Thursday, August 26, 2010

3 Most Important Reasons to Build a Green Roof in Florida

There really are lots of good reasons to build a green roof in Florida and across the southeast United States.  The three reasons to build a vegetated roof here in Florida that I use most are:

Reason # 1 to build a green roof in Florida.

You will clean stormwater and help reduce runoff.  Our observations and data recordings have shown that on rainfall events of less that 0.50 inches ( 13 mm ) the plants and soil on the green roof capture and hold the rain - thus reducing the amount of stormwater runoff leaving a site.

Now all roofs reach a saturation point and will begin to discharge rainfall as runoff however since the majority of rainfall events we have here in Florida are less than 0.50 inches ( 13 mm ), then the green roof is capturing most of the rainfall.  This helps keep nutrients and other pollutants out of the stormdrain and out of the river.

Reason # 2 to build a green roof in Florida.

You build the green roof and the wildlife will come.  We have long seen that once a green roof was installed - wildlife, including green and brown anoles (lizards), tree frogs, lady bugs, butterflies, dragonflies, hummingbirds and other species visit the green roof in mass on a regular basis.

Research shows that many species are dependent of vertical green - or green up off and above the ground for survival - to escape predators.

The reemergence of native wildlife around your green roof will provide many benefits ecologically, not the least importance-wise is - an integrated pest management system.  You will notice a great decrease in fly, roach, termite and other pest populations as the lizards and tree frog population numbers grow.

Reason # 3 to build a green roof in Florida.

They are beautiful, provide oxygen to a hot city, take up and sequester carbon dioxide and give us humans a sense of place - a sense of belonging - in an otherwise hot urban concrete or asphalt setting.

So there you have it!  Three most important reasons to build a green roof in Florida.

Happy Green Roofing!
Kevin

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