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From the U.S. Food and Drug Administration building in Washington, D.C., to Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh to Seattle's City Hall, an increasing number of buildings are trading in their traditional roofs for green roofs. Green - or vegetated - roofs replace vegetated footprints that are destroyed when buildings are constructed. They utilize wasted space and offer urban dwellers a place to grow fruits, vegetables, plants, and flowers; however, the benefits extend far beyond these.

Green Roof Construction and Maintenance (McGraw-Hill; August 2009; Hardcover: $59.95) by Kelly Luckett illustrates how to design a green roof, plan for irrigation and drainage, select and place soil and plants, and maintain the entire setup. Luckett also discusses return on investment, LEED design specifications, and the myriad short- and long-term environmental benefits of green roofs.

The book includes construction techniques for new and existing buildings, as well as illustrations and color photographs of successfully installed green roofs. Luckett details the benefits of green roofs: they reduce the amount of storm water that surges into sewer systems (absorbing as much as 45-60% of rain water; traditional roofs absorb only 5%); mitigate the effects of the heat of the sun on a building's surface, resulting in reduced energy costs; aid in moisture evaporation; and prolong roof life by as many as 25 years.

"The green roof concept represents a truly rare occurrence in modern economics: the creation of new markets for existing goods and services," says Kelly Luckett. "The intent of my book is to offer practical information I gathered through installations and research."

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kelly Luckett, LEED AP, is president of Saint Louis Metalworks, a provider of sheet metal roof accessories and metal roofing. In 2004, his company launched the Green Roof Blocks product line and has since installed more than 50 green roofs, most notably at colleges and universities. He has published newsletter and magazine articles and is a member of Green Roofs for Healthy Cities, a rapidly growing not-for-profit industry association working to promote green roofs throughout North America.

Additional titles in McGraw-Hill's GreenSource series include:
• Solar Power in Building Design: The Engineer's Complete Design Resource by Peter Gevorkian
• Emerald Architecture: Case Studies in Green Building by GreenSource: The Magazine of Sustainable Design
• The Engineering Guide to LEED-New Construction: Sustainable Construction for Engineers by Liv Haselbach
• Green Building Through Integrated Design by Jerry Yudelson
• The Green Building Bottom Line: The Real Cost of Sustainable Building by Martin Melaver and Phyllis Mueller

About GreenSource
A mainstay in the green building market since 2006, GreenSource magazine and GreenSourceMag.com are produced by the editors of McGraw-Hill Construction, in partnership with editors at BuildingGreen, Inc., with support from the United States Green Building Council. GreenSource has received numerous awards, including American Business Media's 2008 Neal Award for Best Website and 2007 Neal Award for Best Start-up Publication, and FOLIO magazine's 2007 Ozzie Awards for "Best Design, New Magazine" and "Best Overall Design." Recognized for responding to the needs and demands of the profession, GreenSource is a leader in covering noteworthy trends in sustainable design and best practice case studies. Its award-winning content will continue to benefit key specifiers and buyers in the green design and construction industry through the books in the GreenSource Series.

Green Roof Construction and Maintenance by Kelly Luckett
McGraw-Hill; August 2009; Hardcover: $59.95; 208 pages; ISBN-10: 0-07-160880X; ISBN-13: 978-0-07-1608800

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