Green Roofs: Benefits, Cost, and Future Developments

This report explores the concept of green roofs, their history, and their benefits for the environment. It discusses the cost benefits of using green roofs, including tax incentives and energy savings. The report also examines the legislation and initiatives promoting green roofs in Australia. Finally, it looks at the future developments and potential of green roofs in creating a greener and more sustainable urban landscape.

Running Head Green Roofs 0
Green Roofs

Green Roofs 1
Executive summary
In this report, green roofs/Walls will be explained along with the history and how it is beneficial
for the environment. The cost benefits will be discussed for using the green roofs as it helps an
individual in saving tax and also the government provides incentives for installing the green roof
system in their buildings. The objective is of the study is to review the latest concepts and
technology on green roofs. The recent developments in the sustainability of green roofs will be
discussed and how further it can be improved for the betterment of society. Awareness is
necessary for an individual to know more about the green roof system because it will help in
making the city better for the future. An example will be discussed of Brisbane where the green
roof has been implemented and the council has decided to support the green roof system and
encouraged designers to implement green roofs in new buildings.

Green Roofs 2
Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Sustainability...................................................................................................................................4
Legislation.......................................................................................................................................7
The Future........................................................................................................................................8
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................9
Reference.......................................................................................................................................10

Green Roofs 3
Introduction
When the building’s roof is used partly or entirely for the purpose of growing vegetation
and planted after applying waterproofing membrane. It includes high-quality waterproofing,
drainage system, and irrigation systems. It is a structure made by humans and an extension of a
roof which already exist. Green roofs can be intensive and extensive, accessible or inaccessible
(Dunnett & Kingsbury, 2008). The green walls are made with a strategy with a cooling house.
Green roofs will be applied in different types of buildings it can be residential and commercial,
industrial, or any educational building, it can be private homes also. It helps in improving the
quality of life.
Green roofs began hundreds of years ago and the hanging gardens in Babylon were the
most famous green roof garden. In 1970, when the oil crises happened in West Germany, they
explored and adopted lightweight of sod roofs for energy conservation. Extensive green roofs
were lauded for the benefits as it is a cost-effective solution for the environmental problems of
urban cities. It was estimated that in Germany approx. 13 million roof areas will be covered with
plants (Oberndorfer, Lundholm, Bass, & Rowe, 2007).
In the world, other cities have also learned about the various benefits of green roofs and
the adoption of lightweight technology helps the cities in growing worldwide. In 1999, North
America has founded and made the association with the industry of green roofs for making the
cities healthy and annual conferences has been organized every year for green roof
developments. Many cities have adopted policies and programs to promote extensive green
roofs.
Green roof is an extension of the existing roofs. The basic elements are required for the
green work: A waterproofing membrane and the various layers of soil. A green roof can be done
extensively for a lightweight and intensive roof for light to heavyweight. The different types of
green roofs and walls are the extensive and intensive green roofs. Extensive roofs require a thin
layer of soil that is suitable for rooted plants because they are easy to maintain. Extensive green
roofs are light weighted and low maintenance is required. These roofs are often used for
residential buildings. It ranges from 1.6 to 6 inches deep. An intensive roof requires the deeper
soil so that it will help in growing hardier flora like trees which has stronger roots. It has a

Green Roofs 4
greater depth than the extensive green roofs. It has mostly used in commercial buildings where
large green areas are maintained with all sizes and different types of plants
Numbers of layers are required for the extensive and inventive green roof installation.
The various components are required for installing green roofs in the building. The thing which
is different is the thickness of the soil. Maintenance is required to keep the green roof active. It is
similar like maintaining the gardens. Maintenance requires the weeding and cutting of the plants.
The installation of green roofs requires the process as it should be correct and consistent which
includes the waterproofing layer and also the proper specification (Palla, Gnecco, & Lanza,
2010).

