Green Roof

A Green Roof, or ‘vegetated roof,’ is a plant-filled roof top that offers an attractive and energy-saving alternative to a conventional rooftop. A Green Roof keeps buildings cooler, cleans the air, reduces heat island effects, and extends the useful life of the roof, while adding beauty and useable space.

The Green Roof system is a multi-layered living rooftop which is created by adding layers of growing medium and specially selected plants over the top of an enhanced traditional roofing system. Different than a rooftop garden because the plants are actually part of the rooftop, the Green Roof incorporates a specially engineered system of layers in both its Extensive and Intensive systems.

Extensive Primarily implemented for environmental and economic purposes, this lightweight green roof system is comprised of organic and inorganic growth media and low-maintenance plants. After installation, planting, and regular maintenance the first year, only periodic care is required to weed invasive plants and inspect membrane.

Extensive Slope The basic specifications of this type of roof is similar to the Extensive green roof above. However, because of the slope, this green roof system adds more visual impact than other types. The installation is more complex and requires professional installation and maintenance.

Intensive An intensive green roof is usually specified when the green roof goals are aesthetic, not simply economic, in nature. An intensive green roof allows for a wider variety of plants, including shrubs and trees, and requires a deeper growth media which will increase weight and structural requirements.

A variety of factors will help determine which type of green roof system will best suit your needs including location, structural capacity of the building, budget, and material and plant availability. Eco-$mart offers free consultation to determine the best type of green roof for your purpose.