Your location and aspect of the roof isn’t such a big factor affecting your green roof choice as you might think.  Sedum is a very hardy plant that is resilient to most climates, and wildflowers come and go as they please and need no maintenance.  As long as the area where you will be installing the GrufeTiles receives some light during the day, it will be fine.  For example, we wouldn't recommend a green roof if the roof is under dense tree canopy.

The main factors that should affect your decision are the purpose of the roof, and the aesthetic you’re aiming for.

If you're wondering whether your location is suitable or not, send us a photo!  You can reach us at enquiries@ans.global.

Maintenance is usually minimal for our green roofs.  We detail how to care for your green roof in our maintenance guide here.  This involves clearing the gutters or drainage outlets, feeding the roof when necessary and weeding or strimming the wildflowers as you move into Autumn.

If you've experienced an unusually dry or cold few weeks and your green roof is suffering, we recommend lightly irrigating the roof regularly for a few weeks and feeding it with fish, blood and bone (which can be found in most garden supply stores).  Otherwise, your green roof is mostly self-sufficient and requires only one full maintenance session a year.

As you can imagine, maintenance costs vary depending on the plant design, location, access, and other factors.  However, typically the cost of maintaining a living wall is approximately 10% per year of the original cost of the living wall.  If you’d like to get a more accurate figure, please get in touch and we’d be happy to advise!

The requirements are different on every project so please enquire with your local planning officer.

With correct maintenance, a living wall will last forever.  Our maintenance contract includes plant replacement where necessary (for example, a changing climate would necessitate some plant replacements over time), monthly visits and servicing of the irrigation system.  We have many projects first installed over 10 years ago that are still in full health today.  Take a look at our case studies for more!

A living wall designed correctly, with a majority of shade-loving species and designed to the specific aspect and location will indeed work on a north-facing façade.  We can design and create living walls for any aspect: north, south, east, or west.  We also have indicative plant palettes for each of the aspects – let us know if you’re interested and we can share!

Drainage is needed to cater for the minimal run-off at the bottom of the wall.  As standard practice we install a 107mm x 51mm black plastic gutter.  However there is no limit to your creativity in specifying different drainage channels.  The living walls at XL Catlin and University of Leicester are good examples.

The ANS Living Wall System has the rating Class B-s2-d0.  This is the highest achievable rating including substrate and planting.  

Fire restrictions for living walls:

• Residential buildings over 18m high are generally not suitable for living walls.
• Open sided car parks would need to be designed with a suitable non-combustible backing board.

We understand the uncertainty for architects around fire and living walls.  Our fully trained consultants are able to guide you through the ins-and-outs of where and how to design a living wall.

It's important to understand the opportunities there are with these fire restrictions.  We have a specifically created guide to explain where and how you can integrate living walls.  For further information on this, please contact us.