Green Roofs 5
Extensive green roofs Intensive green roofs
Sustainability
Green roofs help in fire resistance, conservation of water management. The goals set by
BCA are to enable the consistent in nationality, to maintain the health, safety which includes fire
and structural and amenity. NCC has applied the goals to enable the achievement of nationally
consistent, minimum necessary standard for the structural and fire safety health and amenity for
sustainability. NCC has applied the goals so that the regulations are effective and proportional to
the issues which are faced and the regulation will help in generating the benefits to society rather
than the costs. They had considered the competitive effects of the regulations and for the public
interest regulation are not restrictive. The competitive effect of Green roofs help in improving
and reducing the consumption of energy. In urban areas, green roofs reduce the temperature
during the summer (Getter & Rowe, 2006). It provides rainwater buffering where rainwater is
absorbed by a green roof. It helps in purifying the air, as growing more plants will help in
converting carbon dioxide into oxygen. It will also help in the management of stormwater by
reducing runoff and improving the water quality, conserve energy. It will provide the space for
urban agriculture and also the pleasing and healthy environment to live and can improve the
return on investment.it helps in creating cooler microclimates. It also creates a vertical green
space. Ecological benefits of creating natural habitat as part of an urban wilderness. It helps in
lowering the rates of diseases like asthma. It also helps in insulating the sound in building as the
soil and plants help in blocking frequencies (Berardi, 2014).
In Australia, SESL provides all the technical advice for growing media, plant, irrigation,
drainage, structure and design for small and large projects in residential and commercial areas.

Green Roofs 6
The sustainability of a building has also contributed by green roofs. It helps in reducing the
needs of the air conditioning in the summertime and it provides insulation in the winter season.
Green roofs will help in increasing the jobs in the community as the demand for the various
types of roofs grows. The market is growing which helps in creating more opportunities in the
nursery, design, installation and maintenance fields (Tassicker & Sutrisna, 2016).
Green roofs/walls help in securing the roof for long life span than the normal roof
because the roof is secured from ultraviolet radiation and the temperature change also causes
deteriorate of roof membranes (Rowe, 2011). And the vegetation will help in cooling the
temperature in summers.
It helps in improving the health and well being of humans as it will reduce pollution.
Green roofs help in enriching biodiversity in urban areas. When wide range of species are
planted green roofs attracts the wide range of birds and other wildlife than a monoculture of a
single species. It also helps to cool down the heating temperature of the building and
surroundings because the plants have direct coverage on roofs (Lundholm, 2006). Green roofs
are well designed and it will be helpful in preventing fire in the building.
Biodiversity green roof at The University of Melbourne, Burnley campus

Green Roofs 7
Cost benefits of green roofs
In BCA, when any building is upgraded for the environmental benefit for the financial
benefits are provided rebates and tax benefits are available for them. Green roofing helps in
improving the life- span of the roof by growing medium and vegetation because it covers with
the waterproofing membrane. The estimation cost of installing green roofs is around $10 per sq.
ft. for the extensive roofs and for intensive roofs it is $25 per sq. ft. and for maintaining green
roofs is approx. 75 cents to $1.5 sq. ft. An estimation has been done that, green roof installed
building has more real state value than the normal house or building. It increases the cost by 7%
(Blackhurst, Hendrickson, & Matthews, 2010). The regions in which the incentives are given are
the areas where failing storm management infrastructure is in place and the local air temperature
has been increased. It is a little expensive to set up green roofs but the payback to the building
owner will be increased twice by reducing the energy costs, lowering heating and cooling costs
and maintenance will be less.
Legislation
In Australia, councils adopted their own targets of sustainability. The initiative by the
council of the Australian government is the National Construction Code. In legislation, they had
replaced the name of building a solution with the DTS solution. NCC has made a Registered
Testing Authority for giving the advice to owners for using the material for the construction and
suggests the designs. In NCC, clause F2,3 health and safety legislation is necessary at homes and
workplaces. Council had targeted in Sydney to reduce the greenhouse gas by 70% by 2030 as
compared to 2006 levels. Green roofs ideas have been spread to Australia, and the eco- friendly
designing of the building has been increasing to take the advantage of the benefits which the
government took the initiative to provide the benefits for adopting the green roof concept. It has
been increasing rapidly from the last 10 years. The largest green roof project was announced in
2010. The councils and the business groups are actively promoting green roofs since 2008
(Butler & Orians, 2012). The statuary framework affects the policy & regulatory barriers, though
green roof & wall has positive progress in Sydney federal, state & city’s Sustainable actions &
target. Council of the Australian government took the initiative to enhance the green
infrastructure and maintaining the green roof in house or building will help in taxation, planning
in incentives and policies and regulatory reforms were made by the government to promote the

