Picture by Columbia
It is unavoidable and common sense that wearing wet clothes in winter will end up in hypothermia. Wearing the same wet clothes on a hot summer day, might actually help to feel cooler – not to be confused with feeling more comfortable.
If we have only one set of clothes, for all four seasons, they would typically be made up of two layers. The first layer protects against direct environmental impacts such as sunlight, rain or wind and the second layer usually consists of a breathable layer for comfortable wearing and controlled air circulation.
I have learned on my travels all across different desserts on earth that these layers reduce temperature increase on hot, sunny days, but at the same time can reduce the loss of body heat during extremely cold nights. Indigenous people of extreme environments have learned this lesson over centuries and were able to survive under these circumstances with this simple layer strategy. My father always used to say: “What is good for the cold is also good for the warm.”
Any man-made structure is nothing more than a body that requires consistent ‘body temperature’ to make it usable for the purposed design. A building without reliable all-season clothes is worthless or requires a tremendous effort (energy or operating costs) to make it useful.
Dry insulation in winter helps – moisture in green roofs not
Helping to make a building useful for people, the ‘coat’ consists typically of an insulation layer covered with a layer to protect against the elements (waterproofing, roofing membrane). Since we all know that the protective sheet will deteriorate over time this sheet (waterproofing) has to eventually be renewed, a process experts call re-roofing, which usually happens every 18-25 years.
It is proven by my experience (since I have been designing and installing green roofs for 35 years) that a green roof can double the lifespan of the roof. The green roof acts like an additional all season two-layer system on top of the roof where healthy plants are the first layer, protecting against direct environmental impacts. The green roof growing media (green roof soil) is the breathable layer.
There is only one difference; the breathable layer (growing media) on a green roof is also the basis for the well-being of the plants and must be able to store water and air at the same time for a healthy growth. If this layer doesn’t fully support the plants (and only the plants) the entire coat does not function and the plants tend to indicate this by suffering or a change in plant varieties present.
Above we learned that a wet coat in winter causes problems because water is not a good insulator and so we have to consider heat loss in winter when speaking about green roofs. We also understand now that dry green roof soil in summer will store heat (in the aggregates) and increases the cooling needs.
A green roof (and green walls that grow on growing substrates on vertical surfaces with consistent irrigation) are only thermal masses with hardly any insulating values. Considering these facts, building owners should be cautious when someone tells them that green roofs are good insulators. This is just not the case, especially if the building envelope is not insulated correctly in the beginning. Fixing heating and cooling loss simply through green roofs and/or green walls is impossible or a short-term solution.
With all the current research in this field, it’s surprising to me that people still claim green roofs are good insulators. Additional insulation below the original coat is necessary (waterproofing or walls) to make the most effective roof (cost wise and physically) compared to any vegetated layer combined with growing media of growing substrate.
However, the thermal mass “green roof” certainly has lifespan extending properties for the waterproofing (and again, I can confirm this with projects spanning over 35 years). This is the key to start thinking in long terms (50+ years) in the building industry and is the most sustainable approach. Longevity is hardly considered in LEED™ certifications and with less emphasis on longevity, many awarded LEED™ buildings might fail for a certification because they can’t be upgraded easily when the costs of energy increase. I am not referring to how wasteful the footprints of many of these ‘innovative’ building designs are.
Getting LEED for empty space and buildings with a high surface area that are exposed to the elements?
In the last 35 years, energy costs increased eight to ten times (!) and are expected to grow accordingly over the next three to five decades (or the lifespan of a green roof). Knowing this, selling a green roof for insulation purposes will unavoidably end up in a costly disaster for the building owner. Removing a fully functioning green roof in less that 25 years after installation, simply to add to more insulation, meet future requirements or to keep heating and cooling costs low.
Green roofs do not extend the life span of selected, important building components dramatically. Increasing the lifespan of any building is the best environmentally friendly approach in the building industry and the most efficient way to reduce costs for the owner over decades. Although, if scientists and green roof professionals often do not understand this unique property of green roofs and don’t design underplaying components accordingly, the building owner won’t be very happy in the future. In 20-25 years when parts star needing to be replaced, a second green roof will be the last choice of the building owner because it will simply be additional costs with few benefits as originally promoted.He might not understand why he should disassemble a perfectly functioning and well established green roof, precisely when certain individuals led him in the wrong direction in the past.
Conclusions:
Building owners be careful when people try to sell you green roofs as a good insulator without mentioning that additional insulation is necessary for the building for future energy needs (our green roofs last as long as the structure)
Building owners have to understand that any available research about the insulation value of green roofs reflect only a current snap shot and potential savings in a very short time period (less that half life time of a green roof) and they are worthless when the intention is building for half a century.
There are no energy studies completed over a 50+ year time span comparing a green roof (plus additional insulation) and a conventional roof that will be re-roofed with additional insulation 20 years from now (typical re-roofing practice).
On a multi-story building the (green) roof area will super proportional decrease to the rest of the building shell.
Trust only experts that recommend additional insulation under the green roof because then they expect that your investment will last a human lifetime, which will be profitable but also affordable during this time. Designing the roof (or wall) to last for five decades or more requires a lot of responsibility and expertise of the designers – if they value their customers.
An Executive Summary of Facts and common sense by Jörg Breuning
