LiveRoof Global, LLC, the leading horticultural science company in the green roof industry, is announcing the expansion of the service region of its licensed grower Roof Top Sedums for its patented living roof systems. Roof Top Sedums has custom grown more than 60 green roof projects in Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska and parts of Illinois and Missouri. This service region has been expanded to all of Missouri, including St. Louis, Jefferson City, and Columbia. Additionally, the company will service Springfield, Illinois and surrounding areas.
Roof Top Sedums, owned and managed by Teresa Nelson and Roxanne Nagel, is a nationally certified Woman Business Enterprise (WBE). The company has recently received special designation by the State of Illinois as a woman-owned business. Nagel and Nelson are both accredited green roof professionals with hands-on experience consulting on over 100 green roof projects.
In 2007, Roof Top Sedums became the first company dedicated to supplying green roof systems in the state of Iowa, and one of the first licensed growers of LiveRoof brand systems. Nagel, a horticulturist, previously managed a family greenhouse operation, and Nelson (ASLA, LEED AP BD+C) worked as a landscape architect and green building design professional.
“I first was involved with LiveRoof as a landscape architect. I found it very easy and stimulating to design with the system, so much so that I jumped on the opportunity to be a part of the organization. In the past ten years, we have grown through focusing on continual improvement to stay at the forefront of the rapidly developing industry. We are excited to use this opportunity to interface with and share our experiences with more designers, contractors and building owners.”
The name “Roof Top Sedums” reflects a majority of the green roofs that the company supplies, which are lightweight systems, planted with a blend of cold-hardy succulents primarily of the genus Sedum. These shallow-rooting alpine plants are a favorite of green roof designers for their ability to withstand winter’s cold and to store water inside their fleshy foliage during periods of drought. A growing portion of the business is for an expanded palette of plants, including adapted and native perennial forbs and grasses.
“We do so much more than our name implies. We are supplying green roofs in a range of soil depths with hundreds of plant options. We grow natives such as black-eyed susan, coneflowers and prairie dropseed as well as adaptive favorites like alliums, liatris, and feather reed grasses.”
“Roof Top Sedums has provided first-rate service and high performance green roof systems since they joined our network nearly ten years ago,” says Amber Ponce, business development manager of LiveRoof Global, LLC. “We are confident that their skills, experience and commitment to quality will prove an asset for green roof developments in Columbia, Jefferson City, St. Louis and Springfield.”
Green roofs help cities control untreated stormwater runoff and sewage discharge. Many Midwestern cities have combined sewage overflows, which means that during the wet season, untreated stormwater can mix with raw sewage and overflow into local waterways. Green roofs help to absorb and slow down rainfall, which eases the burden on these systems. This means healthier waterways and lower costs of treatment and cleanup.
