ROOFTOP GARDENS

What are Rooftop Gardens?

The concrete behemoths that dominate a city’s skyline often ignore the extra land space
tucked out of our line of sight. With the amount of available ground-level land shrinking
in urban areas, it’s more important than ever to think about how we can expand
upwards.

Rooftop gardens offer a solution to our urban crisis. They are an easy, cost-effective
way to reduce a building’s energy consumption while promoting a variety of other
benefits.

Types of Rooftop Gardens

1. Intensive Green Roof

This system uses a thick layer of soil, often several inches deep, spread across a flat
roof. Sometimes, a raised garden bed may be used to cultivate a more diverse range of
plants. Those can include vegetables. The large amount of nutritious soil people use
there allows for larger plants and trees to flourish.

Intensive green roofs are often on commercial buildings. The structure must be sturdy
enough to bear the weight. They often require more maintenance than other types of
rooftop gardens.

2. Extensive Green Roof

The extensive green roof system uses a lighter load of growing medium compared to
the intensive system. A thin layer of soil is spread across the roof and populated by
hardy species. Those can include succulents and grasses.

These low-maintenance plants grow quickly and can absorb heat. They cool the entire
building in the process.

They are just a few inches thick. As a result, these mini gardens are suitable for a
variety of different rooftops, like slanted suburban homes (and, yes – earthships).

How Rooftop Gardens Conserve Energy

Rooftop gardens employ some of the best insulation around: soil and vegetation. From
the tropical jungles of South America to the coniferous forests of Europe, vegetation has
always provided a natural refuge from the heat. The tree cover and thick underbrush
protects against the harsh sun, allowing for the underneath to stay cool and breezy.

Hot, sunny days can cause the tops of buildings to reach mind boggling numbers, even
as high as 150 degrees F. Without an insulating layer, this heat will naturally pass
through the building as its concrete exterior acts as a conductor.

Air conditioning systems must be used to regulate the temperature, causing an

unnecessary expenditure of money, energy and resources. In hot climates, it’s not
uncommon for residents to spend 70% of their electricity bill on cooling costs.

Rooftop gardens are incredibly effective insulation systems and can help to lower the
cost of cooling a building. While soil naturally functions as an insulator, the plants on top
can also drop the temperature through photosynthesis and transpiration.

These natural processes are why the shade of a tree often feels 2–9°F cooler than
shade created by a roof or structure on a blistering day.

When water is added to the equation, the cooling effect is twofold. Moist soil naturally
cools as water evaporates from it, refrigerating the surface below.

While this process is especially beneficial in the summer, rooftop gardens can also keep
the building from losing heat in winter. A layer of insulation on roofs is useful in most
weather conditions, keeping temperatures stable in buildings and protecting it from
extreme and harsh weather conditions