Intensive green roofs weigh from 35 pounds to beyond 100 pounds per square foot when dry it is all a matter of the soil depth which is affected by the amount of mounding that is used.
Intensive green roof weight and structure.
You can compare an intensive roof to a normal garden and this is why an intensive green roof is also known as a roof garden or garden roof.
The venny green roof melbourne.
Intensive green roofs are far more complex than the sedum roofs.
A roof may have enough structural capacity built in to support a green roof of a given depth or reinforcement may be needed.
Retrofit of existing structure to accommodate a green roof.
To bear this weight an expensive custom support structure is required.
Intensive green roofs are essentially roof gardens and may also need to allow for the additional weight of paving and terracing furniture and even trees.
Other than the overall weight of the system dictating the construction of the supporting structure there s a huge scope for the design of a roof garden.
The planting medium in intensive green roofs starts at 6 inches although you will see some wiggle room in various definitions and really elaborate designs may exceed a couple feed.
Even with lightweight materials being used in the soil substrate the depth of it means much higher weight loadings on the roof up to 600kg per m2 in some cases.
Green roof weight can range from hundreds of tons for an intensive green roof such as a small urban park or garden to just a couple of hundred kilos for a lightweight extensive green roof system like urbanscape featuring a lush mix of sedum vegetation.
Unlike conventional earth covered structures garden roof assemblies are lightweight and can be installed on a wide variety of new and existing structures.
An interesting example of an intensive green roof is manaton the award winning private house on dartmoor that uses local meadow grass to blend the family home into the landscape.
Once the plants are installed and the soil is moist these rooftop green spaces can weigh as much as 150 pounds per square foot.
The depth of an intensive green roof ranges from 15 cm to as much as 150 cm and can easily weigh as much 300 to more than 1500 kg m2.
The venny green roof has shallow substrates on two types of roof the first roof is on shipping containers and is designed for a dead load of 250kg m 2 and live load of 100kg m 2.
Photo by andrew wutke.
Therefore different drainage and filtration build up are required for increased drainage capacity and load bearing.
Intensive green roofs and roof gardens.
However it is important to establish the landscape finish you are looking to achieve which will then have a direct impact on the system and.
Intensive systems allow the designer to create a park like setting so they are the best option for roof gardens that will be occupied.
Green roofs may come in an endless variety of shapes and sizes from high rise public parks and lush rooftop gardens to tranquil urban spaces but there is one critical factor that has a major impact on them all weight.
