Smart Roofs
A green roof, ecological rooftop or roof garden is the roof of a building that is partially or completely covered with vegetation. This covering of living material provides privacy to the building and adds vegetation or plants to the roof itself.
Benefits
Thermal insulation plants with small leaves are usually the best thermostat covers for buildings, they avoid overheating in summer and reduce heat loss in winter, this effect increases the comfort and saves energy somewhere between 25 and 50%.
Acoustic Insulation
A roof garden reduces noise from outside because the plants act as a cushion and can reduce noise up to eight decibels for noise inside the building and up to three decibels for environmental noise or noise heard from outside.
UV protection prevents vegetation UV rays affecting the waterproofing of the building so it extends the life of the roof. It retains the suspended particles. One square meter of green cover can filter up to 0.2 kg of dust particles. The plants act as a wind barrier too; the vegetation gives out oxygen and converts CO2 into biomass for plant growth.
Accumulation of Rainwater
A covered roof can store between 50% and 90% of rainwater because the layer of soil retains the water, that water can reach up to 10 liters per square meter and can gradually disappear partly through evaporation and the rest through the sewage network.
Green Image
In Germany, one in 10 building roofs are green. Norway, Sweden, Japan, Switzerland and the UK are turning their cities into green roof havens. Green roofs also improve the visual environment of buildings and contribute to preserving biodiversity by attracting birds, butterflies, insects and plants. It also provides movement, color and sounds providing a good feeling to the occupants.
You will need an expert study to assess the structure of the building to see how much weight it can support as well as the best suited option. Experts normally look for covers that are easy to maintain with low weight and minimum thickness. More complex coverings require high maintenance and regular watering; you can use any type of plants, trees, shrubs, lawns and so on, weighing approximately 150Kg over square meter.
