M I N I D I C T I O N A R Y

IMPROVE PERFORMANCE
TERM MEANING
Green Building An outcome of a design which BENEFIT THE ENVIRONMENT
focuses on increasing resource use
efficiency while reducing building
impacts on human health
Sustainable Seeks to reduce negative impacts
Design on the environment, and the health
History & Uses and comfort of building occupants,

1961: Berlin, Germany

Reinhard Bornkamm, a researcher at Berlin’s Eco-Friendly
thereby improving building
performance
Not harmful to the environment
GREEN
Free University, publishes his work on green
roofs.

1971: Germany
LEED The Leadership in Energy and
Environmental Design green building
rating system provides a suite of
standards for environmentally sus-
ROOFS
tainable construction
Landscape architects Gerda Gollwitzer and
USGBC U.S. Green Building Council is a
Werner Wirsing publish Roof Areas Inhabited, non-profit trade organization that
Viable, and Covered by Vegetation, an early promotes sustainability in how
treatise on modern green roofs. buildings are designed
Solar Panels/ Device that converts light directly
1975: Mainz, Germany Photovoltaic into electricity
The Landscape Research, Development & Con- Modules
struction Society, which has established widely Sedum Yellow flowers with typically five

D E S I G N
petals and water storing leaves
followed green-roof standards, is founded.

1998: Washington, D.C.

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) F U R T H E R R E A D I N G
creates the LEED rating system; green roofs
can contribute toward up to six points on the www.greenroofs.com
69-point system. www.greenroofs.org

S U S T A I N A B L E
2001: Chicago City Hall: Chicago www.usgbc.org
William McDonough and landscape architects www.usgbc.org/leed/
Conservation Design Forum install the country’s
first municipal green roof on Chicago’s city
C O N T A C T I N F O
hall.

Josh Wentz
2004: Millennium Park: Chicago
One of the largest green roofs in the world, Professor Baptista LEED
the park extends 24.5 acres over underground
parking garages.
ENGL 202C
Summer 2009
Certified
2008: Bank of America Tower at One Bryant
The first Platinum LEED high-rise office building
will include a 4,500-square-foot green roof on
a connecting building.
 Figure 2: Green Roof Figure 3: Extensive Figure 4: Intensive Figure 5: Urban Heat Island Effect

GREEN ROOFS DISADVANTAGES

 Higher installation and maintenance cost
INTRODUCTION TYPES  Structural standards are more demanding
As an architectural engineering under- DETAILS EXTENSIVE INTENSITVE due to increased weight
graduate at Penn State you have four options Maintenance Low High  Difficult to retrofit onto existing buildings
to choose from: Construction Management, because of the weight load of the soil and
Structural, Lighting/Electrical, or Mechanical. Costs Low High vegetation
The Mechanical Option prepares students Irrigation No Regularly  Places excessive demands on the water-
for The Leadership in Energy and Environ- proofing system because of water retained
mental Design (LEED) green building rating Moss, Lawn,
Plant Sedum, Perennials, on the roof and roots possibly penetrating
system. Due to the national green movement, the waterproof membrane
most companies and builders are striving to Communities Herbs, & Shrubs, &
earn high LEED standards for environmentally Grasses Trees
sustainable construction. One way of earning
LEED points is to have a green roof. Use
Ecological
Protection
Park Like LAYERS
Garden
This pamphlet will help familiarize you with Layer
a sustainable solution to construction, green Figure 3 4
roofs. You will learn what a green roof is,
what types of green roofs there are, what the Carefully selected
benefits are, what the disadvantages are, the
layers of a green roof, and its history. BENEFITS plants

Helps to lower metropolitan air temperatures Engineered lightweight

WHAT IS A GREEN ROOF?
Increases insulation value
growing media
System filter
A green roof (Figures 1& 2) is a
Combats urban heat island effect (Figure 5)
conventional flat or low sloped roof that is
Reduces stormwater runoff Drainage/Aeration
partially or completely covered with vegeta-
Absorbs rainwater and releases it slowly element
Moisture mat
tion and soil, or a growing medium, planted over a period of several hours
over a waterproofing membrane. The term
Retains 60-100% of received rainwater
“green roof” may also be used to indicate
Improves water and air quality
roofs that use some form of "green" technol- Insulation
ogy, such as solar pan-
Creates a habitat for wildlife
els or a photovoltaic
Improves the aesthetics of the typical building
Root safety barrier
module. Green roofs
Recovery of green space destroyed by
are also referred to as buildings (eco-friendly) Roofing membrane
eco-roofs, oikosteges,
Longer life-span than standard roofs because
planted roofs, vege- the roofing membrane is protected from ul- Structural roof deck
tated roofs, living traviolet radiation and the extreme fluctua-
roofs, and greenroofs. Figure 1: Green Roof tions in temperature Figure 6: Layers of a Green Roof