Green Roofs 8
concept. NCC Volume 1 – (NSW) Section-J (Energy efficiency) measures & maintains by
BASIX tools (Building Sustainable Index) & prevents bad energy efficiency practices. Local
government has created the policies and guides in Sydney, Melbourne, and Adelaide to maintain
the green roofs and the councils of Australia has estimated that about 50 green roofs are there in
Melbourne and 80000 sq. Meters of green roofs in Sydney. The government of Sydney and
Melbourne had made the policies for green roof and green walls to have sustainability targets till
2030 and 2040. Sydney has the Policy Implementation Plan and Melbourne has the Growing
Green Guide 2014 for the green roof/walls development. And in Sydney, almost 23 percent of
green roofs have increased since the policy has launched (La Roche & Berardi, 2014). The
national initiatives for the sustainable building were the National climate change adaption
framework, National Urban Water Planning Principles, and the state initiative is Metropolitan
Water Plan and they had made the Sydney metro strategy 2036.
The Future
For future improvements and development, NCC took the initiative for development.
Building management control is to improve the efficiency and safety of services. The building
user guide is given which leads to lower energy and water consumption and also educates the
owners to maintain the buildings. A plan is given for the waste management which includes the
designing operation for the recycling of material. Now green roofs are becoming a very common
occurrence for the development of the country. Advanced technology and techniques have
increased the national of growing gardens on roofs and also helped in the development of
landscapes on different types of buildings. It has become a modern concept of green building. It
is heading to create awareness about the green roofs and motivating them to adopt the green roof
system. The development of green roofs/walls in built-up areas will help in making it more
attractive.
For improving the green roofs, innovation can be done for the expansion of the green
roof/walls. In Sydney, Government has taken an initiative for sustainable Sydney as a big move
for the future as it will help in increasing the usage of recycled water and also to work with other
sectors to promote environmental industries and develop economic and educational benefits.
Investigate the more strategies to activate the public domain as it will lead to an increase in
greenery. It will lead to an eco-friendly city in the future which will help in the enhancement of

Green Roofs 9
the urban city. The care of the green roofs should be done at low cost and innovative technology
can also help in maintaining the green roofs. In the future, the progress of green roofs/walls can
be done by giving more benefits for implementing the green roofs at house or buildings (La
Roche & Berardi, 2014). In Sydney, the plan is to increase the greening in the city until 2030 by
creating a 50% increase in the canopy. To further develop green roofs in the future can be a
substrate for recycled materials construction waste which could be valuable can help in
minimizing the cost of implementing green roofs in buildings. For improving the future, training
can be provided to green roofs contractor to provide an efficient and high installation service.
Example of Green roofs in Australia
In Sydney, green roofs/walls have been installed in one central park, mall which is an
award winning building for the role of green infrastructure. And the vertical green hanging
gardens were also installed in building to keep the buildings cooler. In buildings, roof top garden
were maintained with pool, spa and soft lawns which are mostly installed in hotels as it attracts
more customers.
The growth of Green roofs in Brisbane. The developers encouraged adopting the green roofs and
communal space on the new apartment project. Brisbane Lord Mayor made the announcement
for the change in city plan on 12 Sep 18, which allow building the rooftop communal area as a
green roof. In the new residential area, the plan has been adopted the Brisbane city plan will
formalize council support for the rooftop gardens and green spaces (Williams, Rayner, &
Raynor, 2010). And the rooftop areas will not be considered as the additional story. Council has
also asked the developers to adopt and maintain the green space on the roofs of the new
buildings to support the vision of keeping the city clean, green and sustainable. It helped the
developers to deliver higher quality and more comfortable and more useable spaces. Council has
given the right to developers to adopt the green roofs in new buildings as it will help in
protecting the residents and visitors from the hot temperature of Brisbane. The council started the
campaign "Plan your Brisbane". They wanted to create Brisbane as the most biodiverse city with
more plants and wildlife. And the incorporation of the new development will help in contributing
the city in making the city of urban gardens. It helped in the development of the city (Jaffal,
Ouldoukhitine, & Belarbi, 2012).

