A living roof takes root
No longer the domain of hippies or hobbits, a green roof can be your hard-working partner in making your home sustainable.
Now we know that the first step to a sustainable home is insulation that keeps the inside at a comfortable temperature no matter how hot or cold it is outside. The next step on the journey is water management, which collects rainwater and supplies it to toilets, washing machines or gardens. But equally important is minimizing the runoff of water from concrete, roofs and pavements into increasingly overloaded stormwater systems. A green roof, where plants grow on an insulating substrate on top of a building’s roof, helps solve the two problems of insulating a house while absorbing water. It is cool because there are no surfaces that reflect the sun’s rays.
Until now, it has been an expensive and complicated non-mainstream option. However, it is becoming more accessible as more and more vendors apply what they have learned from commercial applications to residential projects. Start with projects that inspire you around the world.
Living roofs on commercial buildings are often intensive and costly. It has life-size trees, pavement
and space for seating, and deep soil sometimes up to 5 feet, resulting in heavy loads and requiring
expensive engineering to support.
But for homes, what’s known as a wide green roof is less expensive to install, as it typically only
requires 3/4 to 6 inches of substrate and doesn’t require much engineering support. Consult local
building codes for requirements.
This beach house near Buffalo city, shows the most common planting practices. It is a hardy grass that can survive in shallow beds with little maintenance or irrigation.
surprise that former Buffalo city architect firm KDRoofers has brought healthy building principles to Buffalo city, including non-toxic building materials like this roof.
Because green roofs can weigh more than 30 pounds per square foot on about 4 inches of substrate when planted and wet, roof supports and walls must be designed. You also need to think about drainage because you don’t want soil runoff to clog drains and pipes and flood your roof. Designers recommend putting stones or pavers a foot wide around the edges of green roofs. Vents prevent condensation from forming on the ceiling under the roof.
For this Buffalo city project, KDRoofers’ designers needed to keep the board from sliding down the sloping roof. They used small, well-rooted grass.
Office space in Buffalo city, sedums and succulents on the roof create a brightly colored view from upstairs.
A garden like this can take a while to set up, and you may need to replant stripped areas because growth is uneven in areas of the roof that don’t get sunlight or rain.
There are two main roof systems in Buffalo city. One uses an applied substrate, a waterproofing membrane similar to that used on flat roofs under decks or tiles. It requires a suitable foundation substrate usually concrete or engineered plywood and the skills of a licensed installer, so there is no risk of leaking or breaking the roof.
Polyethylene, foam insulation and a drainage layer are applied prior to the installation of special
soil growing media and plants.
Alternatively, Buffalo city company KDRoofers pioneered the Live
Roof, a modular, pre-vegetated hybrid green roof system. The plant modules are pre-grown, so
your green roof is already installed and there are no typical maintenance costs to care for baby
plants and fix soil issues until the roof is fully grown.
KDRoofers’s builder says that with the proper mix of low-organic and high-organic
planting media and at least three months of intensive care before installing the roof, the hot, humid
and dry microclimate will be free of weeds and dying plants on the roof.
The company has numerous Buffalo city native and sedum planting options. A
prime example of this technology is the KDRoofers living building project, which
allows clean water to enter the rainwater system through a modular roof reducing runoff by up to
80%.
Green roofs aren’t just for rural environments. The green roof was installed over structural steel
girders and a concrete roof to support a nearby historic building. Plants were tested externally to
ensure they did not require human support to survive. There is also a 26ft vertical garden. Both
gardens are fed from an underground water storage tank.
On a cramped urban site in Buffalo city the architects at KDRoofers architects wanted to bring the exterior indoors, and the owners wanted the roof to be usable as a
living space nestled in the canopy of mature trees.
The architects designed the roof to carry pots large enough to support 50-foot trees and soil deep
enough to grow vegetable gardens. There are solar panels on the roof to insulate the house.
On the California coast, KDRoofers used a green roof to hide this home from the
neighbors above. Building ledges have been cut into meadows, and uphill lands have been
extended as green roofs over the underground portion. The gently curved roof is the living room.
The system is supported by a 15,000-gallon groundwater tank.
And in Buffalo city, the best green roof can be seen at KDRoofers’s
summer house. The bush planted roof blends beautifully with the house and the landscape, as does
the surrounding ranch.
Tell us: Are you ready for a green roof? Share your ideas in the comments.
More:
6 misconceptions about green roofs are broken. How to install a green roof https://kdroofers.com/
4 ways green roofs can help manage rainwater https://kdroofers.com/
Nitharsana
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