Green Roof Maintenance Problems

The exact level of maintenance needed will depend on the type and desired purpose of each specific installation.

Green roof maintenance problems.

For example that green roofs are only for ecobuffs they re high maintenance and they re experimental and risky. Green roof temperatures can be 30 40 f lower than those of conventional roofs and can reduce city wide ambient temperatures by up to 5 f. The most concerning and damaging error regarding green roof maintenance is not having a plan in place says andy creath owner and founder of green roofs of colorado a firm that designs installs maintains and consults on green roofs. Low or no maintenance o m.

Extensive roofs require less watering and fertilizing but they require at least yearly inspections to remove unwanted self seeding plants. Common green roof problem 1. The plants will not be damaged by walking on them when conducting this maintenance. This includes removing weeds carried by the wind and applying fertilizer several times a year.

An extensive green roof is almost maintenance free but your roof garden will always need a little maintenance. Unless design deficiencies are corrected the problems they cause will likely come back. A faulty design of a roofing system can cause costly problems. According to pierce one of the most common roof problems is incidental water ponding.

It is perceived to be one of the largest barriers to their installation. Sedum is popular because it s claimed to be low cost less growing medium low weight less implied cost to strengthen the structure below and considered fit and forget i e. If you re noticing gradual or very quick plant loss let us highlight what some of the issues may be. No one visits them and they wonder why it s not alive months later.

Let s take a look at some common green roof myths and see if they er. All green roofs and walls will require some form of annual maintenance. While extensive green roofs are generally considered low maintenance landscapes they do require specialized care at regular intervals especially during the period of establishment. 1 2 in addition green roofs can reduce building energy use by 0 7 compared to conventional roofs reducing peak electricity demand and leading to an annual savings of 0 23 per square foot of the roof.

They are strong enough to be able to compensate for this. So much so that sedum roofs dominate uk green roof specifications comprising perhaps as much as 85 by area of a 100m annual market. Plant loss plant loss is a common issue on green roofs and can happen for many different reasons. Design deficiencies cost a lot of money to correct and they can only be fixed by replacing the roof.

Maintenance for intensive green roofs can be labor intensive and expensive.