City-dwellers, perhaps more than anyone, appreciate the value of having breathable spaces in the metro. Even within gated villages or apartment buildings, where precious real estate comes with a high price tag, lush gardens are fast becoming a luxury only few can enjoy. Aside from its aesthetic and recreational value, green oases reduce the ‘heat island effect’ caused by urban infrastructure and minimize air pollution. The lack of room to grow these leafy retreats in dense neighborhoods, however, has everyone looking upwards for a sustainable solution. 

In developed nations such as Japan and Germany, green roofs are sweeping the skylines and reducing carbon dioxide emissions significantly. Rooftops, after all, are vast and underutilized resources that could hold the key to creating fertile sanctuaries in vertically-budding cities. When Chicago City Hall installed plants on their capstone, temperatures fell by up to 15 degrees and saves thousands of dollars on energy bills. 

Green roofs cover part or most of the roof’s surface area with layers that include a medium for growing plants and comprise of a complex drainage, filtration and water storage system. These are not to be confused with ‘container’ roof gardens where plants are not rooted directly on the surface and are grown on vessels and raised beds.

The technology for creating these world-class, ecofriendly roof decks has already found its way to the Philippines through Specialty Contracts & General Construction Services, Inc. or Specserv. The company pioneered the first European designed roof garden engineering system, used in building the crowning havens of Rockwell Center, Greenbelt 5, and The Mind Museum. Their waterproofing expertise allows for leak proof and lightweight systems that do not compromise the structural integrity of existing roofs. Its filtration and drainage mechanism reduces storm water run-off and stores it for later use, effectively mitigating street flooding.

Bungkal: The Future of Filipino Homes

The vision to apply the same breakthrough designs that have worked on commercial buildings to residences is now a reality. Specserv offers the opportunity for homeowners to create their own green roof at a more cost-efficient price with the gardening system aptly called BUNGKAL. Derived from the product’s complete name, ‘Bubong Kalikasan’ or Nature’s Roof, BUNGKAL is a farming term in Filipino which means ‘to till the soil’ in preparation for planting. 

After seeing the rise in vertical or hanging gardens, where ferns and blooms flourish the city streets and provide striking emerald foliage to otherwise bare walls, Bungkal presents us with roof gardens that bring us a step further to integrating nature back to urban living; all while provide thriving escapes for leisure and relaxation.   

It also hopes to address the rising heat index in the country, where a disturbingly disproportionate ratio of asphalt to grass comes with sweltering consequences.  Imagine the reduction in energy use when homes become cool enough that air-conditioning units are switched on less and less. Studies show that homes with a roof garden enjoy much cooler temperatures and even lower than that of its surrounding areas by up to nine degrees.  

Fostering Urban Agriculture

Additional insulation, energy-use reduction, thermal radiation resistance, rain water drain management, air purification; these are just some of the advantages afforded by roof gardens. At the heart of all these merits lies the capacity for every Filipino homeowner to grow his own fresh food on otherwise empty rooftops. 

Bungkal features a unique substrate that supports the growth of organic fruit bearing plants, vegetables and herbs —an ideal set-up for potentially self-sustaining families. By year 2050, global population is predicted to reach nine billion and the demand for food produced in farms will shoot up astronomically; not to mention that these rural areas will be pushed further and further away by developing metropolitan areas. Urban farming empowers citizens to take matters into their own hands and adopt practices that make self-reliance a possibility for families in the near future. 

Verdant Horizons

Going from gray to green for most people is hardly ever achieved without some degree of uncertainty and hesitation. Installing a roof garden may seem to be an ambitious environmental endeavor but the innovative minds behind Bungkal are confident that their product is designed to require little maintenance after installation. Putting their three decades of experience and technical know-how in intensive and extensive landscapes into this passion project, specialists attest to the reliability of Bungkal’s system to work without a hitch on existing roofs. 

Significantly lighter than other systems in the industry, the reservoir can store heavier loads of water and substrate compared to conventional roof gardens. Higher quality material used in root-proofing allows owners to increase biodiversity without the extravagant costs. The dream is to make Bungkal accessible to Filipinos who want to beautify their dwellings while reducing their carbon footprint.

Once more and more homeowners extol the virtues of roof gardening and eventually make urban farming more commonplace, the outlook for our future becomes a brighter, albeit greener, one.