Green Roof Guide 2025: Installation & Maintenance Tips by Stonedge Construction

The green roof, also known as the living roof, is a roof system with vegetative layers. The green roof system is designed to be entirely or partially covered with the plant. It is a sustainable and environmentally friendly approach to roofing that has gained popularity in recent years. Green roof design provides numerous benefits, including improved energy efficiency, stormwater management, air quality improvement, and increased biodiversity. They also offer aesthetic value and create green spaces in urban areas.

A green roof has many benefits at economic, ecological and societal levels. A green roof provides a rainwater buffer, purifies the air, reduces the ambient temperature, regulates the indoor temperature, saves energy and encourages biodiversity in the city.Below we explain the benefits one by one.

Most urban and suburban areas contain large amounts of paved or constructed surfaces which prevent stormwater from being absorbed into the ground. The resulting excess runoff damages water quality by sweeping pollutants into water bodies. Green roofs can reduce the flow of stormwater from a roof by up to 65% and delay the flow rate by up to three hours.

The protection that a green roof provides from the environment, when it includes proper waterproofing and drainage, can increase the longevity of a structure. Building owners may also be able to save money on repairs and maintenance. Indirectly, the waste from having to make repairs to a roof, for example, will be saved from a trip to the landfill.

As another outlet for waste diversion, a compost area could be incorporated into plans for a living roof, and the resulting compost could be used as food for the roof’s vegetation.

On roofs exposed to a great deal of wind pre-cultivated vegetation blankets ensure that the substrate will not be blown away in a storm. These provide a solid and erosion-resistant top layer to the green roof.

Sustainable drainage is an important component of any building, as a way to counter flooding in the event of excess rainfall. Traditionally, a network of pipes connected to the sewage system has helped control water. However, as a result of increasing urban development, as much as 75% of water is running off into urban areas.

Not only do green roofs help reduce air pollution, they also aid in combating noise pollution, fulfilling a similar role to that of standard noise-reduction panels.

Extensive green roof systems can reduce sound admittance by 20 to 30 decibels—the dense, porous substrate layer helps block lower frequencies while the vegetation itself blocks higher frequencies.

Green roofs help cool down urban areas by shading the roof surface, reducing heat absorption, and releasing moisture through evapotranspiration, which counteracts the urban heat island effect.

The vegetation protects the roof membrane from UV light and thermal stress, extending its lifespan.

Extensive green roofs provide a light-weight, low maintenance, instant ‘green effect’ roof solution, and are the most common type of green roof we supply. Extensive green roofs are not usually intended for general public access, and are chosen mostly for their ecological benefits.

Typically, extensive roofs use a Sedum vegetation due to it’s ability to flourish in harsh environments, cost effective, and lightweight system requirements. Extensive green roofs can be designed into new buildings, or ‘retro-fitted’ onto existing buildings.

An intensive green roof, often referred to as a “roof garden,” is a green roof system characterized by a thicker layer of growing medium that supports a diverse range of vegetation, including grasses, perennial flowers, shrubs, and even trees, providing a functional and recreational space similar to a traditional ground-level garden. Due to the depth of the soil and the weight of the plants, intensive green roofs require a stronger roof structure and more regular maintenance (including irrigation) compared to extensive green roofs.

A semi-intensive green roof consists mainly of herbaceous plants, small shrubs and aromatic plants. Unlike extensive green roofs, in which the vegetation follows its natural growth process, this type of green roof allows the landscape architect and the client to choose the planting according to their needs and wishes.

The thickness of the substrate varies between 15 and 30 cm, and the drainage elements should have a greater capacity to retain water. As far as maintenance is concerned, this is moderate and should ensure a correct evolution of the vegetation, as well as an efficient performance of the drainage and irrigation systems.

Green roof installation involves a systematic approach, the exact details will vary from project to project, but the following factors should be carefully considered during the planning, design and installation process for a green roof to be successful.

A comprehensive structural assessment is necessary to ensure that the building can support the additional weight of a green roof. A structural engineer should evaluate the load-bearing capacity of the roof and make any necessary reinforcements or design changes to the roof structure, as well as any supporting columns or walls as needed. Green roofs will add dead load year-round, and accessible spaces will also have additional live loads that need to be planned for. Ensuring the safety and durability of the structure is paramount before commencing any construction activities, and the engineer should also indicate maximum point load capacity of the structure. This information will assist with where to stage, and the quantity of materials can be on the roof during construction activities.

It’s recommended to include a green roof root barrier above the primary waterproofing layer to prevent roots causing damage to the structure. These tend to be thin polyethylene plastic membranes that can simply be laid across the waterproofing layer and joined with tape.

In intensive roofs, root barriers are essential due to the potentially more wood-like and vigorous roots of the vegetation. Our PRO Green Roof Root Barrier is extremely puncture resistant, comprised of two layers of polyethylene that are triple-coated for further durability.

Often a geotextile or specific filter fabric is used to separate the drainage layer from the growing medium, preventing soil from clogging the drainage system.

Lay sedum blankets, vegetate with plants, or seed the roof as per the chosen green roof system. Sedum is a common choice for extensive green roofs due to its drought tolerance.

Plants need adequate water to survive. Nonetheless, irrigation is less important for extensive green roofs and more important for intensive green roofs.

Maintenance is key to the longevity, health and performance of a green roof. Maintaining your green roof not only makes it more beautiful. It also contributes to environmental benefits, such as improved air quality and city heat reduction if the garden is in pristine health.In any case all types of green roofs require maintenance, successful implementation of green roofs requires the design and compliance of appropriate maintenance plans is done and therefore requires little maintenance. To ensure the success of a green roof, plants must receive the right level of fertilizer for each species’ needs. For larger projects, select warranties and guarantees from manufacturers, suppliers and installers and appropriate defect liability periods.

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