Vegetated Green Roofs offer many benefits over conventional roofing. Some positively affect the pocketbook, some are good for the environment, and some affect us all on a personal level without knowing it. When you look at all of the benefits collectively, you then can see how vegetated green roofing offers more than just a “cool” way to cover a roof surface.

Economical

Vegetated green roofs offer many benefits the help reduce the operational costs of buildings.

Environmental

Green roofs provide environmental benefits and help with many sustainable goals.

Health

The power of natural green space on human wellbeing is powerful and often unnoticed.

Economical Benefits

Reduces Cooling Costs

Conventional roofing absorbs solar energy and passes it through the building in the form of heat. The vegetation of a green roof uses solar energy to create oxygen and transpire, rather than passing it through the roof. The layers of a green roof also shade the roof and act as an extra layer of insulation. A four-inch-deep extensive modular green roof can offer an insulation value equivalent to R1001. All of this combined reduces heat energy passing through to the building and makes cooling the building more efficient.

Extended Roof Longevity

The growth media and vegetation layers of a green roof protect the underlying waterproofing system from UV degradation and temperature fluctuation. This can extend the life of the waterproofing system up to three times the normal life expectancy.

Improved Labor Efficiency

Unlike traditional green roofs, the GROVista™ modular vegetated-green-roof system offers easy installation and an instant green roof. This lightweight modular system arrives already planted and ready for installation. The GROVista is an all-inclusive package that has a built in drainage layer, lightweight growing media, established plants, and an easy to transport container. There is no need for costly preparations to the roofing membrane, before or after installation, and the whole process takes a fraction of the time it takes to install a traditional green roof. Easy installation translates into reduced labor costs and reduced downtime due to inclement weather conditions. The modules can also be easily removed for repairs or rearranged to change the landscaping design.

Improves PV Solar Panel Efficiency

PV panels perform more efficiently in cooler temperatures. Vegetated green roofs cool the air above them and can help make PV panels more efficient when they are installed in conjunction with the green roof.

Creates Added Property Value & Usable Space

An advantageous by-product of having a green roof, is that it typically increases the value of the property (commercial, residential, condo, offices, & etc.). Green roofs provide a win-win scenario for adding beautiful and functional spaces for gathering, and for providing pleasant scenes to higher buildings within view. Green roofs can assist commercial and industrial properties to better blend into their surrounding suburban and rural areas, and can possibly qualify to meet green space requirements needed on a project.

Environmental Benefits

Urban-Heat-Island (UHI) Best-Management-Practice (BMP)

Green roofs reduce the UHI effect by adding cooling green vegetated space in place of empty roof space that radiates heat.

Storm Water Runoff BMP

Green roofs can help significantly reduce storm water runoff. During large storm events, the run-off from roofs, roads, and other impermeable surfaces can over burden a city’s storm water system. This leads to contaminated water entering oceans, rivers, lakes, and other water resources. Vegetated green roofs can help mitigate this problem by retaining storm water — keeping an average 56% of annual rainfall from running off roofs and detaining the rest — slowing it’s progression into the storm water system. More green roofs = less run-off.

Produces Oxygen & Reduces Pollutants

A green roof will filter the air moving across it. A study has shown that 10.76 sf of a grass roof can remove .44 pounds of airborne particulates from the air every year. It would only take 2.5 GROVista-4 modules or 5 GROVista-2 modules to accomplish this task. Another study found that 16.15 sf of grass roof can produce enough oxygen to supply one human with their yearly oxygen intake requirement. This is the equivalent of 4 Green Roof Outfitters’ modules.

The modules also filter pollutants from atmospheric rainfall. If these great benefits can be had with just a few or our modules, think of the ramifications of having a whole roof full of GROVista vegetated green roof modules….or a whole city full of vegetated green roofs!

Habitat Creation

Green roofs promote biodiversity by creating habitat for birds, insects, and other species important to a healthy ecosystem.

Regional Materials

Green Roof Outfitters uses project specific regional materials whenever possible to produce all of our products.

Health & Well-Being Benefits

Health & Wellness Through Biophilia

Psychological studies of biophilia, an ingrained human attraction to nature and the living world, have shown that the restorative effect of a natural view holds the viewers’ attention, diverts their awareness away from themselves and from worrisome thoughts; thereby improving health.

People living in high-density developments are known to be less susceptible to illness if they have a balcony or terrace roof garden. This is partly due to the additional oxygen, air filtration and humidity control supplied by plants, but also from the therapeutic benefits that result from caring for plants. The variety of sounds, smells, colors and movement provided by plants, although not quantifiable, can add significantly to human health and wellbeing.

Patients in the same hospital, recovering from the same operation, were studied as to the restorative effects of views onto a Healing Garden (a landscaped courtyard) versus a brick wall. The patients with the green view had shorter post-operative stays, took fewer painkillers and had fewer negative evaluation comments from the nurses.

Noise Reduction

The GROVista modular vegetated-green-roof system acts as an insulator and buffer to reduce outside noise pollution that enters through the roof. Studies have shown that green roofs can reduce the indoor noise pollution from outdoor contributors by as much as 10 decibels. Noise-level reductions can provide significant benefits to buildings in noise-impacted areas, such as sites close to airports, highways, construction or industry. This reduction in unwanted noise pollution creates a more productive and peaceful work environment.