The company employs only 12 people but is now in its 11th year of existence and it is a growing player when the task of turning corporate overhead into a less costly endeavor.

They really put the “green” in green technology.

They provide the seed that can help turn a building into a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) status winner.

They can save companies green as in dollars.

And the product is grown in America by American farmers.

“Overhead” as literally the roof a company keeps over its offices and facilities. Rather than turn to solar panels on roofs, Xero Flor clients opt for a green carpet.

Yes, Durham-based Xero Flor is putting down real roots as a  provider of so-called “green roof” solutions. The firm literally turns the roof of large structures into fields in order to save energy costs, reduce storm runoff and make a roof last longer.

The latest deal is a big one.

Xero Flor, the exclusive distributor of patented, multi-layer technology by the same name  (XeroFloor Green Solutions) that was developed in Germany, has landed a contract to turn the roof of the massive 292,000 square foot Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York with natural green Sedum. These projects are a lot more than sod or dirt, seed and fertilizer. 

While financial terms of the contract weren’t disclosed, a spokesperson for Xero Flor said the deal “is a big one.”

Working with independent farms across the country, Xero Flor grows its product to the regional needs of the customer so the Javits project Sedum will be grown over a period of nine to 12 months in upstate New York.

Xero Flor recently covered its own office building in Durham with Sedum grown at a North Carolina farm.

The company is the brainchild of Dr. Clayton Rugh, an Ohio State graduate with an extensive background in plant research who decided back in 2002 to locate the company in Durham, liking Triangle lifestyle.

So what does the multi-layer Xero Flor process do?

As David Aquilina, the media spokesperson for Xero Flor, explains it: 

“Xero Flor acts like a big sponge,” thus cutting down tremendously on storm-water runoff. Given the size of the Javits project, that’s a lot – an estimated 6.8 million gallons a year.

The field of green also cuts down on energy costs by insulating against heat and cold by 26 percent.

For example, when it’s New York City hot, instead of 120 degree heated air circulating over a roof, Aquilina points out, Xero Flor keeps the air pulled into air conditioning systems at the ambient temperature.

Then there is the matter of saving wear and tear on the roof itself. Aquilina says the Xero Flor helps roof structures by shielding them from solar radiation.

Big projects are nothing new for Rugh and company. A Xero Floor covers the big Ford Motor Company River Rouge Plant – the biggest such project to date in the U.S. – for nearly a decade.

So here’s a tip of The Skinny’s cap to Durham-based Xero Flor where going green means doing so quite literally.