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Systems”
CE-PROJ1
Martell Presco
RRL:
This study aims to provide technical data on the performance of green roofs in the
City of Toronto, and to illustrate their benefits in an urban context. Two extensive
green roof systemswere installed on a community centre in Toronto. Both systems
contained the samecomponents that differed in materials and designs. The green
roofs contained lightweightgrowing medium, 75 - 100 mm in depth, that supported a
variety of vegetation. The green roofs,and a reference roof, were instrumented to
provide thermal performance and energy efficiencydata, as well as runoff
measurements. Although the vegetation was not well established in thefirst year of
monitoring, nevertheless, the extensive green roofs reduced the building’s
energydemand by lowering the heat flow through the roof, especially in the
summer. The green roofswere shown to be effective in delaying and reducing
stormwater runoff and the retentionefficiency depended upon the characteristics of
the rain event (intensity and amount) and thewetting history of the
growing medium. Preliminary observations and membrane temperaturesrecorded
also suggest that green roofs could likely improve membrane durability by
reducingheat aging, thermal stresses, ultra-violet radiation and physical damages.
Green Roof Plants: Strategies for Success
Bruce Dvorak, Assistant ProfessorDepartment of Landscape Architecture and
Urban Planning, Texas A&M UniversityLangford Architecture Center, 305 ACollege
Station, TX 77843,
Landscape architecture is a profession that has evolved alongside the current trends
andmovements fashioned in mainstream culture. Today, North American landscape
architects arewell positioned to bridge their traditional areas of expertise such as
planting design to many ofthe new sustainable technologies that have evolved both
at home and abroad over the last decade.Ecological design strategies such as green
roofs and bioswales are now beginning to become partof our everyday design
vocabulary. A little over ten years ago, Bill Thompson in
Landscape Architecture
magazine wrote, “An opportunity is emerging to introduce landscape
architectureinto another realm-the roofs of buildings-in a revolutionary way.” Since
then, green rooftechnology has become a well know phenomenon across some
North American cities; however,in many regions there is not sufficient knowledge of
how to apply this technology locally. Therehave been more than a few green roof
installations where growth media, plants and/or drainagematerials were
unsuccessful in their initial application and required reinvestment or
redesign.Landscape architects were involved with some of these projects. This brings
to light a need forincreased knowledge of green roof technology for landscape
architects.Since green roof installation is now encouraged through incentives or
other bonuses inNorth America (Chicago, Portland, Washington D. C., New York, Los
Angeles) and in somecases required (Toronto), successful selection of vegetation and
its supportive substrate design iscritical. Plant failure on a green roof can lead to
unfavorable conditions where plant parts orgrowth media can be blown off a roof,
drains can become clogged, and many of the economicand ecological benefits
attainable with green roofs are not achieved.Since vegetation often plays a critical
role in the success of green roofs, there is a need tounderstand the different factors
that can influence successful designs, and make them known.This issue can be
complex as plant species and substrate designs for one ecoregion may not beuseful
in another ecoregion. Although there is much known about green roof design in
Europe,there is much less knowledge about successful plant species for green roofs
across NorthAmerica’s diverse ecological regions. One German green roof plant
grower has over 3,000species of plants listed in their catalog, where one of North
America’s largest green roofproducers on the East coast has investigated several
hundred species. This comparison is made topoint out the good work already
accomplished in Europe and North America, but also brings to
light how far each distinct ecological region in North America may yet still have to go
to fullyexplore its possibilities.There are several investigations concerning the
effectiveness of installed green roofs assystems, and a couple of books investigate
design criteria and critical analysis of components.Green Roofs for Healthy Cities, a
large North American green roof organization has a green roofeducation program
with accreditation. A comprehensive review of North American green roofplants is
found in Dvorak and Volder (2010), and several important investigations are
citedrelative to green roof plants in Cantor (2008).With regards to general guidance
from green roof standards, strategies for selecting plantmaterial for green roofs exist
in ASTM E 2400-06, Standard Guide for Selection, Installation,and Maintenance of
Plants for Green Roof Systems, and in the German FLL Guidelines. ASTME 2400
recommends consideration of design intent, aesthetics, climate, micro-climate,
plantcharacteristics, growing media, and maintenance. The FLL Guidelines covers
these same topicsbut in greater detail. To investigate the potential effectiveness of
these guidelines and identifyplant species for an untested ecoregion of North
America, the guidelines were used as part of theprocess used to select green roof
plants for south-central Texas green roof research. These plantswere tested over the
2009 and 2010 growing season to measure their effectiveness during a lowinput
green roof experiment. The outcomes of this research reveal potential plant species
for oneecoregion, and also include discussion of how the selected guideline criteria
may have played arole in the results.
