# Green Roofing



## Etienne @ sigss.co.uk (Aug 5, 2009)

Is green roofing/sedum roofing popular in the USA?
It is becoming more common in the UK and am just wanting to see what the rest of the world is doing.


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## tridentroofing (Oct 1, 2009)

There are many advantages of having a green roof. Here are some: 

-Green roofs reduce the volume of storm water flowing into streams and drainage channels, resulting in the control of sediment transport and overall soil erosion.

-Green roofs can filter and bind dust particles, and naturally filter airborne toxins.

-Greenroofs can reduce ambient air temperatures and increase humidity levels in the surrounding areas. 

*-*Overall building energy costs can be reduced due to the green roofs’ natural thermal insulation properties – vegetated roofs reduce building heat-gain, so structures are cooler in summer and warmer in winter. 

-The life of the underlying roof waterproofing membranes can be extended by using green roofs to shield the roof from the effects of ultraviolet radiation, temperature extremes and mechanical damage.

For some people, green roofs are a radical change so if you’re not ready for this kind of roof, yet you still want to be eco-friendly, consult your roofing contractor like Trident Roofing about the best alternative ways to construct your roofs that is eco-friendly but not too green.


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## robert (Oct 29, 2008)

Every post is an ad for you


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## 88dblifestyle (Dec 10, 2009)

Etienne @ sigss.co.uk said:


> Is green roofing/sedum roofing popular in the USA?
> It is becoming more common in the UK and am just wanting to see what the rest of the world is doing.


Yeah.. I love green roofing too.. It's good in the eyes and feels fresh...:yes:


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## Rosco (Dec 10, 2009)

I don't see too much around here. The public sector likes it, but when people are paying for a roof with their OWN money, the idea goes away rather quickly.
The professional organizations have been talking up "green" like it is the way of the future, but I'll believe it when the price is similar to traditional systems.

I was in a design conference on "green" when a fellow said something that stuck with me since... "Looks to me like a glorified IRMA, and didn't we phase those out in the 1970's?"


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## English Roofer (Dec 26, 2008)

I have to agree with you Rosco on all you have said,its great in princible but when its the H/Os hard earned cash they just want to keep the water out!
Funny the poster never came back and commented on anything else ist it lol, and i have never seen a green roof yet in this country!
Cheers
Dave


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## Jasonthompson (Jan 25, 2010)

Wait 10yrs when u have all those plant root grow thru the membrane then what. I see all the bennfits it has but once it starts to leak what a mess it's going to be to remove that shit and repair the leaky area so in the long run how costly will it


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## Grumpy (Oct 29, 2008)

There are many types of "green roofing", a graden roof is only one kind. Here in the Chicago market green roofing is gaining alot of popularity, primarily due to the Mayor's efforts. Infact reflective roofing, which is considered "green" due to it's energy effeciency, has become code for the City of Chicago. 

Having said that the city offered free grant money to reisdents several years ago for the construction of a garden roof. At that time is when I realy started looking into garden roofing and got my hands on everything I could. As it turns out a neighbor of mine who is a land scape architect and land scape contractor had done several garden roofs. He and I began putting together a website so that we could work together. I could get more roofs and he could get more gardens.

After pricing a few jobs and having customers damn near wet their pants, we put the idea on the back burner. A big problem is many people put an expensive garden over a cheap roof. I wouldn't do that, we take extra precautions, like installing high density fiber board to protect the insulation and installing the roof to a 20-year specification, not a cheap 10 year specification. Not to menion the often neglected sacrifical slip sheet. We are still promoting the roof gardens, but not as a primary service due to the tremendous cost. That unfinished website is www.chicagogreenroofs.com (Please don't laugh, I know it's no where near coplete!) 

Nearly every garden roof and roof deck I see in the City of Chicago and surrounding area has voided the manufacturers roof warranty. People buy the bling, and 5-7 years later have a huge investment of replacing that deck or garden to fix their cheap roof. I wrote this up just a couple days ago about garden decks, but it applies to roof gardens just as well... http://cid-02b2b15795b9d93a.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!2B2B15795B9D93A!145.entry


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## Grumpy (Oct 29, 2008)

jason, I agree. That's the problem. The manufacturers have come up with specifications so that the roof is not damaged by the garden. The problem is the specification adds to the cost, and nobody wants to pay the added cost. There are many kinds of garden roofs, modular maybe being the easiest to install and the easiest to diagnose a repair. However when the installation of mineral dirt is placed directly atop a roofing membrane that's a problem. If installing an extensive green roof, which is a garden sevel inches thick with growing medium (minear soil), proper roof roof barriers must be installed to ptoect the roofing membrane.

http://versico.com/documents/reslib/VersicoLiveRoof_2008-010808.pdf

http://www.hydrotechusa.com/extensive.html


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## Jasonthompson (Jan 25, 2010)

grumpy, I like what u are saying in that blog but still over time won't the big stuff like tree roots they will still over time dig into that single-ply won't it? I'm assuming thats what u use on these green roofs at least from what i have read. I"m no pro at these garden roofs by any means but i have read some about it. plus who really know how it all gonna play out it's not like they have been around for 20-30 yrs. so who knows what kind of problems u are going to run into in the future. I think personaly i'm going to stay way from them. I may be wrong but I do beleive what have right now won't work for the long hual. only time will tell. but on the average how much does one go for like a 25sq roof buy chance? and if u have anymore info send it my way I'll read it


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## Grumpy (Oct 29, 2008)

Garden roofs have been around for centuries in one form or another. The ancient greeks used to build some of their structures with garden roofs. I know that means nothing about modern roofing, us Americas are like wtf garden on a roof? But yeah I get what you are saying. 

If you look at the hydrotech website you will see what I am talking about root barriers which protect the water proofing membrane.


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## Jasonthompson (Jan 25, 2010)

I'' do that thanks for the info


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## jschiller (Mar 1, 2012)

*Charleston SC Metal Roofers*

I am a roofer in Charleston SC and although I know metal is about 3 times as much as shingle I still encourage my customers to look into it mainly for the green aspect of it. 








Conventional roofing products, like asphalt shingles, contribute an estimated 20 billion pounds of waste to U.S. landfills annually, whereas metal roofs can often be installed over an existing roof, eliminating the cost and eco-impact of tear-off and disposal.

Secondly, metal roofs tend to have a much longer life span than traditional shingle roofs do so your ROI is worth it. 

If you looking for a roofing contractor Charleston South Carolina and your roof needs to be replaced consider metal instead of shingle to be more green. 

James Schiller
President 
Precision Construction - Mount Pleasant's Professional Roofing Company


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## EcoTech (Jan 5, 2014)

Good luck selling a truly green roof. 

Eco friendly is a entirely different animal and is fairly wide spread thou.


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## EssentialFlatRoofing (Jan 27, 2014)

Check out http://liveroof.com/, they have a really good hybrid green roof system if you're looking into offering that.


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