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GREEN ROOF TILES by Toyota Roof Garden by Emily While green roofs may be universally accepted as wonderfully sustainable landscapes for a myriad reasons, the thought of installing one atop your own home may nevertheless seem daunting, expensive, and difficult to maintain. But the folks from Toyota Roof Gardens (a subsidiary of the Prius-creating car company) have solved your green roof installation qualms with a tile-based system that’s as easy as laying down carpet. The TM9 self-watering turf tiles measure twenty inches square, and connect directly to irrigation systems, making them entirely self-watering. And at a slim 2 inches thick, the tiles lightweight and do not require any additional structural upgrading to your existing roof. At only $43 per tile, the TM9 system provides a modular, easy-to-install, cost-effective option for green-minded homeowners. In terms of maintenance, the tiles need only be cut once a year, thanks to a special breed of Korean velvet grass. And of course, like all green roofs, you’ll rest easy knowing that your easy installation is providing a natural cooling effect, thermal insulation, and a little extra flora in your home environment. + Toyota Roof Garden Via GreenGeek

Across the country, cities constantly struggle with public safety and ongoing financial burdens caused by tree roots lifting cracked concrete sidewalks. Rubbersidewalks offer a convenient solution to this problem. The modular sidewalk system allows air and water to reach the soil below, and can be pulled apart for easy tree and root maintenance, decreasing the need for urban tree removal. Rubbersidewalks are made of 100% recycled tire rubber. The waste rubber from one passenger tire creates one-square-foot of Rubbersidewalk, helping to recycle the more than 34 million passenger tires disposed in California alone. At the end of their lifecycle (at least 14 years), Rubbersidewalk pavers can be recollected and recycled back into the manufacturing process.

The recent fad of using wood cladding, louvers, and filigree as sun shading for buildings has left architects scrambling for a substitute material that’s beautiful, structurally stable, durable, and sustainable - - - oh, and reasonably priced. Two manufacturers, Kliptech & Richlite have brought to market resin-impregnated paper building products that can not only be used for a resilient building skin, but have also been used as countertops, cutting boards, and skateboard ramps. The two products vary in their aesthetic quality, environmental claims, and price. We’ve also recently covered ShetkaStone which is similar in composition, but has a more terrazo like appearance. If you’re looking for an alternative to teak, redwood, cedar or Parklex, read on…. Both products exhibit superior durability and are available in thicknesses from ¼” to +1″. These “resin paperboards” can be worked by standard wood workers’ tools, but because they produce very fine particulate dust, respiratory protection is highly recommended.