Flat Green Roof Construction Details

Green roofs flat knowledge of green roof construction methods and the benefits of incorporating them in building design is steadily becoming more widespread in the uk.

Flat green roof construction details.

Used over a whole roof a green roof will be the single overriding design influence on the house as well as impacting on the construction right down to the foundations. This will give additional stability to the roof structure. While redeveloping our house we decided to install a living roof on our kitchen roof why you ask. Make a normal flat or sloped roof into a beautiful living garden.

Flat roofs are an easier option from a green roof construction point of view but living roofs are able to grow on pitched roofs too. For additional stability you can also use steel joists that are built into one or both of the walls. Joists are placed on edge spaced at 400 600mm centres supported by external and internal load bearing walls. I liked the idea of having a bit more greenery in the property we live.

Unlike pitched green roofs flat green roofs can either take the form of extensive consisting of a thin layer of turf or sedum matting or intensive characterised by a greater soil depth that can even accommodate shrubs and trees. Trada and approved document part a give guidance on sizes of joists for flat roofs relating to spans and loading. Regular intensive maintenance is required for this type of roof. Rigid slab insulation must be strong enough to withstand the additional loads.

For a wildflower roof with a 150mm depth of the substrate work on loading capacity of 250kg per square metre. A green roof is in ecological terms a great and simple thing to do. This means you can consider a house green roof or growing a green roof on an extension or conservatory. The construction of the flat roof is similar to that of the timber upper floor.

Note that it is not like a traditional roof garden in which planting is done in free standing containers as well as planters that are placed on an easy to access roof terrace. To support lightweight sedum green roof construction your roof needs a loading capacity of at least 120 kg per square metre. In le corbusier s 5 points of architecture he advocates the inclusion of flat roofs hosting roof gardens providing valuable outdoor space for the inhabitants of the building in order to replace. The basic construction of a flat roof starts with roofing timber that is laid across two upright items usually two walls.

It replaces the ecology the new house sits upon thereby replacing the habitat that a house takes away. Vapour control layer placed above the roof structure. Build a living roof green roof.