Skyland USA Celebrates Company’s 20th Anniversary
Posted in Anniversary, rooflite News on July 8, 2025
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Contact: Jason Brown, 610-268-0017, pr@rooflitesoil.com
Landenberg, PA, July 8, 2025 – Skyland USA announced today that the company is celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2025.
Founded in 2005, the company started as a local, Mid-Atlantic supplier of green roof media. In the years since, it has grown to an international company that now supplies green roof media to all 50 states, Canada, Mexico, Chile, and Australia. As of 2025, the company has installed over 30 million square feet of its green roof soil products.
In the 20 years since the company’s founding, the green roof industry has evolved, pushing the company to innovate to meet the needs of the industry. In 2005, for example, most of the green roofs for which the company provided soil were extensive green roofs, which were typically retrofits on existing buildings to enhance efficiency or stormwater management. These days, green roofs are more typically intensive systems on accessible green roofs to provide greenery in an urban area. The variety of green roof designs these days is unparalleled and runs the gamut from extensive green roofs with sedum and succulents to deep intensive projects like rooftop farms and deep planter installations.
There were many important moments in the 20 years since our founding. Here are some significant company milestones:
- 2005: Skyland USA founded. Joe DiNorscia becomes President.
- 2005: Peter Phillippi, MLA, joined Skyland. Prior to joining Skyland, Peter had his own green design and build company in Germany, and he helped develop the German FLL Green Roofing Guidelines, which are the state-of-the-art guidelines for green roof construction still used today.
- 2006: Completed first NYC project, featured in National Geographic & the New York Times.
- 2008: Now have 1 million sq. ft. of rooflite soil installed.
- 2009: Developed first ultra-lite soil blend (MCL) for Target Center green roof in Minneapolis.
- 2010: Now have 5 million sq. ft. of rooflite installed.
- 2010: Created agricultural soil blend for Brooklyn Grange II, a GRHC Award Winner.
- 2011: Green infrastructure bill passed in the US., giving the industry a boost and helping Skyland have a growth spurt close to 50%.
- 2012: Completed Nashville Music City Center project.
- 2013: Full National Coverage/LEED Map.
- 2013: Completed US Coast Guard Headquarters Project in Washington, D.C.
- 2014: Now 10 million sq. ft. of rooflite soil installed.
- 2014: Developed open source compaction standard for the industry.
- 2015: Created rooflite intensive base product, which is an underlying layer that mimics and improves upon natural soil horizons while also being lightweight and free draining. It allowed green roof designs to install to much greater depths with more freedom and flexibility in plant palette.
- 2015: Created deeper soil system for use on projects like the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
- 2015: Created three-part Planter Soil System, which is designed for the planter environment with limited root space. It allowed designers to install planters on green roofs.
- 2015: Completed CIRA Green project in Philadelphia, PA.
- 2016: Now have 10 Soil Systems for distinct applications & plant palettes .
- 2016: Developed regional specifications & CAD drawings for all soil systems.
- 2017: With new blender in Australia, now have 3 international blenders including one in Chile & one in Mexico.
- 2017: Now have 20 million sq. ft. of rooflite installed.
- 2019: Launched revamped web site with full set of green roof design tools.
- 2021: Streamlined product and sales process to meet growing trend of amenity space on green roofs.
- 2022: Installed 215 projects in 24 states.
- 2023: Now have 30 million sq. ft. of rooflite installed.
- 2023: Updated regional specifications and weight classes now available.
- 2024: Installed rooflite intensive 700 at the Dillon Gym project at Princeton University.
- 2024: Installed rooflite intensive 700 at the Health Center project at Princeton University.
- 2024-2025: Installed almost 4000 cubic yards of media for the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences Building at Princeton University.
- 2025: Provided rooflite media for the Stephens Hall project at Princeton University, a continuation of the Dillon Gym project.
- 2025: Joe DiNorscia retires as President. Jason Brown takes over leadership and is promoted to Director of Skyland USA.
It’s been a busy and exciting 20 years.
Jason Brown, Director of Skyland USA, reflects on this meaningful moment. “It’s hard to imagine that 20 years ago when the company was founded, the green roof industry was barely getting off the ground. Now, we are seeing green roof projects everywhere and new hot spots are popping up every year. We love seeing the growth of the industry and providing our green roof soil to projects all over the US and abroad.”
There were many things that contributed to Skyland USA’s success along the way. According to Brown, one is the people who worked at Skyland: “I have to recognize the leadership of Joe DiNorscia, who was President of the company for almost 20 years, and Peter Philippi, who developed the technical solutions and product formulations for our products. Without them, we would not have had the success we’ve had nor would we be set up for a very bright future. We’ve also had so many creative, dedicated, and hard-working staff members over the years who made us the success we are today.”
Brown also wants to recognize the company’s green roof partners, including landscape architects, designers, and installers: “Our customers have always pushed us to keep getting better because they wanted to do something new on a green roof – whether it’s creating a rooftop farm, adding trees, or designing a multi-part deep intensive green roof. Their desire to come up with more compelling and dynamic designs has helped us stay ahead of the game and focus on improving our green roof soil solutions.”
Throughout our company history, Skyland USA has always put our customers first and held one idea at the forefront: we want to give our customers the soil solutions they need to go as big and bold as they want with their green roof designs.
About Skyland USA
Skyland USA produces rooflite®, the highest quality green roof media, and offers a full line of lightweight, growing media products, meticulously engineered for a diverse range of green roof applications. With more than 20 strategically located blending locations within the Americas, the rooflite network provides unparalleled expertise in job site logistics and order fulfillment, along with vast technical knowledge and experience. Dedicated to exceptional customer service, rooflite provides a variety of packaging and delivery options, cost-effective, just-in-time logistics, and continuous monitoring of your project through completion. Visit http://rooflitesoil.com for more information on our green roof media products.
