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A green roof (or living roof) is a roof that has plants growing on it.
For centuries people have grown plants on their roofs to keep their buildings cool during the summer and warm during winter.
These days green roofs still have the same benefits but also add much needed green spaces to urban concrete areas, replace habitats that have been lost due to developments and reduce demand on sewers by retaining approximately 70% of rain water that falls on them.
Green roof is an umbrella term given to all intentionally vegetated roof spaces.
Historically in the UK, green roofs fell into two camps – lightweight, instant greening in the form of alpine sedum plants grown on blankets to be rolled out like living carpets.
Or opulent roof gardens on exclusive office blocks and luxury apartments.
Two key developments in the sector have redirected the drivers for implementation, the first being rising land prices which push developers to maximise the use of every square meter of space available to them.
Secondly, developers have become more conscious that clients and end users want to limit the effect their developments may have on the environment.
A green roof is usually composed of a waterproof membrane, followed by a root barrier, a layer of insulation, a drainage layer, the growing medium or soil substrate, and the plant material.
A shallow layer of gravel or pebbles are placed from 18 inches to three feet (50cm to 1m) within the outside perimeter of the roof, providing additional drainage, fire control, and access to the roof for maintenance.
Vegetation selection is crucial to the long term success of the project, but green roofs need not, necessarily, be green.
Green roof infrastructure promises to become an increasingly important option for building owners and community planners.
Green roofs can address many of the challenges facing urban residents.
Life cycle costing indicates that green roofs cost the same or less than conventional roofing and they are an investment which provides a significant number of social, environmental and economic benefits that are both public and private in nature.
Green roof systems may be modular, with drainage layers, filter cloth, growing media and plants already prepared in movable, interlocking grids, or, each component of the system may be installed separately.
Green roof development involves the creation of “contained” green space on top of a human-made structure.
This green space could be below, at or above grade, but in all cases the plants are not planted in the “ground’. Green roofs can provide a wide range of public and private benefits.
Green roof technologies not only provide the owners of buildings with a proven return on investment, but also represent opportunities for significant social, economic and environmental benefits, particularly in cities.
Find out more about the private and public benefits of green roof technologies here.
The term green roof may also be used to indicate roofs that use some form of “green” technology, such as solar panels or a photovoltaic module.
Green roofs are also referred to as eco-roofs, vegetated roofs, living roofs, and green roofs.
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