GREEN BUILDING

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The first and most common thing of greening building trend is green roof. It was first established from ancient empires – Babylon.
The Babylon Hanging Gardens (or Hanging Garden of Semiramis) were built by King Nebuchadnezzar about 600BC. Green roof has
also been used in Northern Scandinavia, Northern Europe for centuries as a kind of traditionally residential house. However, the
modern green roof was first established in Germany in the 1960s and then the trend spreaded to many European countries and become
more common in United States, due to its benefits.Green roof is the roof covered by a layer of vegetation, also known as living roof,
eco-roof, nature roof, vegetative roof or roof greening system. The green roof ecology system has become a new area of interest since
the world industry has been developing greater and faster. Therefore, the invironmental problems are not only a personal responsibility
but also a global awareness and responsibility. Green roof can be applied everywhere from a car park to a commercial building , from
a residential house to an archive storage. It is considered as a environmental friendly material, yet, it solved a lot of environmental
problems such as reducing run off water, balancing the temperature, creating the natural habitats for the wildlife, reducing the glare
and cleaning the air. Absorbing rainwater is one of the reasons polluting the rivers nearby and also causes flood in the city. In the
winter, the green roof will have a use as thermal insulation to keep warm and reduce the heating cost for the house, while in the
summer, it will become the evaporative cooling loads on the house, reduces the house temperature and the city’s average temperature.

Hanging gardens in Babylon

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Source:  A Showcase of Icelandic Treasures, Magnusson, 1987

Green roof house by Bill Grierson, 1960

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There are two main types of green roof: intensive and extensive roof. Intensive roof is thicker, heavier and require more maintenance,
feeding, ideally to grow the large plants. Extensive roof needs a lighter layer of soil, ideally for a light layer of vegetation such as
herbs, mosses, grasses, colourful sedums, meadow flowers and small trees. Nowadays, a new material was invented, named Fytocell
flakes, to reduce the loaded weight on the roof top. As Icopal stated: “A hard foam produced from an aminoplast resin, Fytocell is
typically one-third of the weight of top soil, bringing cost reductions both in materials handling and also in construction of the roof
structure, which can be designed to carry a correspondingly lighter loading. As a growing medium Fytocell promotes greater root
mass, increasing root surface area for more effective absorption of water and nutrients.” (p.5, Icopal). Fytocell is a basically a kind of
soiless growing medium for enhanced performance, which is being used largely in commercial or home grown vegetable, herbs, some
soft fruit plants such as cucumber, tomato, strawberry, sweet pepper and eggplant and also some types of flowers or softwood
propagation (fytogreen.com.au). Fytocell is originally from Australia, experiened in Holland, New Zealand for a few years before
being used more commercially in the other European countries such as Holland, UK, Belgium and Spain. Fytocell gives a higher
quality for the crop products, non- dust and help the plants grow healthier, stronger, more finely branched roots and improved yields. “
The key is the perfect 37% air or 60% water ratio by volume which encourages a mass of finely branched roots. This enables better
uptake of air, water and essential nutrients. Fytocell is an aminoplast resin foam, a light but very stable, white, spongy, pH neutralised
substrate. It’s sterile, inert and biodegradable, so it’s 100% environmentally friendly”, said Geoff Heard (fytogreen.com.au). Due to
the perfect open cell structure of Fytocell, a good amount of oxygen provides for the plants throughout the holdes of the slab or flake
bags, and it never becomes saturated. Fytocell flakes retain 30%-40% of its volume as air and 70% water. By using this meterial, we
can reduce up to 70% of the normal weight of soil system and also save the budget in maintenance. A typical green roof construction
using Fytocell contains a layer of light weight soil mix with Fytocell flakes, water reservoir layer, filter fleece, drainage board,
rootbar, waterproofing and thermal insulation system.

FYTOCELL FLAKES
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Before installing the green roof system , we need to ensure that the structure of the roof deck is strong enough to take an extra weight.
When designing a green roof system, we need to understand clearly about the use of each element contained in the green roof system,
and also the roof construction, the drainage system, fire resistance and the roof safety. Flat roof is the most ideal type to support the
green roof. Based on the roof deck, ceiling construction system, insulation and behavior of the waterproofing material on top, the
building industry categorizes the roof design into: warm roof and cold roof. As FRA Houseleaders Guide definition, Warm roofs “has
the insulation above the roof deck, thus keeping the deck ‘WARM’ and is usually the most satisfactory construction for domestic
properties as it avoids the need for ventilation of the roof structure”, while Cold roofs “ have the waterproofing laid directly onto the
deck, and any insulation placed above the ceiling. This arrangement allows the deck to become ‘COLD’ ( FRA Householders Guide).
In Uk and some other cold countries, Warm roof is highly recommended. A typical warm roof system build up includes a filter fleece
layer, drainage board, a thin protection sheet, rootbar capsheet, and thermal insulation. During maintenance, the care must be taken to
prevent the damage. A typical cold roof has a layer of extensive substrate, filter fleece, protection sheet, rootbar sheet, rootbar
underlay and primer. The thermal insulation layer usually stays at the ceiling level, under the structural roof deck. Insulation is not
really a must for the cold roof systems, for example, it can be placed above the ventilated underground garage or car park. If it lies on
the ventilation, there must be a roof space to remove the vapour. Therefore, the ventilation must be ensured that it is not obstructed.
The Extensive Green roofs can slop up to 3%, about 30 degrees. The wind action must be also counted into the total pressure that the
roof deck can resist. The soil layer should be thick enough to keep the rootbar not uplifting from the ‘ground’ surface. The higher level
the roof is, the stronger wind action the roof is effected.

