A green roof or living roof is a roof of a building that is partially or completely covered with vegetation and a growing medium planted over a waterproofing membrane it may also include additional layers such as a root barrier and drainage and irrigation systems.
Green roof construction definition.
Green roofs are also known as vegetative or eco roofs.
What is a green roof.
Extensive green roofs are lightweight with a shallow layer of growing substrate of less than 200 mm deep requiring minimal maintenance.
It replaces the ecology the new house sits upon thereby replacing the habitat that a house takes away.
A green roof is in ecological terms a great and simple thing to do.
The plants in a green roof absorb water through their roots and then use surrounding heat from the air to evaporate the water while some roofs can reach temperatures of up to 90 f in the summertime these two features can allow.
Used over a whole roof a green roof will be the single overriding design influence on the house as well as impacting on the construction right down to the foundations.
Depending on the weight capacity of the building s roof and the aims of the design.
Container gardens on roofs where plants are maintained in pots are not generally considered to be true green roofs although.
Green roofs can increase a building s marketability.
A green roof also known as a living roof is the use of the space on top of a building to grow plants either decorative vegetation or food crops.
Green roofs reduce the temperature of the building and the surrounding air in multiple ways.
Green roofs have traditionally been categorised as extensive or intensive.
Green roofs have excellent noise attenuation especially for low frequency sounds.
The layers of a green roof must like any roof accommodate drainage and protect the building from the elements with a waterproof membrane.
This is most noticeable in intensive green roofs since there is a thicker and more consistent layer of soil which provides a higher insulating value.
Green roofs can help reduce energy costs for a building by acting as another layer of insulation between the inside and outside of the roof.
Two types of green roof exist.
Although there are no precise definitions of.
They fall into three main categories extensive intensive and semi intensive.
An extensive green roof can reduce sound from outside by 40 decibels while an intensive green roof can reduce sound by 46 50 decibels peck et al.