…Living Roofs, Otternes, Norway! The winner of Greenroofs.com’s “Love the Earth, Plant a Roof or Wall!” Earth Month Photo Contest for 2016 received the highest number of votes at 173.

This photo was submitted by Dave Taube from his recent trip to Norway: 

These living roofs are located in the tiny village of Otternes, Norway, between Flam and Aurland.  These living roofs, so common in Scandinavia, not only compress the logs of the structures, but they insulate the houses and make the walls and roofs more airtight, so they are functional as well as attractive. ~ Dave Taube

In second place is the Aleutian Spray Fisheries (Seattle, WA) which garnered 75 votes: “A green roof that helps the land, the air and the sea! So our children may have a beautiful world to live, work and play!”

Aleutian Spray Fisheries, submitted by Columbia Green Technologies, came in second place.

And in third place receiving 50 votes is the Courtyard Marriott, Washington DC/Foggy Bottom: “The benefits of sustainable design with vegetative roofs have been recognized by the largest hotel operator in the world. Whether set up with seating for relaxation or as an intimate outdoor reception area, this Greenroof Patio offers the hotel’s guests the chance to love a little of the outdoors in the heart of a busy Metro area. The clever, contemporary design affords many guests the heartwarming vista of the flowerbeds and shrubs and sculpted blue aggregate “waves” from their room window or balcony.”

Courtyard Marriott, Washington DC/Foggy Bottom, submitted by Barrett Company, came in third.

So Dave Taube will receive the whopping $100 Amazon.com Gift Card – just a small token of our esteem – congrats, and thanks for participating!

Thank you, too, to everyone who participated, both submitters and voters!

You know that this feature of ours is basically just a popularity contest among our international readership, created to stir up interest in all shapes and sizes of living architecture from across the world, and we do it in honor of April’s being Earth Month.  So the person with the greatest social network ends up the winner – not necessarily the “best” project, which is, of course, highly subjective in any case (and this is not a juried award of any kind).

We hope to feature all of these projects this year as upcoming Projects of the Week, and the contest participants will be encouraged to submit profiles to us for The International Greenroof & Greenwall Projects Database.

These are the final tallies for all of the photo voting:

Please join us again in 2018 for our next biennial “Love the Earth, Plant a Roof or Wall!” Earth Month Photo Contest, using #lovetheearthcontest on social media.

Love the Earth, Plant a Roof or Wall,

~ Linda S. Velazquez, ASLA, LEEP AP, GRP
Greenroofs.com Publisher