HSSCU's Green Living Roof

Community 3 min read

27 Sep 2023

In May, credit unions were announced as Sustainable Development Goal Champions by the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications for 2023 and 2024. As this week is Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Week, we’d like to share a flavour of some of the sustainability initiatives being undertaken by credit unions across the island.

Last year, Health Services Staffs Credit Union (HSSCU) installed a green living roof at their High Street, Dublin 8 office.  The roof, which is made up of a layer of sedum plants, has a positive environmental impact to the local environment through habitat creation, capturing CO2 and helping to improve the building’s energy usage.  

Importantly, through habitat creation, it provides a green space for wildlife including bees, birds and insects in the heart of Dublin City. It is an effective habitat because it is located away from street level and the challenges to green spaces that accompany that.  

Luke Casey, Marketing manager at HSSCU had this to say “The plants have had over a year to embed and grow on our High Street roof. They have been going from strength to strength which is great to see. With birds and insects using the roof as their home.  

It’s an area of the credit union that very few people get to see so we wanted to showcase it through creating this video. Proving people with a great view of the roof with the added bonus of scenic views over Dublin City. By having a living green roof, it also opens up future opportunities for environmental initiatives.” 

The video below shows the location and progress of the roof to date.