How Do Green Roofs Provide Insulation

The substrate blocks the lower frequencies while the plants absorb the higher frequencies.

How do green roofs provide insulation.

In addition to thermal insulation a green roof also has a sound insulating effect. All three types of roofs require specific layers of roofing materials not found on regular roofs. The combination of soil plants and trapped layers of air within green roof systems can act as a noise insulation barrier. Sound waves are absorbed and reflected.

This is known as the albedo effect and many studies have documented significant energy savings from simply lightening the color of a roof. Whilst the growing medium tends to block lower sound frequencies the plants tend to block higher frequencies. Sound waves are both absorbed reflected or deflected. A green roof s plants remove air particulates produce oxygen and provide shade.

However a green roof does not provide additional insulation. When it comes to roofing green roofs are without doubt one of the more visible signals that you have built a sustainable home. Cotton is a natural and renewable resource which makes the plant one of the greenest insulation products on the planet. Unlike traditional black tar roofs green roofs reduce energy costs by absorbing heat instead of attracting it and providing natural insulation for buildings.

1 cool your roof cool roofs are lighter in color than traditional black asphalt or dark wood shingles and save energy by reflecting light and heat away rather than absorbing them. Cotton insulation is similar to fiberglass insulation in several ways. There is a lot of cynicism that they don t actually serve enough eco purpose to be worthwhile but they do have some genuine benefits. For one thing it can be rolled into batts.

The basic anatomy of a green roof consists of vegetation growing medium filter membrane drainage layer waterproof root repellant layer roofing membrane support for plantings above thermal insulation vapor control layer and structural roof support. According to a study conducted by the national research council of canada even a six inch extensive green roof can reduce summer energy demands by more than 75 percent. Well some of that material actually gets recycled into insulation. They use heat energy during evapotranspiration a natural process that cools the air as water evaporates from plant leaves.

Green roofs provide innumerous benefits including shading by foliage retarding heat transfer by advection transfer of heat or matter by the flow of a fluid providing thermal mass effect prompting evapotranspiration increasing stormwater retention and protecting waterproof roofing assemblies.