Norway Houses Grass Roof

They are not only a beautiful feature for a house.

Norway houses grass roof.

Norwegian grass roofs the norwegian translation is torvtak which means turf roof. Its distribution roughly corresponds to the distribution of the log building technique in the. Some are green as pasture while others are golden in color. The grass roofs of norway kaushik patowary sep 15 2010 38 comments norwegians have their own way of going green and quite literally.

The load of approximately 250 kg per m of a sod roof is an advantage because it helps to compress. Norway has a specific sod roof standard that defines how to put a sod roof with respect to security weight load climatic condition amount of snow for instance termites etc. They look like hobbit homes or houses for fairies but scandinavian grass roofs are the real deal. These roofs are covered with sod on top of several layers of birch bark on gently sloping wooden roof boards.

They ve had them for a while now and it doesn t look like they re going anywhere. These roofs may cost more initially but over time they end up paying for themselves and they also increase the lifespan of a roof by more than 200. But there is a reason why scandinavians like these green roofs so much. Some are bright green and almost velvety.

They even have a competition every year to determine the best green roof project in scandinavia by the scandinavian green roof association. A sod roof or turf roof is a traditional scandinavian type of green roof covered with sod on top of several layers of birch bark on gently sloping wooden roof boards. Scandinavians are serious about their green roofs. Sure the picture that you have in your head is probably similar to a house covered with weeds grass designs don t have to be that at all.

Houses with their roofs looking like small meadows may seem a little strange in these modern times but until the late 19th century turf roofs were the most common type of roofs in rural norway. Until the late 19th century it was the most common roof on rural log houses in norway and large parts of the rest of scandinavia.