How Thick Is A Green Roof

Add a couple of inches for the drainage waterproofing root barrier etc.

How thick is a green roof.

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 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. 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 roof s main job however is to protect the interior of the house and personal belongings from the outside elements.

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. So about six inches of minimum provision is required. But remember more the. Roughly speaking extensive green roofs have a substrate thickness of between 4 and 15 cm and a weight of 30 to 220 kilo per m2.

Container gardens on roofs where plants are maintained in pots are not generally considered to be true green roofs although. All three types of roofs require specific layers of roofing materials not found on regular roofs. 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. About 4 inches of growing medium is the minimum requirement for both green roof and living wall.

The course will be launched at the fifth annual international greening rooftops for sustainable communities conference april 29 may 1 2007 in minneapolis. This is most noticeable in intensive green roofs since there is a thicker and more consistent layer of soil which provides a higher insulating value. 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.