Research on sustainable methods of maintenance of green roofs

Abstract

The practice of developing vegetation roofs can be said to have ancient origins, proofbeing the legendary Babylonian hanging gardens that were decorated with trees and flowers ontop of the palaces. As a result, today, this attractive practice has a high environmental value andtherefore in this paper we present methods through which we want to add the new valency ofambiental improvement and safety in maintenance green terraces, thanks to new moderntechnologies available at the moment. Special attention was paid to drainage and water retentionin order to adjust stratigraphy of green terraces. Thus, by reducing the weight and reducing thecosts ofmaintenance activities, it was determined that the time evolution of the roof is directlyrelated to the economic and environmental sustainability of the system and as a result, threelevels of maintenance have been defined.In achieving these levels two fundamental aspects have been highlighted: a visible one,mainly related to aesthetic aspects and another, imperceptible at first glance, involving theelements of structure, protection, maintenance and safety.