Sustainability and building compliance expert. Specialising in low energy design, SAP, SBEM, BREEAM, and air testing for the construction industry,
Andrew Sadler
World Green Roof Day celebrates the buildings, towns and cities around the world taking the green pledge.
This saturday, individuals and organisations from all corners of the globe will shine a light on one of the environment’s top supporters: green roofs.
World Green Roof Day is on Saturday 6 June, and the campaign showcases the abundance of benefits of green roofs – or living roofs – for our planet.
Using the hashtag #WGRD2020, participants are asked to take photos of their favourite green roofs and share them with the community. Whether it’s the roof of a garden shed or a huge industrial unit, the more photos, the better!
Why are green roofs so important?
A green roof is a roof of a building that is partially or totally covered in vegetation. The vegetation will be planted over waterproofing membranes, and ideally will include a root barrier, drainage and irrigation system.
They can come in different forms, from full roof gardens with raised beds or pots, to those with rolled-out green carpets, and even sheds with planting cells full of social or compost and low growing grasses and perennials.
Of course, they look aesthetically beautiful. But the advantages of hosting a green roof run far deeper.
They provide:
- Building insulation (hence a reduction in energy usage)
- Habitats for birds and insects
- Better stormwater management; they absorb around 70% of the water that falls on them
- Contribution of the improvement of urban air quality
- Reduction in noise pollution
- They absorb CO2
- Perhaps most important of all – they replace the ecology that the building sits upon
The good news is that these benefits are gaining momentum; London, in particular, is starting to push living roofs as a core part of the building agenda and Germany is recognised as the country with the most green roofs and advanced knowledge of their benefits and usage.
But the education needs to be spread on an even wider basis – which is why World Green Roof Day is so important. Here at Buildpass, we will be wholeheartedly embracing it.
