Been wanting to lighten your footprint, or would you reside in a metropolitan setting and yearn for just a little piece of character? Got a horrible perspective of a bare roof outside your window? A green roof — one covered with living plants — might be just what you have been on the lookout for.
Whether your next job is a whole-house remodel or a chicken coop, think about covering it with a living green roof rather than the familiar lifeless, impermeable, heat-absorbing, fast-shedding, usually not so fairly roof we’re all comfortable with. It’s well worth a small added construction time and cost to reap the following benefits:Reduced energy requirements. A dwelling roof acts as an insulator, reducing the power required to heat and cool your house or building. Reduced greenhouse gases. Living green plants convert carbon dioxide into sugars, producing oxygen as a byproduct. Reduced urban heat island effect. The heating effect of evapotranspiration and the lower Solar Reflectance Index* of a dwelling roof result in lower overall heat given off by the roof surface. (*SRI: a measure of the energy a substance absorbs, then releases as warmth. )Enhanced stormwater management. Slick, impermeable roofs shed water fast and efficiently, contributing to both higher and faster peak runoff and flood in densely developed areas. A green roof plants and soil slow both the rate and the power of runoff. Enhanced water quality. Plants and soil in a green roof absorb and break down pollutants in rainwater. The slower flow of stormwater equals less erosion and subsequent sedimentation downstream. Additional habitat. A dwelling roof provides shelter and food to local birds, bees, butterflies and other woods. Enhanced value and curb appeal. That really is a no-brainer — just examine the pictures! Enhanced quality of life. Admit it: You’re happier when you are surrounded by beauty… and I’d argue that many ordinary roofs drop in the category of blight instead of grandeur. Price of maintenance and installation: In accordance with the EPA website, the price of installing a green roof begins at $10 per square foot for easier extensive roofs (shallow soil, lighter total weight of roof system), and $25 per square foot for intensive roofs (thicker soil, greater overall weight of roof system). Annual maintenance costs are estimated at $.75 to $1.50 per square foot.
Building a green roof. Do not simply huck a lot of soil and plants in addition to the roof you have. A green roof is an integrated system comprised of layers of subroof, waterproofing, soil, irrigation elements, plants, etc.. It is much heavier than a normal roof system, and the construction upon which it stays must be engineered to carry the weight calculated to the roof you wish to build (intensive vs. extensive, complete watering system vs. none, etc.. ).
Start small if you are doing it on yourself. My very first green roof was on a doghouse. It was only when I’d done a great deal of research, worked together with experienced green roofers, received a great deal of help from others and graduated from the doghouse into a drop, then to some garagebefore I felt ready to tackle a whole house green roof.
Even when you just have a small drop in the back and wish to give it a colorful hairdo, it’s worth mentioning green roofs a go.
Feldman Architecture, Inc..
Harmony with the setting. This green roof blends perfectly with the extended perspective and leaves the cabin look less obtrusive in the landscape. A vegetated roof is not as disruptive of local habitat than a normal roof.
Feldman Architecture, Inc..
Typical extensive green roof. Notice the multiple elements of the roofing system. The slower rate of runoff in the dwelling roof enables more stormwater to percolate into the surrounding land. A normal roof sheds water at high rate, increasing likelihood surface erosion.
See more of the hillside property
Fulcrum Structural Engineering
Double-duty green roof. Integrate a few solar panels, along with your roof becomes two times as effective and valuable while maintaining your home comfortable, dry and cozy.
Feldman Architecture, Inc..
Drought-tolerant succulents. Succulents are ideal to vegetating an extensive (shallow dirt ) dwelling roof. High water-use, low water-demand plants, many succulents can take the punishing heat, blistering sunlight and shallow soils of the rooftop surroundings — often without a permanent irrigation and nearly no maintenance.
Notice the design of the plantings along with the band of pebbles around the perimeter of the roof. The pebbles improve the makeup and trap any soil kicked up by driving rain, keeping the soil on the roof where it belongs.
McClellan Architects
Extensive and intensive roofs on precisely the exact same project. The extensive green roof in the center ground of the picture has shallow soil and shallow-rooted plants. The rooftop garden in the foreground is constituted of pavers laid over a suspended infrastructure with intensive green roof edges.
Feldman Architecture, Inc..
California natives. A combination of California poppies (Eschscholzia californica), yarrow (Achillea mellifolium) along with other natives causes this intensive green roof directly at home in this California backyard.
Coates Design Architects Seattle
Prevegetated mats. Contemplate prevegetated mats to your green roof project. Modular units of soil and rooted plants simplify installation once the proper structure and waterproofing are set up. A carpet of mixed stonecrop (Sedum) varieties creates a low-muss, low-fuss green roof.
Huettl Landscape Architecture
Enriched composition. This green roof provides each of the environmental benefits of a dwelling roof and matches the strong lines of the home’s modern architecture.
Robert Hawkins
Habitat along with a borrowed perspective. What might have been an unfortunate view of a sexy, glaring roof is currently a charming vignette. The plant palette with this dwelling roof ties the house to the distant mountains and brings seed-eating birds into eye level.
Natural Balance Home Builders
Rooftop tapestry. Colorful stonecrop varieties comparison with a white-leaf fescue with this vibrant green roof.
Kenneth Philp Landscape Architects
Garden in the sky. This rooftop garden shows another approach to making garden area in the domain normally dominated by air conditioners and other mechanical elements. The building needs to be designed from the floor up to accomodate the burden of the backyard and handle stormwater. Tough, year-round plants in 18-inch-high planters need little upkeep. Planter walls offer seating; pavers set over a suspended infrastructure along with a killer perspective make this space popular with construction tenants.
More:
So Your Design Is: Green
Easy Green: 10 Ways Toward a Zero-Energy Home