scholarly journals Green living roof implementation and influences of the soil layer on its properties

2016 ◽  
Vol 20 (suppl. 5) ◽  
pp. 1511-1520 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dragana Dimitrijevic ◽  
Predrag Zivkovic ◽  
Mladen Stojiljkovic ◽  
Maja Todorovic ◽  
Sanja Spasic-Djordjevic

Affected by undeniable climatic change, the temperature of the urban areas rises continually, increasing rapidly the energy problem of cities and amplifying the pollution problems. The thermal stress is increased, thus both the indoor and the outdoor thermal comfort levels are decreased, enhancing the health problems. Green roof implementation in the building envelope is strategy that provides heat island amelioration, thermal comfort for occupants and reduces energy consumption of buildings. Green living roofs are a passive cooling technique, which can stop the incoming solar radiation from reaching the building structure below. In this paper, we assessed the importance of the green roofs in providing environmental and building energy benefits, and brief investigation on the different configuration of the soil layer in the green roof assembly influences to the temperature of the roof surface was presented. Investigation was conducted for first phase of the living roof growth. Four cells were designed in SolidWorks software where the transient thermal study was performed in order to determine differences between the behavior of the conventional roof and three green roof types.

2018 ◽  
Vol 45 ◽  
pp. 00094 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dariusz Suszanowicz

This study presents features of green roofs in urban areas with a particular emphasis on the filtration of air pollutants, heavy metals removal, reduction of rainwater runoff from roof surfaces and thermal insulation. To carry out field studies on the influence of green roofs on the environment in urban areas, two green roof models on a laboratory scale were used. The observations of the prepared green roof models made during the summer, autumn and winter confirmed the extremely beneficial effect of this type of roof for the elimination of air pollutant, heavy metals, and particulate matter. The observations also confirmed that plants on a green roof growing on a soil layer absorb an average of 74% of rain water and then allow it to evaporate. The selection of plants for green roofs should mainly focus on how effectively they improve urban environmental parameters and remove air pollutants. The results of the study of the two green roof models on a laboratory scale are necessary to work out the parameters of layers of the roof and select the most appropriate plants for the reference research object on the roof of one of buildings of the University of Opole.


2008 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 26-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brad Bass

Green roofs are touted as an environmental technology for urban areas due to their many benefits (Lundholm et al. 2008). Although the design and the benefits have been reported in many reports and articles, they are reviewed here for those who are unfamiliar with this technology. Green roofs, or more formally, green roof infrastructure, is a technology that allows for the growth of vegetation on a roof while protecting the building envelope from leakage and root penetration. A green roof is more than a layer of soil piled on the roof, planted in the way that you might plant a garden. The technology consists of multiple layers that include the plants and growing medium or substrate, but also a drainage layer for storing water that was not used by the plants and a waterproof, root-repellent membrane (Figure 1).


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 3138
Author(s):  
Maurizio Detommaso ◽  
Antonio Gagliano ◽  
Luigi Marletta ◽  
Francesco Nocera

The increase of the urban warming phenomenon all over the world is gaining increasing attention from scientists as well as planners and policymakers due to its adverse effects on energy consumption, health, wellbeing, and air pollution. The protection of urban areas from the outdoor warming phenomenon is one of the challenges that policy and governments have to tackle as soon as possible and in the best possible way. Among the urban heat island mitigation techniques, cool materials and urban greening are identified as the most effective solutions in reducing the urban warming phenomenon. The effects produced by the adoption of cool materials and urban forestation on the urban microclimate were investigated through a computational fluid-dynamic (CFD) model. The CFD model was calibrated and validated thanks to experimental surveys within the Catania University campus area. The urban microclimate thermal comfort analysis and assessment were carried out with the Klima–Michel Model (KMM) and Munich Energy Balance Model for Individuals (MEMI). In particular, three scenarios were performed: cool, low, and high levels of urban greening. The cool scenario, although it produces air temperature at around 1.00 °C, determines the worst condition of outdoor thermal comfort, especially at the pedestrian level. On the contrary, a high level of urban greening, obtained by the extensive green roofs together with an urban forestation, guarantees the wellbeing of pedestrians, showing more convenient values of PMV and PET.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 1972
Author(s):  
Jeremy Wright ◽  
Jeremy Lytle ◽  
Devon Santillo ◽  
Luzalen Marcos ◽  
Kristiina Valter Mai

