Generally Green Roofs Are Not Meant To Be Walked On

Green roofs offer many public private and design based benefits.

Generally green roofs are not meant to be walked on.

It is even more important that the roof covering be watertight to prevent leaks into the building. Green roof construction and maintenance kelley luckett mcgraw hill professional 2009 isbn 10. They are nothing more than roofs that you walk on. However green roofs in many cases are meant to retain water over a longer period of time to slow stormwater runoff and to nourish the plants.

Would you consider a green roof to be a roof garden as noted near the end of chapter 4 such that the special 100 psf live load is required. However be careful if it freezes. 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. But the occasional incursion by an inspector or maintenance worker would not be a problem for most commonly used plants.

Key questions to ask at each stage of the green building process tested tips and techniques for successful structural design construction methods for new and existing buildings information on insulation. Can you walk on a green roof. A roof is designed to protect the building and to shed precipitation. Can people walk on the green roof.

Green roof technologies not only provide the owners of buildings with a proven return on investment but also represent opportunities for significant social economic and environmental benefits particularly in cities. But we tend to mess them up royally. A green roof also referred to as a living roof is where the roof of a structure has a garden growing over a waterproof membrane. The ones we are going to deal with have conditioned space under them.

With planting media of 1 to 5 inches thick most extensive green roofs are not designed for public access or to be walked on any more than a typical membrane roof would. For instance when you fertilize the roof once a year walking on the sedum plants is not a problem. It s only meant to be green without access for the public or assembly. It is not advisable to walk on the vegetation if the plants are frozen you may damage them.

Generally extensive green roofs are not designed for pedestrian traffic. We construct roofs that are either vented or unvented. Container gardens on roofs where plants are maintained in pots are not generally considered to be true green roofs although. Perhaps it is because we forget that they really are roofs and have to follow all the rules that roofs have to follow.

It has become common in large cities on high rise apartment buildings so that residents can get fresh vegetables or enjoy blooming flowers. The garden roof will be similar to these. Several modular extensive green roof products have emerged in the last few years that allow plants to be grown at the factory prior to actually being installed on a roof.