Green roof facts for kids
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A green roof or living roof is a roof of a building that is partially or totally covered with plants. It may also include layers such as a root barrier and drainage and irrigation systems. Container gardens on roofs, where plants are in pots, are not generally true green roofs. Although, this is debated. Rooftop ponds are another kind of green roof which are used to treat greywater. Vegetation, soil, drainage layer, roof barrier and irrigation system make up a green roof.
There are reasons why a building may have a green roof. The reasons include absorbing rainwater, providing insulation, creating a habitat for wildlife, increasing benevolence and decreasing stress of the people around the roof, and helping to lower urban air temperatures and go against the heat island effect. Green roofs are able to be added on old buildings as well as new buildings. They can be put on small garages or larger industrial, commercial and municipal buildings. They effectively use the natural abilities of plants to filter water and treat air in urban and suburban areas.
There are two types of green roof:
- intensive roofs: thicker, with a minimum depth of 12.8 cm (5.0 in). They can support many different kinds of plants, but they are heavier and require more maintenance.
- extensive roofs: shallow, ranging in depth from 2 cm (0.79 in) to 12.7 cm (5.0 in). They are lighter than intensive green roofs, and they don't need as much maintenance.
Images for kids
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A modern green roof at California Academy of Sciences
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A green roof being used on a bike rack to keep bikes dry.
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Green roof planted with dune plants from the shores of Lake Ontario, SUNY-ESF, Syracuse, NY
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Roof gardens provide residents of an apartment complex in Tongyang Town, Tongshan County, Hubei with fresh produce
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The addition of a green roof to an existing structure led to this collapse at the City University of Hong Kong.
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An intensive and an extensive green roof
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Section of a Gudbrandsdal type sod roof with elaborate "turf log"
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Construction of an extensive green roof in Likorema (Euboea, Greece)
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Re-creation of Viking houses in Newfoundland
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On the green roof of the Mountain Equipment Co-op store in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
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The new California Academy of Sciences building in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park has a green roof that provides 2.5 acres (10,000 m2) of native vegetation designed as a habitat for indigenous species, including the threatened Bay checkerspot butterfly. According to the Academy's fact sheet on the building, the building consumes 30–35% less energy than required by code.
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Movable Tillandsia plant screen
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The green roof on top of the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa looks like a wheatfield, with the towers of Canada's Parliament visible in the distance
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Green roof planted with native species at L'Historial de la Vendée, a new museum in western France
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The oikostegi, a green roof on the Treasury building in Athens
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Sod roof Church at Hof, Iceland
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The Sky Garden Wildflower Roof topping the Kanes Salad Factory, Evesham
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An intensive roof garden in New York City
 | Ernest Everett Just |
 | Mary Jackson |
 | Emmett Chappelle |
 | Marie Maynard Daly |
