You can always get better – green roofs next for green travel destinations

You can always get better. This is the learning from a project we’ve been working on in the Liptov Region of Central Slovakia. Our work was done with Maladinovo, which is a relatively new, family-owned resort built on the shore of Liptovská Mara. They have been trying to be eco-friendly from the very beginning. Yet, in the project we learned that they can still get better.

The challenge they are facing is unbearable heat during summer months as a result of the lack of greens in the wider area. This is an issue that bothers many Southern and Central European destinations. So the lessons of the project can be scaled.

Maladinovo wanted to implement green roofs as a solution to the heat issue. Solved, in collaboration with a green roof expert Ing. Branislav Siklienka from Sky Gardens, provided advisory sessions to Maladinovo to enhance their knowledge and understanding of what green roofs are, their impact on the environment and their business as well as guidance on the choice of the right roof and greenery. Due to this, they are now in place to implement their plan, when the time is right.

For them, and others considering the solution, the benefits are clear. If Maladinovo chooses to implement the proposed solution, the life expectancy of building greening based on found research can be more than 30 years. There are green roofs in Europe that are more than 100 years old, some of them even harbor wild orchid species. The greening of buildings and roofs are used by many birds as a nesting place and food source, including endangered bird species. Known is that unvegetated buildings are exposed to natural weather conditions and need to be rehabilitated over time and more often, thus to Maladinovo and overall, green roofs can act as a protective shield against weathering and helps to reduce renovation and maintenance costs. Based on statistics, when compared to conventional flat roofs, the service life of the building seal increases by at least 10 years with green roof solutions thus leading to sustainability. Concrete results at the premises can be measured based on their m2 at a later stage of the project.

Maladinovo now has another arrow for their bow, as apart from having the ambition to provide excellent services and high-quality food, Maladinovo has been trying to be eco-friendly from the very beginning. The green roofs would be an excellent addition to the innovative solutions they have been using since building the destination. They use, for example, infrared panels in the apartments instead of usual heating, local water from Liptovská Mara for grass watering and much more. 

The project was a Solved, Maladinovo tandem in a project co-funded by the European Union – EU Eco-tandem. This project aims to boost sustainable tourism development through transnational cooperation and knowledge transfer in socioeconomic, cultural and environmental impacts. Ecotandem is based on cooperation between innovative SMEs and hotels as an initiative between Slovakia, Italy, Austria and Germany. This project was supported by the Slovak Business Agency.

If you’d like to know more about the results of this cooperation and learn more about green roofs and their sustainability impact, please check the report created by green roof expert, Ing. Siklienka here.

“This post and report were co-funded by the European Union’s COSME Programme.”