Green roofs and wall, a growing trend throughout Australia's capital cities

Cool, green roofs and green walls are the hottest urban property trend spreading throughout Australia's capital cities.

This is particularly true in Sydney where business owners and residents have expressed firm support for the environmental and social benefits of living green in response to the City of Sydney’s recently released Green Roofs and Walls Policy.
 
The policy is the first of its kind in Australia and reflects an international trend towards green spaces in urban centres.

The policy offers a commitment from the City to work with the community to increase the number of green walls and green roofs.
 
Currently the city has around 83 green roofs in place and a further 50 approved for construction.
 
The City has seven green roofs and five green walls of its own, including the rolling green roof meadow at Prince Alfred Park Pool, Surry Hills.

The 2,000-square-metre roof is the largest of its kind in Sydney, with more than 35,000 seasonal and native grasses including tufted bluebells, lavender grass and short hair plume grass.
 
Lord Mayor Clover Moore said incorporating nature into densely populated areas played an important part in creating sustainable cities.
 
“Green roofs and walls are not only beautiful additions to buildings, they also improve air quality, clean stormwater, provide a natural habitat for biodiversity and reduce power bills and greenhouse gas emissions - and the City is doing everything we can to introduce more of these features into our urban landscape,” the Lord Mayor said.
 
“We’re seeing many more building owners and residents embracing green roofs and walls with some fantastic examples of these living systems integrated in buildings in the city.”
 
Green roofs and walls have been around for decades, but have become increasingly popular in recent years with benefits for buildings including reduced noise pollution, lower energy costs for heating and cooling, and potential higher values for sales and leasing.
 
Sydney is also home to the world’s tallest vertical garden at Central Park in Ultimo, which spans the 33-storey-high residential complex.
 
Central Park apartment owner, Kevin Dong, said the stunning 130-metre-high vertical garden was a major reason he chose to invest there.
 
“It’s increasingly difficult to find a pocket of tranquillity when you to want to live in the inner city,” Dong said.
 
“Apartment living suits my age and lifestyle, but then you miss out on having backyard and a touch of nature of your own. Central Park’s beautiful vertical garden solves that problem for me.
 

“The green wall is a real talking point among the community here at Central Park. It adds character and life to the buildings and draws city-dwellers closer to nature.”
 
‘”Happily ever after starts here”, reads the sign above Erskineville’s Rose Hotel’s new lush green wall - a tranquil oasis that is becoming a hotspot for outdoor dining.
 
Owner of the Rose, Scott Leach said his pub is undergoing a major refurbishment and the first green wall out of four to be installed has already proved incredibly popular with patrons.
 
“The reaction to our new green wall from the public has already been overwhelming, and we have three more on the way. It’s important to allow the fabric of the building to tell its story while introducing sustainable and living additions to create an urban pit stop oasis," Leach said.
 
A green wall trial is underway at Goulburn Street car park to breathe new, green life into a space once billed as one of the city’s ugliest buildings. Eleven green walls with very different styles are being created inside and outside the car park to transform and beautify the space.

Original article available here.