Will Your Roofing Contractor Offer Green Built Roofing
Living in an urban apartment or crowded areas of the suburbs often means dealing with limited garden space and hardly any room for landscaping. For those who yearn to connect with nature, finding a space to appreciate the outdoors can feel almost out of reach.
With green-built roofing or roofs on buildings that consist of live vegetation, being one in nature is possible for any homeowner. The advantages of gardens to particularly urban regions have led roofing contractors to bring an onslaught of new construction incorporating the structures in worldwide cities.
European countries have always used variations of green roofing to insulate their homes.
The concept has existed for thousands of years. Still, it is only now gathering newfound favor with it popping up in several innovative ways, whether it be a simplistic, easy-to-maintain variety or a more elaborate plan that requires a gardener’s touch.
Let’s look more in-depth at live green roofing to determine whether this suits your situation.
What Is Green Roofing
When looking for a new roofing material for your home, contractors offer live green roofs as an option allowing city dwellers and those in crowded suburban locations the opportunity to enjoy nature peacefully on top of their dwellings.
These structures offer a “growing medium and drainage system to accommodate the plant life, a root barrier, and a waterproof layer.” The roofing contractor has minimal difficulty installing the material on a low-slope structure. These work optimally when the slope is roughly 30 degrees or less.
The roof must accommodate the weight of a full lawn or garden space along with the additional weight of inclement weather, rainfall, snow, and ice. Reputed contractors will ensure surveying is part of the construction process. Go here for
What Are The Advantages Of A Living Green Roof
You can decide the degree of maintenance a living green roof will involve. These are somewhat the same as working in a natural garden. An extensive green roof will be the simplest to care for from an intensive option. Still, any will require standard cutting and weeding.
That’s a reason to decide if you want the garden to cover the expanse of the roof or merely cover a portion of the space. Plus, it’s vital to ensure you have adequate and safe roofing access to be able to work in the landscape and enjoy the natural surroundings.
What can you count as benefits for a living roof? Consider these advantages.
● Energy savings are among the primary benefits seen with a green roof
A traditional roof can be a significant source of energy loss in the heart of the extreme seasons. The green option provides a layer of insulation to structures helping to reduce heating and cooling demands and the costs associated with the excessive effort.
When a home is minimally insulated, the heating and cooling in extreme temperatures is forced to work harder to cool and warm the home. That puts a lot of stress on the HVAC equipment causing extensive wear and tear reducing its longevity.
Because the home has added protection from the bulk of the garden, the home remains cool in the summer and warm in the winter without the HVAC having to exert tremendous effort. It means less wear and tear on the system and a longer lifespan.
● Stormwater runoff decreases when the roof is a living space
A green roof stores the water from different weather events, whether rain or snow melts, for the various plants to use. The “transpiration and respiration process that the vegetation experiences releases this stored water back into the environment as “water vapor.”
The leftover that isn’t absorbed by the plant life filters before it runs off from the roof. This allows a much slower stormwater flow making management more straightforward since this is a familiar city problem.
● The “urban heat island effect” is assisted when roofers use green roofs for their construction
The “urban heat island effect” is a situation when the city temperatures are substantially higher than those of the rural areas on the outskirts. The reason for this effect is due to there being fewer green areas in the cityscapes.
Instead, substantial areas of “impervious” or concrete platforms attract heat in the sweltering summer temperatures.
Plant life existing on roofs in cities, with regular “dew and evaporation,” assists with cooling the atmosphere, decreasing the excessive heat attracted to the massive amounts of concrete and asphalt. The plants also consume the sun’s rays, typically transitioning into heat.
● Wildlife is drawn back to the cityscapes after leaving
The habitat for wildlife is grossly limited in big or small cities, causing them to leave the environment for more friendly locations like the rural areas. When incorporating vegetation on the roofing structure, there’s more of an opportunity for birds and insects to form habitats.
Some living roofs lean more toward natural lawns, but there are variations with shrubs, trees, plant life, allowing birds to develop nests and insects to find adequate space.
● The aesthetic of a living structure is stunning in any location
Curb appeal is something communities strive for. It’s always a good thing when you can beautify a cityscape using natural surroundings to deflect from the surrounding hardscapes.
The addition of gardens on rooftops in urban spaces creates charm and character, drawing people to the area not only to see the stunning sights but to consider these areas for setting up a new home.
Some people work in the city and live in the rural areas to take advantage of the natural surroundings, only to then endure a long commute to work. You don’t have to move away when the garden is on top of the house or apartment. You can enjoy gardening and a minimal commute.
Final Thought
Plant life, wherever they exist, absorbs air pollutants, filtering gasses that consume the air, producing potential toxins hazardous to an individual’s health.
A green roof helps to decrease the smog, dust, and particles in the air, assists with temperature control, insulates the building to help with energy conservation and adds to a structure’s square footage.
The maintenance can be as intensive or least extensive as you choose. You can select a garden of merely a lawn, maybe some flowers.
Or the space can consist of shrubs, trees, and other plant life for you to be the active gardener you long to be. That means not having to move to the country and commute to the city. You can have the best of both worlds.
