Czech Republic

Social Media

Svaz zakládání a údržby zeleně, z.s. – odborná sekce Zelené střechy (ZeS)

The Czech Green Roof Association (Sekce Zelené střechy) was founded in 2013 under the Czech Landscape Gardening Association (Svaz zakládání a údržby zeleně). It comprises natural and legal persons which actively engage in business activities in areas of landscaping and greenery on buildings, particularly green roofs. The Association supports the greening of roofs, walls and other constructions as means of sustainable construction, environmental protection and urban greenery retrofitting. Since its founding, the Association is a member of the European Federation of Green Roof and Wall Associations – EFB. It offers topical seminars and workshops for professionals and the general public, issues expert publications including the Czech green roof standards, organizes the Green roof of the year competition and engages in international projects. In 2018, the Association became a member of the Czech Green Building Council.

Current activities

In 2016, the Association implemented a project called “Green roofs – hope for the future II.” (Zelené střechy – naděje pro budoucnost II.) supported by the Czech Ministry of Environment. The most significant outcome of the project was the publication of Czech green roofs standards which coins the terminology of green roofs, describes their functions, categorizes green roof types and stipulates the qualitative requirements for each layer of green roof. It also describes suitable vegetation, its maintenance and recommended warranty conditions. The document is first of its kind in the Czech Republic and has been used as a qualitative requirement for a national green roof subsidy program “New green savings”.

In the following year, the Association published an overview of measures used to support green roof uptake in European countries and cities. The document was welcomed by municipalities looking to promote urban green infrastructure and climate adaptation.

In 2018, supported by a Ministry of Environment grant as in previous years, the Association continued to spread knowledge about green roofs. As a result, an information portal has been created to serve professionals as well as general public looking to find expert non-commercial information about green roofs. In the next years, the Association aims to further spread knowledge about.

 

195 000 m2 green roofs have been created in the Czech Republic in 2017, which represents an annual increase of 50 %. 77 % (150 000 m2) of the total were extensive and 23 % (45 000 m2) were intensive green roofs. Green roofs are predominantly requested by the private sector.