As major cities turn to ecological solutions to address problems such as stormwater overload and urban heat island effect, green roofs are becoming mainstream. This comprehensive manual gives architects, designers, and property owners imaginative, practical guidance in understanding the process of creating a green roof and successfully seeing it through. The book explains the huge range of disciplines that green roof designers need to consult and integrate, from the inspiration of fine art, architecture, interior design, and ecology to the technical expertise of engineers, roof specialists, landscape designers, and horticulturalists. The book is lush with photographs of projects by an international selection of designers, including beautiful and whimsical work such as the wild orchid meadow on the roof of Seewasserwerk Moos in Wollishofen, Switzerland, and Benjamin s own Joseph Cornell like "bug hotel," a wall panel designed to provide habitat for cavity nesting bees, beetles, and spiders. The expert advice of Dakin and Benjamin, both cutting-edge green roof designers, is interspersed with interviews with others in the field, and the book concludes with a "virtual round table" of major figures in the field discussing key issues and future prospects."

Karla Dakin specialises in environmentally friendly landscape architecture and is principal of the American Society of Landscape Architects. Lisa Lee Benjamin is principal of Evo Catalyst, an international environmental design firm. Mindy Pantiel writes about architecture, gardens and landscapes for numerous publications, including Better Homes and Gardens and Garden Design.