Stop and Smell the Roses…On Your Roof
The commercial construction world is ever-changing and growing with innovations in the world of “green building.” Providing customers and companies with eco-friendly buildings can minimize environmental impacts. This form of construction is very vast and is privy to multiple ways to achieve being truly eco-friendly.
The “Green” Combination
One of these ways to achieve a minimal environmental impact is green roofing, or better known as a “living roof system.” A living roof system is made up of the following layers, from bottom to top:
- A sheet metal roof with a drainage system laid on top
- Cork or a peat moss planting grid
- Plants dependent on the customer’s choice
- The variety ranges from low-maintenance and easily maintained plants to a designed landscape of multiple trees, shrubs and flowers.
Source: Rooftop Landscapes
A World of Benefits
One of the benefits stemming from a living roof is the potential economic return to the customer. Additionally, a living roof can provide extra insulation R-value to the building due to the vegetation blocking direct weather damage to the roof’s surface. Another benefit that is gaining popularity in the green industry is the use of the water drainage system that reduces the amount of storm water runoff around and from the building itself. According to Green Roofs for Storm water Runoff Control, a living roof system can reduce the storm water runoff by 80% per year.
My Plant Connection has an extensive list of all the benefits that come with installing a green roof system on a building. A company utilizing a green roof has the opportunity to apply for a “green roof tax credit. ”Various tax credit legislations makes for possible credits available to the owners.
As the world in its whole becomes more environmentally friendly and conscious, the commercial and residential construction community is steadily joining the effort. By creating, designing and installing these green living roof systems, we can better our quality of life while having much less of an impact on the environment itself.
