Development of the Green Roof

ABSTARCT

With the world economy growing, our Mother Nature is completely forgotten. With the cities growing rapidly in form of concrete structures has left us with no open grasslands.  Building structures are something which we cannot eliminate from our lives, but what we can do is make our buildings more enduring towards the nature. There are many ways and methods which can be used to do so and one of the concepts will be thrown light upon in this study. The topic of Green roof will be analyzed, concepts of green roof, advantages of green roofs, application of green roofs and its uses in design as an architectural structure of the buildings and few examples incorporating Green roofs will be explained.

TABLE OF CONTENT

Abstract………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….1

List of Figures …………………………………………………………………………………………………………..2

List of Tables……………………………………………………………………………………………………………3 

1. Introduction.………………….………………………………………………………………………………………4

 1.1 History…….………………………………………………………………………………………………………..6

 1.2 Green Roof – Types……………….……………………………………………………………………….……….7

2. Green Roof Components and Layer System….………………………………………………….……….………….8

3. Plant Selection for Green Roof…………………………………………………………………………….……….10

4. Green Roof- Advantages……………………………..……………………………………………………….…….11

5. Life of Green Roof………………………………………………………………………………………………….14

6. Green Roof- LEED Credits……………………………………………………………………..…………………..15

7. Case Study – Lawrence Tech Green Roof….………………………………………………………..………………17

  7.1 Goal/Purpose………..……………………………………………………………………………………………..17

  7.2Background…………..……………………………………………………………………………………………17

  7.3 Storm water run off……………………………………………………………………………………………….18

  7.4 Water Quality……………………………..………………………………………………………………………1

8. Conclusion……………….………………………………………………………………………………………….23

9. References……………….………………………………………………………………………………………….24

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1. INTRODUCTION

Green roofs are simply roofs bearing vegetation that may take many different forms. Some are mats of uniform vegetation and thickness covering a large expanse of flat or sloping roofs. [1] A green roof is a technology that can provide a vast range of benefits to the society, interested in the enhanced environment and reduction in energy consumption and that convey financial benefits to the community. (Dvorak, 2010). Green roof is often associated with various different terms like Eco roof, Living roof, Brown roof. The different terms evolved due to the featured plant materials – a combination of rich, diverse and perennial species which are not green all year round.

Green roofs is definitely more expensive when compared to the conventional roofs. But it has its own benefits and over the long run the initial cost of the installation is covered easily. The Living ( green) roof has various advantages like Aesthetics ,  Storm water management , Mitigation of the urban heat island , Thermal and Acoustical insulation , Reduction of the Energy bills , Reduction in carbon di oxide , Economical benefits and many more.

Green roof contributes to LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). A 2008 report by a commercial real estate research company found that buildings certified by the U. S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program or by the Department of energy’s Energy Star program fetched higher rents and enjoyed greater occupancy than comparable conventional buildings. The certified buildings, especially LEED buildings, also attracted higher sales prices per square foot. Owners of these buildings also cited the marketing value of the certifications as well as the savings on operational costs (Miller et al.2008).

1.1           GREEN ROOFS- HISTORY

As early as 500B.C green roofs have been a part of the building history. The Hanging Gardens at Babylonia is one of the best examples for this. In olden days people used to use green grass as a cover for the roofs for their buildings due to the shortage of wood. In late 1800s early American settlers started using this concept, as it would keep the house warmer during the harsh winters and warmers during the hot summers.

While roof gardens have been familiar to North Americans from a long time, the extensive green roofs concept came from Europe. Whereas in Germany this concept existed much before than in Europe. A research was done in 1960’s at Germany which helped to create a feasible market for green roofs which began in 1970s.Today the level of green roof application and use increases approximately by 145 million square feet per year (Oberdorfer et al. 2007).

In the United States such policies have always been difficult to imply on the federal level. But local incentives are increasingly popular throughout  North America.IN addition  , stronger storm water management regulations  , have come in effect under the Clean Water Act and local codes might ultimately make green roofs as common as detention basins are now. Leaving the incentives aside, the U.S federal government is providing leadership on green roofs. Many agencies now encourage or even require that the new construction conform to LEED standards, which award points for green roofs (USGBC 2009). [2]

More Government green roofs are likely to come in early 2007, under the Energy Independence and Security Act (P.L.110-140).Section 438 of that law raises the bar even more for storm water management on federal sites with a footprint of 5000 SQFT or more. The maintenance and restoration of predevelopment hydrology to the maximum extent technically feasible through site planning, design, construction, and Maintenance strategies.