I am a: Quirky sysadmin. Geek. Gamer. Comic fangirl. My little space, my home on the interwebs. I blog about personal stuffs, work, various coding projects, and anything else I feel like.

I ran across this piece on the Mental Floss magazine blog this morning:

How green was my roof

As “sustainable architecture” becomes a familiar term to many, we’re starting to hear a lot about green roofing. It’s a concept that seems to have an awful lot going for it, and — added bonus — it looks really cool, to boot (especially from a Google Earth POV). Via Ecogeek, here’s a quick primer on just what they are and how they work.

First of all, there are two kinds of green roofs:
• intensive, which are between two and four feet deep and support the growth of all kinds of plants and even some small trees, but require a great deal of structural support, because they’re really heavy, and
• extensive, the most common kind of green (or “vegetated”) roof, which are about four inches deep at the most. Many kinds of grass and drought-resistant plants can thrive at that depth, which also naturally limits weed growth and tends to self-regulate. (Naturally, their weight is also a lot easier to support.)

The benefits

There are many, but a few of the most compelling include

Keepin’ it cool:

Green roofs keep the roof cooler, which helps to reduce the heat-island effect, which contributes to cities being hotter than the surrounding countryside. This can be beneficial to the building in reducing its summertime cooling load.

Longer roof life:

Green roofs also protect the roof membrane from sunlight, which breaks down the roofing material. Having even a couple inches of soil helps to greatly extend the life of the roof, and a longer lifespan means less material ends up in landfills from re-roofing buildings after the membranes have failed.

Greatly reduced stormwater runoff:

In some cases, this can help reduce the size of stormwater pipes, and the amount of stormwater that needs to be treated by municipal water treatment. In a light rainfall, a building with a vegetated roof can have no stormwater runoff at all.

Everybody gets a yard:

In cities where concrete rules and green space is at a premium, how cool would it be for everyone to have a little park of their own on the roof? You can BBQ up there, stretch out for a nap in relative peace and isolation, and even, as some have done, graze farm animals!

The drawbacks

Right now, the main drawback is expense. It’s definitely pricey to convert an existing “normal” roof to a vegetated one; the extra load necessitates extensive surveying and architectural rejiggering (and architects drive fancy cars for a reason). Cost is less of an issue with new construction.

Am I nuts, or is that just really, really, reeeeeeeeeally pretty? I’d love to have a green roof! Sure, it would be a bit expensive to implement, but I think overall it would pay for itself in the long run with what it would save in heating and cooling costs alone! :cool: I know plenty of people (us included) who pay more than their fair share in A/C and heating maintenance costs; and just imagine the upkeep and costs for central unit power supply repairs and other HCVAC-related service calls … it’s a racket, I tell ya! ;P

Me, I’d rather grow my own roof and give my A/C a little break now and then. ;)

( … would need a new house first … *ahem* … )