We’ve all heard of green rooftop gardens. But, did you know that a team of recent MIT graduates has developed what could prove to be an even better way to make a roof eco-friendly? These innovators are working to produce roof tiles that change color, depending on the temperature.

The tiles become white when it’s hot, and then turn black when it’s cold.

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Designed by Seattle’s LMN Architects, the green roof on top of the west expansion of the Vancouver Convention Centre is all set for its grand opening. Large in size and packed with green features the very special roof deserves a huge mention for its planet-friendly message that it shouts out loud and clear.

The largest of its kind in Canada and the biggest non-industrial living roof in North America, the 1.2 million square feet top is covered with over 400,000 indigenous plants, which make for a real awesome sight.

Apart from the obvious fact that the coastline structure helps immensely in cleaning up the air pollution with all those plants on top, it also features black water and a desalinization system that is expected to cut potable water use by 60-70% over other typical convention centers.

With energy efficient fixtures inside the building, usage of seawater for temperature regulation, maximum utilization of natural lighting and an integrated marine habitat restoration program, the new Vancouver Convention center is quickly becoming one cool place to meet. Quite literally! [via JetsonGreen]

Designed by Mareines + Patalano, this great beach home outside of Rio de Janeiro stands as a beautiful compliment to nature and adds to the planet’s beauty and tranquility.

Except for a stunning architectural show, the Brazilian Leaf House packs many green features, a perfect combination of form with function. Designed as a giant tropical banana leaf and looking like a blossoming delight, the roof helps harvest rainwater for house use, and the whole design helps providing natural ventilation and cooling, thus reducing the need to rely on the grid. The interior is “just” as green, using locally harvested wood crafted in a sustainable fashion, stone and natural fabrics.

Most often constructions that crop up on the beaches, are costly real estate properties with lavish designs that does nothing beyond destroying the natural beaches and further degrade the ecosystem. This one really looks like a dream house, isn’t it? – via World Architecture News

And the winners are … Hoerr Schaudt Landscape Architects.

It looks like there’s a trend these days to redesign rooftops into spectacular eco-friendly retreats no matter what the costs are. Do these guys do it for publicity or just to do their good deed for the environment? A little bit of both I suppose. Take the guys at Hoerr Schaudt Landscape Architects and the 14,000 sq-ft rooftop in downtown Chicago (900 North Michigan Avenue) which was turned into a living … thing.

They used tall verbena, phlox and nodding onion, small trees, including Japanese tree lilacs, cranberry cotoneaster, recycled concrete and sustainable, toxin-free ipe wood which other than looking great on the roof, provide a great heat and cold insulation for the building, and offsets excessive noise.

Their whole project won the 2008 Green Roof Award of Excellence.

A great scenery for a quiet day/evening on top of your building, with a great view over the city and knowing that your roof is helping the environment, even if it’s just a little bit, sounds just about right. Isn’t it?

Built on the last remaining green space in the city center, ACROS Fukuoka (Asian Crossroads Over the Sea) is an amazing building in Fukuoka City, Japan. It got our attention because it preserves the green space as much as possible, thanks to its stunning design.

On one side it has glass walls and looks just like a conventional office building that looks onto the most important financial street of Fukuoka, while the other side is an enormous green roof (a garden roof) with some 35,000 plants that step down floor-by-floor, in a stratification of low, landscaped terraces into a park.

Argentinian architects Emilio Ambasz & Associates are those with the vision, the looks and actually the whole idea.

Reaching up to 60 meters above the ground, the green roof is responsible to keeping the whole building at lower and constant temperature levels, which will obviously lead to less power consumption.

Many people in the area visit the terrace roof (the gardens) for meditation, relaxation, or for escaping from the congestion of the city. Others are here just for the grand belvedere that provides an incomparable view of the bay of Fukuoka and the surrounding mountains.

These are all great reasons to consider the ACROS Fukuoka a great green architectural success in Japan. Why can’t we see more of these buildings as a solution for a common urban problem? Anyone to call mr. Trump?