Modern beautiful architecture is on the rise within the more vibrant sectors but with the recession still firmly in our lives and conscious new inner city buildings are not exactly popping up at a rapid pace. With this in mind for the most part, what buildings do we all have to enjoy today? How does your city scape look, beautiful and architecturally stunning or grey, drab and dull?
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| www.freeelectricitygenerator.co.uk- Coventry_City_Centre_aerial_view |
We may not be able to knock every grey Brutalist building down within some of the concrete jungles we live in, and some may even appreciate the grey backdrop to their workplace or residence but there are some retrofits that could help to make the environment we live in a greener and more pleasant one. I’m not out right knocking concrete, yes it is a useful versatile material but after the post-war construction drive to repopulate many of our cities what we are now left with 50-60 years on is a multitude of grey. One possible way to work with the stock we have is to retrofit the buildings with green roofs. This may be something which in new builds is often at least considered if not implemented but why not in the case of retrofits, the benefits are multiple.
For retrofits then intensive and simple
intensive green roofs will pose a much greater problem in regards to structural
stability of existing structures, whereas extensive design on the other hand
presents a far greater opportunity in that the loadings are pretty much
comparable to a standard flat roof construction. Extensive green roofs
generally consist of a thin layer of soil, generally 100mm or less with
relatively simple vegetation such as Sedum or Moss’s. Intensive green roofs
have an increased level of depth, and hence more consideration is required in
regards to structural support.
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| www.worldchanging.com - green roofs |
Firstly let’s consider the technical and
environmental impact of green roofs. Green roofs can be seen as one way to help
with the global issue of climate change, however small an impact overall they
may have, for global low impact buildings to become a reality every effort is
needed no matter how insignificant it may appear in the wider context. One of
the ways in which a green roof can help in this aspect is through increasing
the thermal performance of a building. This is achieved through the green roof
substrate and vegetation layer acting as a natural insulation barrier keeping
unwanted heat during summer months whilst at the same time reducing heat loss
during colder times.
As stated by CIRIA, Building Greener (2007),
“Green roofs have a substantial thermal mass, a moderate insulation value and
some cooling effect through evapotranspiration. These combined properties
significantly reduce daily range of temperatures at the boundary between green
roof and building structure” Making for a greater level of stability and comfort in regards to the internal
environment.
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| www.ecogeek.org goatsonroof |
Green roofs which include SUDS management can
have further beneficial effects in terms of Carbon Sequestration and Storage (CSS).
Looking at studies carried out by Getter and Rowe (2009),
who carried out a study over the space of 2 years on 32 extensive green roofs
in three US cities. The average CSS rates which they calculated was 0.375gC m-2.
Through this research they calculated that if the city of Detroit were to
install green roofs onto the 15,000ha of their rooftops then, “55 252 tons of
carbon could be sequestered in the plants and substrates alone (not including
avoided emissions). This is similar to removing more than 10 000 mid-sized SUV
or trucks off the road for a year.”
As stated by Dr Charlesworth in (2010) a
University lecturer specialising in SUDS, “Whilst there are many studies of the
(CSS) abilities of certain SUDS devices, such as constructed wetlands, these
would not necessarily be installed into urban centres. Green roofs, on the
other hand, offer great potential both for new build and retrofit.” I
will cover SUDS in greater detail within a later article as the details and
benefits of specifying SUDS drainage are vast. So with all these benefits why
don’t we paint the town in green roofs?
Retrofitting
existing roof structures will obviously have a cost impact however if the roof
needs repairing or upgrading regardless than obviously the impact of the costs
is reduced. In a new development project
however the cost difference between specifying a green roof or not is
far less or even non-existent in some cases. If we assess the green roof over
the whole life instead of just the initial outlay then significant economic
benefits can be seen. As stated in Green
Roofs – Benefits and cost implications (2004) “As whole life costing for
new development is emerging as an
important tool for sustainability, the
fiscal benefits of a green roof during the life of a building after
construction are likely to become more relevant.” Green
roofs can also extend the life of a roof and reduce the service and maintenance
that is normally required. This is achieved by the substrate and vegetation
layer acting as a protection layer over the top of the roofing membranes,
protecting them from UV light and frosts. Savings can additionally be made
through the reduction of fuel costs through increasing the thermal performance
of a building. This is achieved through the green roof acting as a natural
insulation barrier reducing the variations in temperature within the building,
keeping the building cool in the summer months and insulated further in the
winter months. By reducing the heating and cooling load through the
installation of this additional insulation layer, the demand on the energy
required to heat and cool the building is thus reduced. With the targets for
hitting carbon reductions looking tougher and tougher every small step that can
be made is important to the overall grand scheme of things.
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| www.greenroofstoday.co.uk green-rooftop |
Moving
beyond the technical jargon of the benefits of green roofs I also think it’s
important to consider the social impact that a green roof can have on the
people who inhabit the surrounding environment. With urban regeneration the
focus can sometimes be on creating more robust and
versatile spaces rather than creating more visual and natural spaces.
A local space that I work near in Coventry has gone
from this (1930’s):
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| www.bbc.co.uk |
To
this(1970’s):
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| Sourced from- Google Images |
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| Sourced from- Google Images |
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| www.newsrt.co.uk New_look_braodgate_normal_858151361 |
I’ve migrated to gain further control to expand the content; you can find my new polished website at;
Please feel free to come over and look at the new set up and design as well as the latest article on Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems for Green Roofs (SUDS). The article is a follow up to the previous article on To Green of Not to Green? This article will be focusing more on the technical aspects, in particular Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems, otherwise known as SUDS.
All the previous articles on architecture, tech and BIM are over at the new site
Thank you for visiting Architect-BIM and I hope you continue to follow us over at the new site- www.architect-bim.com
Now, granted the vehicle traffic has been removed which improves the robustness, versatility and openness to footfall fair enough, but could the planners not of kept some of the greenery? With us losing or have already lost plenty of green spaces in our urban areas could green roofs be the answer to creating a more enjoyable and visually appealing urban environment, which in most cases is an urban grey cloud?
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