Lavender from stone wool - Urbanscape technology arrives in Serbia (PHOTO)

We have seen for ourselves that lavender can grow from stone wool. It didn't take long for the plant to show up after we made furrows on a piece of greyish material, planted the seeds, watered and covered this small garden. We saw lavender growing at an unexpected speed without the soil, additional watering, fertilizer...

The Urbanscape system of the Knauf Insulation company has arrived in Serbia. This is a material that, thanks to mineral wool, turns roofs into natural green oases, saves energy, reduces the danger of leakage, and protects the environment.

Apart from its application to flat roofs, urbanscape can be used in horticulture and landscape architecture - for parks, golf courses, green oases...

- The Urbanscape system is easy to install as anybody can do that in only few hours, while its benefits in terms of smaller heating bills and a great contribution to sustainability last for years - Andjelina Kuzmanovic, the marketing director at Knauf Installation, explains and adds that this type of insulation can cut energy consumption for heating and cooling by 25 and 75 percent, respectively.

Unique mineral fibers laid on flat roofs reduce the load on the drainage system by retaining three times as much precipitation as traditional green roof covers do, while simultaneously providing an excellent bed for growing plants. , u isto vreme obezbeđujući odličnu podlogu za rast biljaka.

The system also naturally absorbs large amounts of carbon-dioxide - up to five kilograms per square meter a year - and helps cooling the buildings through water evaporation.

This reduces the effect of so-called "urban heat island," thanks to which buildings in urban areas are much hotter than those in rural areas.

Green roofs add new value to buildings. Not only do they return natural elements to urban environment, but they also provide solutions to important problems such as increased temperature in urban areas and precipitation management.

The product which has so far been used in the Netherlands and the USA has finally arrived in other European markets to meet a growing demand.

- Green roofs naturally improve urban areas, but the fact that Urbanscape requires minimum maintenance and that the unique structure of layers used ensures drainage and support to plant roots is equally important - says Andjelina Kuzmanovic.

When it comes to growing plants, the main advantage of stone wool over other soils lies in the fact that when the former is used, plants get the right amount of "food" without the use of herbicides or fungicides.

Urbanscape is installed on the roofs of residential buildings in the historical quarters of Amsterdam, at parking lots and warehouses in Slovenia, factories in Belgium and the Netherlands, as well as in buildings in the USA, where architects wanted to preserve energy and make a significant contribution to sustainability.

Stone wool that is used to make "green roofs" is available in Serbia.