Get Your Green Roof Here

Check out this prefab, green-roofed backyard shed at GRoWERS' fundraiser on Sunday (Courtesy of Dylan Siegler)

Don't miss your chance to bid on this prefabricated backyard shed complete with its very own green roof at this Sunday's GRoWERS fund-raiser.

GRoWERS (aka, Green Roofs: Working Expertise + Regional Solutions) is a group of local green roof enthusiasts – among them landscapers, architects, sustainable designers, and the like – spreading the word about the joys of gardening above (way above) ground.

Since green roofs save energy and help combat the urban heat island effect, the city has some interest in seeing more of them around Austin, which is why council approved the creation of a Green Roof Advisory Group last year. Several GRoWERS members have been working with the group to catalog all the green roofs currently in town, pinpoint buildings that would best benefit from them, and define what can justifiably be called a "green roof" (as opposed to, say, a ledge with "a few planters," as GRoWERS co-founder Dylan Siegler puts it).

Another ongoing effort of the group has been the development of prefab backyard sheds that can support green roofs, a sort of starter kit for anyone interested in the concept but daunted by the complexity of such a project. You'll get to bid on one yourself this weekend if you go to GRoWERS' plant sale, a fundraiser to help the informal group make its transition to nonprofit status. If you're the highest bidder, you'll go home with the 6-by-8-foot shed pictured here, which comes with an already growing green roof and can accommodate a rainwater collection system.

The event takes place Sunday, Oct. 17, 2-5pm, at House + Earth, 1214 W. Sixth. There will be food and drinks available for free, and, of course, lots of plants on sale.