Twenty Years of Green Roof Projects
Posted in Anniversary, Blog, Projects on July 10, 2025
Skyland USA and our rooflite soil products for green roofs turn 20 this year! It’s hard to believe, but we are so excited to meet this milestone.
As with any anniversary, we are thinking about where we started and where we are now, and we can’t help but reflect on all the green roof projects we’ve help build. There are too many to list, but we want to run through some of the here.
2006: West Village Apartment Building, Manhattan, New York City
In 2006, we provided growing medium for our first New York City green roof project. It was a sedum meadow on top of a West Village apartment building. The project was featured in the New York Times and National Geographic because it was such a novelty at the time. It was a big project for us, and it put us on the map as a green roof soil provider.
2009: Target Center Arena, Minneapolis, MN
In 2009, we created a lightweight green roof soil product tailored to the green roof at Target Center Arena, home to the Minnesota Timberwolves. This lightweight product was developed because the project was a retrofit with concerns about weight limits on the roof. The 2.5 acre green roof captures almost 1 million gallons of stormwater annually. It also provides mitigation for the urban heat island effect, creates a wildlife habitat, and reduces the impervious surface in its neighborhood.
2012: Nashville Music City Center, Nashville, TN
In 2012, the Nashville Music City Center, a LEED Gold certified building, was built with a 191,000 square foot green roof. We provided our rooflite soil for the project. The specific blend of soil used on the roof was fine-tuned several times to ensure just the right mix for the vast space. With a design focused on stormwater retention and reduction of the urban heat island effect, the green roof can capture 2.6 million gallons of stormwater in a year.
2012: Brooklyn Grange Farm, Brooklyn, NY
In 2012, we created our rooflite agricultural product for the Brooklyn Grange Farm, a privately-owned, community-oriented rooftop farm in the heart of Brooklyn. This product was designed specifically for agricultural use and designed to function as a green roof medium. We continuously fine-tuned the soil to meet the goals of Brooklyn Grange Farm, and this project still informs our continuing product development for rooftop farms. The large scale farm’s green roof captures over 1 million gallons of stormwater each year and grows more than 50,000 lbs. of fresh produce a year.
2013: US Coast Guard Headquarters, Washington, D.C.
In 2013, the US Coast Guard Headquarters were built in Washington, D.C. The sprawling complex features over 400,000 square feet of green roof, which was built with rooflite soil. With a diverse set of plants, including grass, sedum, shrubs, and perennials, four different types of rooflite soil were used. In total, there are 18 green roof areas throughout the complex. The green roofs capture stormwater and help the building operate more efficiently.
2015: CIRA Green, Philadelphia, PA
In 2015, Cira Green opened as Philadelphia’s first elevated park. The 1.2 acre park, which sits 95 feet above street level on top of Cira Centre South, overlooks Philadelphia and the Schuylkill River. The project has several different green roof areas, including lawn areas, planters with trees, and perennials, all built with rooflite soil products engineered for the specific green roof applications in the project.
2018: Artz Pedregal Building, Mexico City, Mexico
In 2018, we provided our rooflite soil for a new mixed-use complex, Artz Pedregal, in Mexico City. The complex houses both retail and office space, and it was designed to provide a welcoming and vibrant space for the community. The landscape design features abundant vegetation throughout the building and an elevated park to provide a green space.
2020: The Skyhouse, Melbourne, Australia
In 2020, we provided our soil for The Skyhouse, a penthouse 18 levels up in the skies of Melbourne, Australia. This luxury home includes a 410-square-meter rooftop garden with an infinity lawn and a landscaped terrace. The garden spans the east, west, and north sides of the penthouse and features 270-degree views of the city, the bay and the mountain range to the east. The rooftop garden was built with a variety of rooflite products, including rooflite extensive, rooflite semi-intensive, and rooflite intensive.
