Living roofs, also referred to as green roofs or eco-roofs, are roof structures that comprise vegetation and a soil substrate. This is a fairly new design concept that has begun to receive much attention in cities due to its many environmental and aesthetic advantages.
How Do Green Roofs Work?
A green roof typically consists of several layers:
- Waterproof Membrane: This layer also contributes to the exclusion of water from entering the building structure.
- Drainage Layer: This layer has the ability to provide the right drainage of the surplus water.
- Root Barrier: This layer avoids the piercing of the roots of the plants on the waterproof membrane.
- Growing Medium: This layer supplies food and structure to the plant.
- Vegetation: This layer contains a variety of species of grasses and shrubs, and it may extend to form a weak woody structure.
Green Roofs’ Environmental Advantages
- Improved Air Quality: They clean the air since they remove pollutants from the surrounding environment, especially in areas of high density building populations.
- Reduced Urban Heat Island Effect: Green roofs act to reduce heat island effects since they assimilate heat and emit it slowly, thus reducing temperatures affecting the immediate environment.
- Stormwater Management: In addition, managing storm water and taking pressure off the sewer systems is another benefit made achievable through green roofs.
- Biodiversity: Insects are known to thrive on the green roofs, while birds and other wildlife help diversify life within urban areas.
- Energy Efficiency: Commercial benefits involve the ability of green roofs to act as a source of thermal insulation, thus lowering energy needs for heating and cooling.
The Future of Green Roofs
With more cities expanding day by day and urbanization, green roofs are becoming a solution for numerous environmental issues. Green roofs are one of the ways through which urban planners can make urban spaces more people-friendly, sustainable, and eco-friendly.
The overall paper showed that there are different ways through which the government can encourage public uptake of green roofs. Tax incentives, subsidies, and building-code provisions for green roofs can help governments increase the rate at which cities go green.
