Green Roofs - 5 Significant Benefits
- Reduce Urban Heat Island Effect (UHIE):
Built up urban areas experience UHIE – increased temperature during warmer months, compared to rural surroundings. One of the major culprits are Commercial Office buildings, whose construction materials consist largely of glass, steel and concrete – most of which have high thermal mass properties, meaning they heat up and reradiate heat back into the atmosphere during the night.
Green roofs can help reduce the urban heat island effect by lowering ambient air temperatures. Studies have shown that the UHIE in built up areas can be reduced by up to 2 Degrees Celsius if just 8% of buildings have green roofs
- Storm water management:
One of the more significant problems facing Melbourne is its underground storm water infrastructure and capacity to service the city’s sprawling development. Green roofs reduce storm water volume and attenuate water flow, thus helping to alleviate the pressure on storm water infrastructure. Green roofs also filter and cool water runoff. They can help prevent nitrogen, phosphorus and toxins from entering waterways
- Social benefits:
Green roofs provide various social benefits by providing ‘green relief’ to the urban landscape. Green roofs have the potential to increase employee’s happiness by enhancing their surroundings. This in turn could improve business profitability since it has been theorized that enhancing the emotional or physical comfort of employees can increase productivity and lower absenteeism
- Increased Building Marketability:
High-rise apartments, office space and even hotel rooms with the enhanced natural view afforded by a green roof, may support higher rents or room rates and help maintain increased levels of occupancy. Resale prices may also increase with the added value of additional green space. Studies in North America and Britain have shown that good tree cover can increase the value of property by between 6-15 per cent
- Amenity:
As our cities move towards high density living, there is proportionally less green space at ground level to the number of residents. Green roofs can create sustainable interactive community spaces where people can garden, visit, play and relax together. Green space is recognised as being beneficial to health, reducing stress levels and providing ‘escape’ from the stresses of urban living
