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What are Green Roofs?

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A green roof is a layered system, partially or completely covering the roof area and with the vegetation being planted directly in the soil media (Stewart, 2013). It is important to have a good understanding about the type of vegetated roofs and their maintenance as a facility manager. This combination of natural and man-made facility is expanding at a dynamic pace and proves to be beneficial in providing sustainability. All the basic stratigraphic composition remaining the same, green roofs can be classified as: Traditional vegetated roofs and Modular vegetated roofs (Velazquez, 2003). The difference between the two is the method of their installation and their mobility. Traditional roofs in general use either a single- ply or a multi-ply waterproofing system which is then followed by a drainage membrane and the substrate/ soil media. Whereas in a modular system the drainage, soil substrate and the plants are supported in a High density polyethylene (HDPE) trays of varying size, which are then transported to the roofs and installed. Traditional roofs can further be classified as: Extensive, Semi-intensive and Intensive (Wark and Wark, 2003). Extensive roofs are of low profile and performance, which are designed for maximum thermal and hydrological performance and minimum weight load. They contain low profiles of 6 inches or less, with smaller plant diversity and low access for active human use. When compared to extensive roofs, semi-intensive are slightly higher in profile

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