Green Roofs 10
Conclusion
In order to conclude the report, Green roofs can beautify and dramatically increase the
sustainability of design. The installation of green roofs has been promoted in the world. The
green roof system helps in building a design that offers many benefits like improving air quality,
stormwater management, improving health and well-being and energy conservation. Green roofs
can be extensive and intensive. It helps in improving the drainage system by restoring the
rainwater. And the room temperature will be declined by adopting a green roof system. The
installation of green roofs requires different layers. Australian Council took the initiative in
executing the green roof structure in new buildings. Incorporating a green roof will allow
healthier buildings and wealthier inhabitants. It has been reviewed that green roofs are the future
as it provides economic and ecological advantages and the advantages for growing the awareness
and has become necessary to make it popular.

Green Roofs 11
Reference
Berardi, U. (2014). State-of-the-art analysis of the environmental benefits of green roofs. Applied
energy, 115, 411-428.
Berndtsson, J., & Jinno, K. (2009). Runoff water quality from intensive and extensive vegetated
roofs. Ecological engineering, 35(3), 369-380.
Blackhurst, M., Hendrickson, C., & Matthews, H. (2010). Cost-effectiveness of green roofs.
Journal of Architectural Engineering, 16(4), 136-143.
Butler, C., & Orians, C. (2012). Native plant enthusiasm reaches new heights: Perceptions,
evidence, and the future of green roofs. Urban forestry & urban greening, 11(1), 1-10.
Dunnett, N., & Kingsbury, N. (2008). Planting green roofs and living walls. Timber Press.
Getter, K., & Rowe, D. (2006). The role of green roofs in sustainable development. HortScience,
41(5), 1276-1285.
Jaffal, I., Ouldoukhitine, S., & Belarbi, R. (2012). A comprehensive study of the impact of green
roofs on building energy performance. Renewable energy, 43, 157-164.
La Roche, P., & Berardi, U. (2014). Comfort and energy savings with active green roofs. Energy
and buildings, 82, 492-504.
Lundholm, J. (2006). Green roofs and facades: a habitat template approach. Urban habitats, 4(1),
87-101.
Oberndorfer, E., Lundholm, J., Bass, B., & Rowe, B. (2007). Green roofs as urban ecosystems:
ecological structures, functions, and services. BioScience, 57(10), 823-833.
Palla, A., Gnecco, I., & Lanza, L. (2010). Hydrologic restoration in the urban environment using
green roofs. Water, 82, 140-154.
Rowe, D. (2011). Green roofs as a means of pollution abatement. Environmental Pollution,
159(8-9), 2100-2110.
Stovin, V. (2010). “The potential of green roofs to manage Urban Stormwater.”. Water and
Environment, 24(3), 192-199.
Tassicker, N., & Sutrisna, M. (2016). An insight into the commercial viability of green roofs in
Australia. Sustainability, 8(7), 603.