Thickness Of Green Roof

Butyl rubber membranes only should be used in conjunction with adhesives and tapes recommended by the membrane manufacturer.

Thickness of green roof.

Green roofs are typically characterized as intensive having 6 to 24 inches of media and large vegetation or extensive having 3 to 6 inches of media and smaller vegetation. Green roofs can help reduce energy costs for a building by acting as another layer of insulation between the inside and outside of the roof. How thick a roof is depends mostly on the size of the rafters used in the roof construction but there are additional elements including the thickness of the roof sheathing and the thickness of the shingles you choose. It is common practice to use the term extensive to describe green roofs that are very thin and will only support hardy drought resistant vegetation such as sedums herbs and perennials.

Intensive to describe green roofs that are thick enough. The nominal thickness of a green roof is the approximate total height of the soil and drainage components that constitute the green roof system excluding the roof structure insulation waterproofing and plants. Often they are planted in trays. There are two basic types of green roofs.

This is most noticeable in intensive green roofs since there is a thicker and more consistent layer of soil which provides a higher insulating value. Further on the urbanscape green roof system can also be much thinner even more decreasing the weight than traditional green roof system. A green roof or living roof is a roof of a building that is partially or completely covered with vegetation and a growing medium planted over a waterproofing membrane it may also include additional layers such as a root barrier and drainage and irrigation systems. The green roof drainage layer thickness makes sure that nothing can go wrong below offering a solid and effective guard.

This fact sheet will focus on extensive green roofs. Do not install butyl rubber waterproofing membranes when ambient temperatures are below 40 f. Smaller thickness of the system will not compromise the performance due to the fact that urbanscape green roll can hold up to 3 4 times more water per its volume than other green roof substrates. A noise reduction of 5 db was measured after the installation of a 10 cm green roof.

It is recommended that minimum 90 mil 2 3 mm thick reinforced butyl rubber membranes be used for green roof assemblies. In 2004 dunnett kingsbury conducted research at the airport in frankfurt germany. Also the green roof drainage layer material is made to be sturdy and strong so that piercing can be limited and that the integrity of the entire program can be retained with ease. Container gardens on roofs where plants are maintained in pots are not generally considered to be true green roofs although.

The thicker the substrate and vegetation the better the sound insulation.