Green Roofs

Written by No Doubt Marketing

A green roof isn't a completely new idea, but it's one that's only now becoming more popular both in Europe and the United States. Green roofs are also called vegetated roofs, because you actually have living grasses and plants growing on top of your home's roof. Aside from a distinctive look, green roofs offer money savings and a more environmentally friendly and beautiful roofing alternative.

There are two different general types of green roofs to choose from: intensive and extensive. Extensive green roofing has soil that varies from about 2 to 4 inches deep and is covered in a hardy plant. This type of roof has become popular in Europe over the last few decades and is now taking off in the United States.

Intensive green roofs are much more laborious and expensive, but they can support a wide variety of plant life. With these roofs, the soil can be a foot deep or even more, and much more maintenance is required than with an extensive roof. It's also even more important that the structure of the roof is sound and reinforced because of the extreme weight of that much wet soil. Because of that, these are relatively rare.

There are many benefits to having a green roof. For instance, during a rainstorm, there is much less stormwater runoff. In some cases there will be none at all because the soil absorbs all of it. The green roof surface also protects the roof from the damaging effects of sunlight and lets the roof last years longer than it would have otherwise. This keeps your re-roofing costs down and keeps the material out of landfills longer.

Green roofs also help insulate your home by keeping the roof cooler. Your cooling costs are lowered because of the "underground" cooling effect the soil has on your roofing materials. Green roofing also contributes to the environment by adding more oxygen to the air and providing more habitats for birds and insects. In some European areas, families even allow small goats to graze on their roofs.

With green roofs, the roof is made particularly strong and sturdy, and there are several roof "membranes" added above that with a waterproofed surface. Then a drainage layer and lightweight topsoils and other materials are added to the prescribed depth. Sedums are the most popular roofing plant, as they have limited height, prefer shallow soil and can withstand drought.

Weeds are generally not a problem because most weeds don't tolerate the shallow soil conditions well, so the roof itself won't require much maintenance. The biggest obstacle now to green roofing is that the house really needs to be originally built to hold such a roof. Retrofitting a green roof can be very expensive as often the entire roof structure has to be removed and rebuilt. Since most roofs aren't structurally strong enough to withstand the soil and moisture within a green roof, you need to find one of the few contractors who are experienced in installing these roofs who can make a careful evaluation and recommendation about your existing home.

Ready to find green roof shingles for your home? Use BuyerZone's free request for green roof shingles price quotes, and we'll match you to multiple contractors in your area.