Urban densification and climate change are creating a multitude of issues for cities around the globe. Contributing factors include increased impervious surfaces that result in poor stormwater management, rising urban temperatures, poor air quality, and a lack of available green space. In the context of volatile weather, there are growing concerns regarding the effects of increased intense rainfalls and how they affect highly populated areas. Green roofs are becoming a stormwater management tool, occupying a growing area of urban roof space in many developed cities. In addition to the water-centric approach to the implementation of green roofs, these systems offer a multitude of benefits across the urban water–energy–food nexus. This paper provides insight to green roof systems available that can be utilized as tools to mitigate the effects of climate change in urbanized areas. A new array of green roof testing modules is presented along with research methods employed to address current issues related to food, energy and water performance optimization. Rainwater runoff after three rain events was observed to be reduced commensurate with the presence of a blue roof retention membrane in the testbed, the growing media depth and type, as well as the productive nature of the plants in the testbed. Preliminary observations indicate that more productive green roof systems may have increasingly positive benefits across the water–energy–food nexus in dense urban areas that are vulnerable to climate disruption.


Biomimetics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 48
Author(s):  
Kevin Araque ◽  
Paola Palacios ◽  
Dafni Mora ◽  
Miguel Chen Austin

In recent years, demographic growth has caused cities to expand their urban areas, increasing the risk of overheating, creating insurmountable microclimatic conditions within the urban area, which is why studies have been carried out on the urban heat island effect (UHI) and its mitigation. Therefore, this research aims to evaluate the cooling potential in the application of strategies based on biomimicry for the microclimate in a historical heritage city of Panama. For this, three case studies (base case, case 1, and case 2) of outdoor thermal comfort were evaluated, in which the Envi-met software was used to emulate and evaluate the thermal performance of these strategies during March (highest temperature month) and October (rainier month). The strategies used were extracted from the contrast of zebra skin, human skin, evaporative cooling, and ant skin. The results showed a reduction of 2.8 °C in the air temperature at 11:00, the radiant temperature decreased by 2.2 °C, and the PET index managed to reduce the thermal comfort indicator among its categories. The importance of thinking based on biomimicry in sustainable strategies is concluded; although significant changes were obtained, high risks of discomfort persist due to the layout and proximity of the building.


Water ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 1253 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dirk Cirkel ◽  
Bernard Voortman ◽  
Thijs van Veen ◽  
Ruud Bartholomeus

Worldwide cities are facing increasing temperatures due to climate change and increasing urban density. Green roofs are promoted as a climate adaptation measure to lower air temperatures and improve comfort in urban areas, especially during intensive dry and warm spells. However, there is much debate on the effectiveness of this measure, because of a lack of fundamental knowledge about evaporation from different green roof systems. In this study, we investigate the water and energy balance of different roof types on a rooftop in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Based on lysimeter measurements and modeling, we compared the water and energy balance of a conventional green roof with blue-green roofs equipped with a novel storage and capillary irrigation system. The roofs were covered either with Sedum or by grasses and herbs. Our measurements and modeling showed that conventional green roof systems (i.e., a Sedum cover and a few centimeters of substrate) have a low evaporation rate and due to a rapid decline in available moisture, a minor cooling effect. Roofs equipped with a storage and capillary irrigation system showed a remarkably large evaporation rate for Sedum species behaving as C3 plants during hot, dry periods. Covered with grasses and herbs, the evaporation rate was even larger. Precipitation storage and capillary irrigation strongly reduced the number of days with dry-out events. Implementing these systems therefore could lead to better cooling efficiencies in cities.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 4209 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ibrahim Salman ◽  
Leon Blaustein

