Urban greening news
from Pritchard & Pritchard

Green roofs are often discussed in terms of biodiversity, planning compliance, or stormwater management. But increasingly, research is demonstrating that they are also a credible passive energy strategy, particularly for the UK’s ageing building stock.

We are excited to launch Biosolar-roofs.com. The world’s first website dedicated to roofs that combine living roofs and solar power. This is the go-to resource for knowledge sharing, best practice, guidance, research, news and insights into biosolar roofing. This article explains the highlights of the new site.

International Green Wall Day on February 15^th 2025 celebrates and highlights the beauty and environmental benefits of living walls, green facades, vertical gardens and vertical forests. The date marks the anniversary of the birth of the living wall inventor and visionary landscape architect Stanley Hart White in 1891.

Following the results of the 2024 Big Butterfly Count, wildlife charity Butterfly Conservation have announced a UK butterfly emergency.  According to the charity, butterfly numbers are the lowest in the 14-year history of the citizen science project. The majority of species showed a decline in numbers compared with 2023.

The UK Green Roof Organisation GRO has published its long-awaited Best Practice Guidelines for Biosolar roofs – roofs that integrate solar / photovoltaic (PV) panels over a green roof. This clarifies details on roof design, wind uplift calculations, minimum height of panels; construction of the solar base; distance between the roof edge and the panels; firebreaks and necessity of maintenance visit every six months.

The rise in interest in biosolar roofs has been astronomical these last few years. Due doubtless to a rising desire for energy security, a need to minimise buildings running costs and increasing recognition of the need for biodiversity net gain. However, the benefits of a biosolar roof can be diminished by poor design and construction. Here’s our guide to biosolar roof installation for maximum sustainability.

Right across Britain, living walls are springing up left right and centre. And that’s because they offer a huge raft of benefits in terms of air quality, temperature moderation, biodiversity and wellbeing. But did you know that interior living walls are also hugely advantageous to health, productivity and wellbeing?

The biosolar roof at the new-build Compass School is a NRFC National Roofing Awards finalist. Good luck at the finals on May 10^th! #RA2024 #RoofingAwards

Earth Day has been observed on 22nd April every year since 1970 to remind us all of the importance of protecting and nurturing our environment.

Discover how Green Roof and Living Wall technology improves local environments and helps to support Biodiversity Net Gain.

#EarthDay

Happy World Water Day! ‘World Water Day, held on 22 March every year since 1993, is an annual United Nations Observance focusing on the importance of freshwater.’

Read more about the benefits of blue roofs to supporting intelligent water collection and use.

#worldwaterday

Biosolar roofs – the symbiotic combination of photovoltaic (PV) / solar panels and green roofs – are the ‘biggest thing’ in urban greening, but where are the largest and most notable biosolar roofs? After extensive research and some mathematics, we can now share our list of biosolar record-holders from around the world. Western Europe, where biosolar is now mainstream, is the world leader.

It is now THE LAW (as of February 12, 2024) that in the UK that new housing and commercial developments must not only to protect, but also to improve the biodiversity of the plot by 10%. This means developers need to prove biodiversity net gain (BNG) to receive planning permission. The provision of habitats and food through biodiverse living walls and roofs play a major role in helping developers prove BNG and get planning permission.