Green roof coverage
Introduction
A green roof, green roof or living roof is the roof of a building that is partially or completely covered with vegetation, either in soil or in an appropriate growing medium, with an impermeable membrane. It may include other layers that serve for drainage and irrigation and as a barrier to roots.[1].
It does not refer to green roofs, such as those with green tiles, nor to roofs with potted gardens. It refers instead to technologies used on roofs to improve the habitat or save energy consumption, that is, technologies that fulfill an ecological function. Roof ponds are another form of green roof used to treat gray water.[2] The green roof is made up of vegetation, soil, drainage layers, roof waterproofing barriers and the irrigation system.[3].
Green roofs are useful in several ways for the building, including absorbing rainwater, insulating, creating a habitat for wildlife, which increases benevolence[4] and decreases the stress of people around the roof by providing a more pleasing panorama to the eye. It also helps lower ambient temperatures and mitigates the heat island effect.[5] Green roofs are suitable for remodeling projects as well as new buildings and can be installed on small garages or larger industrial, commercial and municipal buildings.[1] They effectively use the natural functions of plants to filter water and treat air in urban and suburban landscapes.[6] There are two types of green roofs: intensive roofs, which are thicker, with a minimum depth of 12.8 cm (5 in), and can support a wider variety of plants, but are heavier and require more maintenance, and extensive roofs, which are shallow, ranging in depth from 2 cm (0.8 in) to 12.7 cm (5 in), lighter than intensive green roofs and require minimal maintenance.[7].
The term green roof is also used to indicate other "green" technologies, such as photovoltaic solar panels or photovoltaic modules.
Other names for green roofs are living roofs and ecological roofs.
Advantages
Green roofs can be used to:.
A green roof is a key component of a free-standing building.
A 2005 study by Brad Bass of the University of Toronto showed that green roofs can also reduce heat loss and reduce energy consumption in winter.[9].
In a recent study on the impact of green structures in the Manchester area, researchers found that green roofs helped lower temperatures, especially in urban areas: "adding green roofs to all structures can have dramatic effects on surface temperatures, keeping temperatures below the averages of the years 1961-1990... Green roofs have the greatest impact... where the proportion of buildings is high and the proportion of evaporation is low. Therefore the greatest difference occurs in the center of the populations.”[10].