Worldwide, urban areas are expanding both in size and number, which results in a decline in habitats suitable for urban flora and fauna. The construction of urban green features, such as green roofs, may provide suitable habitat patches for many species in urban areas. On green roofs, two approaches have been used to select plants—i.e., matching similar habitat to green roofs (habitat template approach) or identifying plants with suitable traits (plant trait approach). While both approaches may result in suitable habitats for arthropods, how arthropods respond to different combinations of plants is an open question. The aim of this study was to investigate how the structural complexity of different plant forms can affect the abundance and richness of arthropods on green roofs. The experimental design crossed the presence and absence of annuals with three Sedum sediforme (Jacq.) Pau (common name: stonecrops) treatments—i.e., uniformly disrupted Sedum, clumped disrupted Sedum, and no Sedum. We hypothesized that an increased structural diversity due to the coexistence of different life forms of plants on roofs is positively related to the abundance and richness of arthropods. We found that arthropod abundance and richness were positively associated with the percent of vegetation cover and negatively associated with substrate temperature. Neither arthropod abundance nor richness was influenced by the relative moisture of substrate. We also found that arthropod abundance and richness varied by green roof setups (treatments) and by seasonality. Arthropod abundance on green roofs was the highest in treatments with annuals only, while species richness was slightly similar between treatments containing annuals but varied between sampling periods. This study suggests that adding annuals to traditional Sedum roofs has positive effects on arthropods. This finding can support the development of biodiverse cities because most extensive green roofs are inaccessible to the public and can provide undisturbed habitat for several plant and arthropod species.


Author(s):  
Ar. Ankur Bhardwaj ◽  
Dr. Shweta Chaudhary ◽  
Ar.Kirti Varandani

The ecological, social and visual commitments that green roofs can make towards sustainable living in more intensified urban centres are generally recognized around the world. Green roof is one such sustainable methodology, utilization of which causes us in insulating the buildings and, subsequently contributing to better energy proficient execution of the same. Green roofs additionally give environment to various species, lessen the rainwater runoff and better deal with the carbon-dioxide cycle. In spite of these advantages, Green roofs are not as basic an element in India as they are in other European and American urban areas. In this paper an attempt has been made to enhance the advantages of this innovation in India. Green roofs systems looks simple in terms of setting up, but actually very complex in maintaining and achieving sustainability. In depth study of green roofs, historic background, climatic zones, impacts of green roofs on heating and cooling, benefits, problems and opportunities is done with the help of data taken from secondary sources like books, magazines and published literature (articles, journals, conference proceedings) form various e-libraries and other online platforms. KEY WORDS: Heating, Cooling, Green Roof, Sustainability)


2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 632-640
Author(s):  
Anna Baryła ◽  
Agnieszka Bus ◽  
Agnieszka Karczmarczyk ◽  
Joanna Witkowska-Dobrev

Increasing urban populations raises a number of problems and risks that are strengthened by observed and projected climate change. An increase in green areas (so-called green infrastructure) has turned out to be an effective means of lowering temperature in the city. Green roofs can be one of the possible measures leading to achieving this aim. The aim of the study was the analysis of temperature changes of different roof surfaces (conventional roof, board, intensive roof substrate without plant cover, substrate covered with plants (shrubs). Studies on comparing the temperature between a conventional roof and green roofs were carried out in the period from April to September 2015 on the roof of the building of the Faculty of Modern Languages, University of Warsaw. The measurement was performed using the FLIR SC620 thermal imaging system. As a result of the tests, it was found that in the summer months the differences between the temperature of the green roof and the conventional roof amounted to a maximum of 31.3°C. The obtained results showed that the roof with vegetation can signifi cantly contribute to the mitigation of the urban heat island phenomenon in urban areas during summer periods.


2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 641-652 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ewa Burszta-Adamiak ◽  
Wiesław Fiałkiewicz

Nowadays green roofs play a key role in alleviating the negative effects of urbanization. Despite investors awareness of the advantages of green roofs, there are still some barriers that hinder investments on a large scale. As a result a financial and non-financial incentives are implemented. The review presented in this paper allowed to identify the most popular initiatives and to formulate recommendations for creating incentive supporting implementation of green roofs in urban areas.


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