Boris Dzhingarov

Green Roof Systems

green roofing, green roofs

Green roof systems stand out as they come in many different sizes and shapes, all carrying benefits you most likely know nothing about. They are more expensive than traditional roofing options but you can easily save money on the long run as heat loads and cooling costs are automatically reduced.

There are 2 main types of green roof systems:

  • Intensive
  • Extensive

The Intensive garden roofs are the ones that we usually see, being more complex, highlighting a really high plant diversity and a clear necessity to have design expertise when installing it. The media that is used for planting has to be at least one food deep and the saturated weights used range from eighty to 120 pounds per 1 square foot.

Intensive garden roofs will usually be applied to a new construction as it is hard to add them to homes that are already built.

The extensive green roofs have a saturated weight ranging from 12 to 50 and are quite common as the planting media only needs to be 5 inches thick as a maximum. These systems are usually not designated for a public access and there are various modular extensive green roof options that appeared with the possibility of planting before installation.

Extensive roofs may be lighter than the intensive roofs but you should never believe that you can fit them to any roof. There are some structures where you cannot add the grass roof option. There is a need to beef up the structure in many situations. Before you decide what to use, it is important to have structural evaluation.

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Planting Details For Green Roof Systems

 

According to experts, you need to choose plants that are as self-sustaining as possible. In a similar way to landscaping, the vegetation has to be proper for locale. You basically need to look for vegetation that does not need irrigation.

The green roof has the ability to retain water while cooling interior as you use native plants. This avoids costs associated with irrigation water. However, in the event that this cannot be avoided, options are available.

Should You Use Green Roof Systems?

This is a subjective manner. It is really important that you take the necessary time to basically see if this is something that you should use since maintenance may not be needed but it still exists and it is more than with regular roofing. Design is important and you need to be patient.