Green Flat Roof Design

While it is true that sloped roofs have historically been more popular than flat ones modern architecture has made use of the flat roof due to is perceived aesthetic value.

Green flat roof design.

It replaces the ecology the new house sits upon thereby replacing the habitat that a house takes away. The green roof design needs to accommodate adequate water retention suitable drainage structural loading and the depth of green roof growing substrate. For a start there are no tricky gable end spaces to try and navigate when opening up the upper levels in flat roof houses plus you can use the roof itself as an outdoor terrace which will be a. Vegetative roofs also known as green roofs are thin layers of living vegetation installed on top of conventional flat or sloping roofs.

In the first one the roof design uses two shed roofs or splits the gable roof in half and adds a green roof. Your green roof design will depend on the roof your preferred green roof system as well as your desired build up and vegetation. I liked the idea of having a bit more greenery in the property we live. Don t go thinking that modern houses with flat roofs only look good though as these innovative designs actually have practical properties as well.

We have chosen to use the word vegetative rather than the word green in this guide because a non vegetative roof could be considered to be environmentally green without being vegetative. Used over a whole roof a green roof will be the single overriding design influence on the house as well as impacting on the construction right down to the foundations. With modern technology a lot of the flaws and design issues that might have befallen a flat roof can be mitigated as well so it s not so much a question of. But now flat roofs often are constructed with fewer layers because of improved waterproofing technology.

Make a normal flat or sloped roof into a beautiful living garden. Some observers suggest it s harder to replace a flat roof than a traditional pitched shingle roof because of the labor required to remove its layers especially on older flat roofs. Unlike pitched green roofs flat green roofs can either take the form of extensive consisting of a thin layer of turf or sedum matting or intensive characterised by a greater soil depth that can even accommodate shrubs and trees. While redeveloping our house we decided to install a living roof on our kitchen roof why you ask.

Green roof case study by cookfox. A green roof is in ecological terms a great and simple thing to do. This could mean flat roofs may not raise the same red flags they used to. In the second example zoning requirements required a gable roof yet the homeowners yearned for a flat roof.

Usually it s best practice to include them in the design process as industry experts can advise you on the specifics of thermal performance drainage loading and other factors.