How Thick Is A Green Roof

Green roofs for healthy cities grhc is developing a course on waterproofing and drainage as it relates to green roof design and implementation.

How thick is a green roof.

Note that it is not like a traditional roof garden in which planting is done in free standing containers as well as planters that are placed on an easy to access roof terrace. A green roof or living roof is a roof of a building that is partially or completely covered with vegetation and a growing medium planted over a waterproofing membrane it may also include additional layers such as a root barrier and drainage and irrigation systems. Container gardens on roofs where plants are maintained in pots are not generally considered to be true green roofs although. About 4 inches of growing medium is the minimum requirement for both green roof and living wall.

But remember more the. So about six inches of minimum provision is required. All three types of roofs require specific layers of roofing materials not found on regular roofs. The roof s main job however is to protect the interior of the house and personal belongings from the outside elements.

An extensive green roof or sedum roof is a roof with vegetation that is more or less self perpetuating and that can further develop and maintain itself. The course will be launched at the fifth annual international greening rooftops for sustainable communities conference april 29 may 1 2007 in minneapolis. How thick a roof is depends mostly on the size of the rafters used in the roof construction but there are additional elements including the thickness of the roof sheathing and the thickness of the shingles you choose. A green roof is a green space that is created by adding various layers of plants and a growing medium to the top portion of a traditional roofing system.

Add a couple of inches for the drainage waterproofing root barrier etc. The basic anatomy of a green roof consists of vegetation growing medium filter membrane drainage layer waterproof root repellant layer roofing membrane support for plantings above thermal insulation vapor control layer and structural roof support. The nominal thickness of a green roof is the approximate total height of the soil and drainage components that constitute the green roof system excluding the roof structure insulation waterproofing and plants it is common practice to use the term extensive to describe green roofs that are very thin and will only support hardy drought resistant vegetation.