Green Roof Insulation Value

Every construction design architect engineer a e knows a material s r value is an important factor when specifying insulation products with many regulations requiring minimum values for wall ceiling and roof assemblies.

Green roof insulation value.

Green roofs reduce sound resonance by 3 db and provide sound insulation of up to 8 db. A green roof system provides good sound insulation keeps the living space quieter and creates more pleasant surroundings in urban areas and it contributes to noise. The insulation prevents the weight of the green roof from crushing the insulation and impairing the membrane. A dark heat absorbing roof surface increases demands on mechanical systems making it more difficult to adequately cool a building whereas a green roof reduces the temperature of the roof and therefore the building itself.

The degree of sound insulation will depend on the thickness of the green roof structure. The protective layer can be a slab of lightweight concrete insulation. This may not seem much but for the human ear an 10 db reduction in noise levels is 50 quieter. In order to make sure we are all clear on how insulation works particularly in a green roof system we need to take a little journey through the lexicon of insulation terminology starting with.

The extra layers of a green roof also serve as insulation. For things like loft insulation and cavity insulation it s relatively easy to assign a u value because the material never changes. A light weight extensive green roof can include insulation below the membrane. Experiments and measurements in a laboratory can test the insulation value of the product.

Determining insulation r value accuracy. What is the r value of a green roof the most common request i get from architects and engineers is for the r value of a green roof system. A green roof however is in a constant state of flux.