Green Roof Systems/Eco Friendly Roofing/Living Roofs - London, Essex, Kent & Surrey

Our planet is changing and through necesity and desire we are developing more sustainable products and procedures from every angle.

Supreme O Roofing is an environmentally conscious roofing contractor and we show our awareness by providing sustainable roofing alternatives throughout London, Essex, Kent & Surrey. This page will guide you through the green roofing services provided by Supreme O Roofing and how we can help you become a more eco friendly person.

What is Green Roofing?
A green roof is a vegetated layer on a roof of a building planted over a water-proof membrane. It may also include additional layers such as a root barrier, drainage and irrigation systems. Green Roofs can be divided into 2 types; "extensive green roofs" and "intensive green roofs" depending on the depth of planting medium and the amount of work they need to be maintained.

Intensive green roofs are labour-intensive, requiring irrigation, feeding and other maintenance. Intensive roofs are more park-like with easy access and may include anything from kitchen herbs to shrubs and small trees. Extensive green roofs, by contrast, are designed to be virtually self-sustaining and should require only a minimum of maintenance.

The term 'green roof' may also be used to indicate roofs that use some form of 'green' technology, such as solar panels. Green roofs are also referred to as eco-roofs, turf roofs, pitched green roofs, flat green roofs, vegetated roofs, living roofs, and greenroofs.

The Growing Green Roof Trend
Green roofs have been around for hundreds of years in Northern Scandinavia but modern green roofs, which are made of a system of manufactured layers deliberately placed over roofs to support vegetation, are a relatively new phenomenon.

Modern green roofing is rapidly spreading through out the world, it is particularly popular in Europe. Countries leading the development of green roofs in Europe are Austria, Switzerland, Sweden and Germany; where it is a legal requirement in many large cities to have green roofs on new flat roofed buildings. Many North American cities such as Chicago have developed high profile green roof programmes with the aim of improving the quality of life and the environment. Also, in Canada, Toronto is using green roofing as a way to combat the heat problem within the city, the green roofs reflect less heat in to the environment and help keep temperatures at a more comfortable level.

In the UK Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, has one of the biggest green roofs in Europe which is used to help their factory blend into its countryside surroundings. Here in the south east of England and London, demonstration green roofs have proved vital in gaining confidence with private developers. As a result, this area has pioneered green roof implementation in the UK.

The Numerous Benefits of Green Roofs

• Aesthetic and psychological benefits of being surrounded by natural garden-like settings.
  
  
• Ecological and economic benefits include the recovery of green space, moderation of the urban heat island effect, improved rainwater management, water and air purification, and a reduction in energy consumption.
  
  
• Takes away the need for a gutter/rain water run off, this is considered by many to be the primary benefit of a green roof because it creates a natural place for water to go rather than form a puddle or flood on often impervious urban surfaces.
  
  
• Eliminating erosion of surfaces from water run off, which also stops raw sewage forming that is discharged directly into our rivers.
  
  
• A major benefit of green roofs is their ability to absorb rain water and release it slowly over a period of several hours.
  
  
• Green roof systems have been shown to retain 60-100% of the rain water they receive.


• Green roofs have a longer life-span than standard roofs because they are protected from ultraviolet radiation and the extreme fluctuations in temperature that cause roof membranes to deteriorate.
  
  

Other Green Roof Resources/Articles :: www.worldgreenroofcongress.com :: www.naturalengland.org.uk