NBS and GRO Join Forces for Sustainable Specification 

IN A MOVE to provide best practice advice around sustainable topics, NBS, the data and specification platform for the construction industry, has announced a partnership with the Green Roofing Organisation (GRO).

The collaboration will help specifiers access the most accurate specification guidance for green roofs.

Over the past 20 years, green roofing has become more popular in the built environment. It is now an established building practice, particularly as climate change mitigation measures are sought. Green roofs offer a nature-based route to enable passive cooling and floodwater management services, while also providing support for wildlife to help reverse biodiversity decline.

Sustainable Specification

A key remit of GRO is ensuring that the expert knowledge its members have gained is shared with designers. Through this collaboration GRO’s expertise covering different systems including, biosolar roofs (solar panels and green roofs combined), and blue roofs (with additional surface water management features) will now be shared with NBS users.

Sascia Elliott, Head of Partnerships at NBS, said: “Architects and landscape designers have been key in the transition of green roofing from niche to mainstream. Yet due to the rapidly evolving nature of the solutions available, it was crucial that we had access to experts in the field, who have real world knowledge of the realities of specifying, installing and maintaining these green roofs, along with the latest guidance around biosolar and blue roofs. Working with GRO will ensure that specifiers can be confident they’ve access to the latest and most trusted guidance.”

Mark Harris, Chair of GRO, said: “NBS provides key resources for the design and specification of buildings in the UK, including the specification of roofing systems. Our collaboration with NBS, has provided the opportunity to demonstrate our extensive knowledge and help to educate construction professionals. The organisation supports them in the specification of high-quality green, blue and biosolar roofs that positively contribute to climate change adaptation and mitigation.”

The act of incorporating plants into the building envelope involves collaboration and skill-sharing across many professional disciplines, and GRO has developed and continued to update its Green Roof Code of Best Practice. The organisation has also created a professional installers qualification (L2 and L3) with Lantra, which has been available since 2019.

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