, the world went through a massive change so it’s totally normal to be worried and stressed (we’d be surprised if you weren’t).

But life will never be as it was before the pandemic. As employees head back into the office and regain a bit of normalcy into their lives, it’s critical that leaders prioritize mental health. 

The pandemic forever changed the way employees think about the workplace.

Honestly, would you rather work from your couch in pajamas all day or sit through another 4-hour PowerPoint presentation? It’s safe to say we’d all pick the former! But on a serious note, COVID placed an important spotlight on employee health and wellness. Now, as people return to their offices, their expectations are heightened. Employers are now looking into redesigning the office space to encourage and foster employee productivity, wellness, and satisfaction. But in order to do so, business leaders need to prioritize health and wellness throughout the workplace.

When springtime sun and warmer weather hits, you know it’s time to give your roof top a little love. And that often starts with assessing your irrigation system. Super exciting, right? We know. While most find this topic less than enthralling, we thrive on the challenges we often meet this time of year. 

With the right care, even a green roof in steep decline can be pulled back from the edge. That’s what happened with this beauty 10 years ago.

We often talk about how green roofs are different from landscapes on the ground, and never is that more obvious than in the spring. Luckily, there are some signs to look for to ensure your green roof health is optimized and thriving for the upcoming growing season.

After a wet, cold winter, there is a glimmer of warmth on our horizon. With spring around the corner, it’s important to remember that a green roof has a different rhythm and maintenance cycle than landscapes on the ground. With that in mind, here are three things you can do to keep your green roof thriving this spring.  

Ecogardens has emerged as a trusted source for consulting and project management when it comes to green roofs.

If you’ve ever wondered how the process all works and how it can help you mitigate risk, save money, and create higher quality projects, read on for a short interview with Greg Raymond, Founder of Ecogardens and experienced Green Roof Project Manager.

Question: There are many benefits to bringing in a Consultant or Project Manager for your sustainability projects—especially green roofs. In your view, what are the top benefits and how do they relate to each particular stakeholder in a given project?

Greg: It depends. Most of the people we work with have a considerable degree of expertise in their field, but when it comes to green roofs, there are a lot of moving parts and it can be helpful to bring in folks like us who have done it effectively and economically, for years.

In partnership with the Village of Orland Park, the Ecogardens team developed a novel model of green roof construction. Not to brag, but this consultation-based approach to green roof design and installation is something we need more of.

Download our FREE infographic explaining the benefits of green roof consulting.

Here at Ecogardens, we like to be groundbreaking.

Not just in the literal sense (although we do enjoy the prospects of a fresh project), but also in the figurative sense: If we can put a novel spin on an old model and make it work better, why wouldn’t we?

That’s why when the Village of Orland Park reached out to us to build them a green roof, we came back with a truly collaborative idea: Why not work together?

Our thinking was simple: If we could save the village money, impart ecologically conscious ideas to village workers, and create an amazing municipal amenity space all at the same time ... obviously we’re going to, right?

... Right? RIGHT.

So that’s exactly what we did. From the first foray into design through to the last native planting – and the ongoing tweaking that is a part of any stewardship contract – we have put our very best ideas into this project.

It stands to reason, therefore, that we had to tell you all about it. If you are considering a green roof, but want to cut costs and learn lots, we’ve included all our secrets below.

Read on, or download our beautiful infographic to share with family, friends, colleagues, peers and fellow restaurant-goers. (Okay, maybe not that last one. It’s lunchtime; sue us.)

Understanding green roofs starts with understanding their power to heal our cities – and what happens when we don’t steward them carefully enough.

 (PSST! Download our free green roof stewardship infographic to share with colleagues and friends!)

One of the questions we get most often here at Ecogardens is Why green roofs?

And we get it. Most people aren’t as familiar as we are with the stormwater retention benefits of an extensive green roof, of the pollution-fighting power of plant roots, or the cooling effects of a blanket of green atop a formerly bare cement rooftop.

The good news is, more people are learning about green roofs today – and getting interested in the possibilities they wield for a healthier tomorrow.

In this infographic, we take a look at the explosion in green roof square footage across the US and Canada in the last few years, their incredible ROI-capturing power, their energy savings and property improvement value, and more.

Check it out below!

Green roofs come in many forms, depending on the site, climate and owner intent. So what are those differences, and which is right for you?

Expecting green roofs to solve climate change single-handedly is like expecting any one football player to win the Super Bowl for his team. It’s a severe burden, and probably an unfair one.

However, neither would you dismiss a good player’s role in his team’s chances that year. We need all the tools we can get to find success.

(We’re not calling football players tools, by the way. Just FYI.)

But while we wouldn’t want to send them off on their own to do all the work, green roofs really are one of the best ways to address climate change. They:

• Insulate buildings so they use less energy
• Reflect sunlight, raising the planet’s albedo and keeping it cooler overall
• Help to fight the urban heat island effect, a phenomenon increases the temperatures of cities, which puts more demand on the energy grid and impacts human health
• Capture stormwater runoff and keep it out of streets at peak runoff times
• Give birds, pollinators and other critters a place to live
• Increase the number of native plants in our world

We could go on and on. (And on.) Instead, let’s assume we’ve convinced you of their amazingness and move right along to the question of which one is right for you?

Choosing between extensive and intensive green roofs is an important question in the decision-making process, so let’s take a look at the definitions and benefits of each.