The Scandinavian Green Roof Award has been awarded annually since 2000 to the best green roof project in Scandinavia, on the initiative of the City of Malmö.
The award is intended to inspire the Scandinavian green roof market toward excellence and to raise public and professional awareness about the multiple benefits of green roofs.
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The 2021 Green Roof Award is awarded to the green roof installations on Økern Portal in Oslo, the capital of Norway. This is an interesting newly developed project that takes an overall and inclusive approach to the vegetation design, the use of space and potential values that can be incorporated into a green roof design.
The green roof is designed to be multifunctional where different vegetation types are chosen to increase ecosystem service performance and environmental quality but also for restoration and rest. Some parts of the roof are designed to include possibilities for learning about growing and its role for urban sustainability.
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Access is well integrated into the design as well as storage for equipment and material used in maintenance of the roof.
The Økern Portal green roof shows great potential for supporting the urban environment as well as human recreation, throughout the year and many years to come.
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“Økern Portal clearly stands out as the winner in terms of quality and fulfillment of the assessment criteria: biodiversity, ecological sustainability, storm water management and climate adaptation, innovative design, value as living areas and biophilic design quality,” says Henrik Aspegren, Chairman of the Scandinavian Green Infrastructure Association. The jury was unanimous in its assessment.
The Scandinavian Green Roof Award, written by Tor Kjolberg