In this paper the acoustic performance of different green roofs has been studied to
evaluatetheir effectiveness in interventions aimed to reduce the environmental
noise in urban areas.In particular, three greening systems have been experimentally
tested measuring their soundabsorption coefficients at normal incidence: extensive
green roof (Sample A), semi-intensivegreen roof (Sample B) and common soil
(Sample C).The results obtained from the experiments indicate that green roofs
provide in general a highsound absorption, especially if compared to the typical
performance of traditional horizontalroofs. The values and trends of the sound
absorption coefficients are significantly depending onthe selected stratigraphy. The
spectral distribution of
is strongly marked, with the maximumabsorption at a frequency of 400 Hz for
Sample B. In detail, the Sample B at frequencies above250 Hz provides the better
system performance. This result is in tune with urban trafficnoise-reduction
requirements (heavy/light vehicles, low speed) in which low frequencies
are predominant.The common soil analyzed (Sample C), while offering lower
performance in terms of soundabsorption than A and B samples, shows anyway
noticeable features if compared to a traditionalconcrete rooftop.The high values
measured in lower frequencies bands of Sample A are not in agreement withthe
traditional behaviour of porous material, as the various layers that compose the test
samplesand green roofs in general. These values have to be measured again by
repeating the measure onthe tested samples, and are probably obtained due to the
complex and various porous structuresof the granular material layers, as well as the
different compactness of the same material.The values of the random incidence
sound absorption coefficient have been calculated throughthe method proposed by
London. The calculated values are generally higher than the measured values, but
the relative comparison between different systems confirms the
previousobservations. The comparison with the acoustic characteristics of a concrete
roof, assumed as areference solution, shows the large advantage achievable through
the adoption of green roofscompared to traditional flat roofs.Finally, the average
and the weighted sound absorption coefficients (ISO 11654) for and have been
evaluated, referring to the frequency range investigated. The values confirm the
best performance of Sample B and indicate, however, that green roofs allow higher
sound absorptionthan conventional roofs (concrete, tiles).
This study aims to provide technical data on the performance of green roofs in the
City of Toronto, and to illustrate their benefits in an urban context. Two extensive
green roof systemswere installed on a community centre in Toronto. Both systems
contained the samecomponents that differed in materials and designs. The green
roofs contained lightweightgrowing medium, 75 - 100 mm in depth, that supported a
variety of vegetation. The green roofs,and a reference roof, were instrumented to
provide thermal performance and energy efficiencydata, as well as runoff
measurements. Although the vegetation was not well established in thefirst year of
monitoring, nevertheless, the extensive green roofs reduced the building’s
energydemand by lowering the heat flow through the roof, especially in the
summer. The green roofswere shown to be effective in delaying and reducing
stormwater runoff and the retentionefficiency depended upon the characteristics of
the rain event (intensity and amount) and thewetting history of the
growing medium. Preliminary observations and membrane temperaturesrecorded
also suggest that green roofs could likely improve membrane durability by
reducingheat aging, thermal stresses, ultra-violet radiation and physical damages.