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Extensive green roofs are thinner and lighter- weight system, require less soil and maintenance. The minimum deep required to
support the smallest plant community is 3 inches. The suitable plants for this landscape type are limited, mainly wild plants or local
grass, they are usually wildspread and spontaneously develop themselves. Extensive green roof systems are designed generally for the
urban decoration. It can be viewed from another rooftops, buildings or locations surrounding, not to be walked through or sat on as a
garden. So that, the entrances for maintenance are also limited. The ideal extensive system is approximately from 100-200mm deep.
The loading weight is also much lighter, about 80 kg/ m2 – 150 kg/m2, compares to the intensive green roof system. Thus, it can be
suitable for the large areas and the retrofit projects as well. However, the vegetation layer can be dried, dead, brown and becomes
unattractive in the dry season or in the winter. As Icopal document listed below, the typical modern extensive sedum system contains a
50-50mm deep sedum mat, 50mm extensive sedum subtrate layer, filter fleecce, protection sheet, rootbar capsheet, touch vapour
dispersion layer, thermal insulation and torch vapour control layer

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Compare to Extensive roof system, Intensive roofs need much deeper soil ( typically about 200mm-2000mm thick or more), greater
insultions, water proofing system, rootbar protection boards and greater loading weight, approximately 200kg/m2 to 3,300kg/m2).
However, the landscapes and habitats are larger and greater diversity. The roofs allow more layers and larger selection of plants, such
as flowers, herbs, vegetables, shrubs and trees. So that the roofs can be designed very beautiful and attractive with pathways, water
fountains, benches, terraces, and ponds. The more layers of plants and products are applied on the roof, the greater maintenance it
requires and the more expensive the intensive roof is. This type is just suitable for flat roofs (1%-1.5% slope) and it simulates to the
normal garden on the ground or roof garden. The roofs do need at least an entrance for the maintenance and also visual access. The
extensive roofs are not suitable for the large projects or retrofit projects. According to a survey in Hongkong, it costs about
$6.5/m2/year to $44/m2/year for energy, water, and materials etc and average $6.5/m2/ year to $44/m2/year for maintenance. The
survey also shows the higher capital needed for the intensive roofs, $1000/m2 to $5000/m2, compared to extensive roofs. Although
intensive roofs need more refined applications, technical supports, and much more expensive, the roofs have a greater utilization and
therefore, they can bring a direct benefits to the owners, for example growing food, herbs, open space for the building, absorb the rain
water and reduce the run off water in rainning season, etc (archsd.gov.hk). Therefore, the biggest disadvantages are the engineered
roof loads, and maybe the budget.

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Typical Icopal Intensive Tree/ Shrub System

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In North America, the advantages of green roof is not established as well as in the Europe. It is one of the hot topics to research and
develop. The government also has encouraged in legislative, law as well as financial support to push the green roof industy and reduce
the eco footprint of buildings. Germany has the longest green roof history in Europe, since the traditional Long Green roof exists
about 100 years ago from the German industrialization. Accoding to a survey, there are about 10.000.000 square meter constructed
average every year, mostly in Berlin and Stuttgart. The higher cost of green roof initial construction may preclud the widespread
application. Taxes are charged on storm water control, usage fees, construction, maintenance and storm water facility replacement. In
over 36 years, any cities in Germany reduce the usage cost alone can compensate the house owner for 50% of the extra capital cost
(ZVG, 1996). By late 2002, 15% of flat roofs in German become greenroofs according to Penn State’s Dr. Dave Beattie. In 1989,
according to a new requirement for flat-roofed industrial buildings applied in Stuttgart’s 1989 Law of Building Book, 27 cities in
zoning districts were required to install green roofs on flat roofs ( The London Ecology Unit,1993). “ Due to the legislative and
financial support of European state and municipal governments, the green roof industry has grown into a vibrant, multi-dollar market
in Germany, France, Austria and Switzerland among others. This public support recognizes the many tangible advantages of
greenroofs, and we in North America could certainly benefit from this forward thinking.” ( greenroofs.com)

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EnBW City GmbH& Co., Germany
It was one of the largest office real estate projects in Germany. The greening project planted on 17.000 square meters of roof and
garage ceiling both extensively and intensively.

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In United States of America, green roofs are prefer as a part of city surface, so that the cost is included in the city budgets from the
beginning. With the slogan “Green Roofs for Healthy Cities”, green roof market in United States has grown into a vibrant in many
cities such as Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, Toronto, Portland, San Francisco and aloso Washington D.C. A servey in U.S shows
that 3.1 million square feet green roofs were installed in 2008, about 35% over 2007 (azocleantech.com). Steven W. Peck, Founder
and President, Green Roofs for Healthy Cities, said “ The green roof industry continues to grow rapidly in response to the pressing
need for cleaner air, better stormwater management, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and developing more usable green spaces in
our communities. The diversity of projects, policies and research at our Annual conference this June 3-5, 2009 in Atlanta, Georgia is a
testament to the rapid expansion of our industry” ( azocleantech.com). City of Chicago has many policies to support the urban
greening, pushed the green roof market of the city develop to one of the top square feet of green roofs of the United States in 2008,
followed by Washington D.C, and New York.

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Skygarden in New York
This building was designed by architect Daniel Libeskindin. It includes the sky gardens in the middle. The apartment occupants will
have a green piece at the balcony, which is quite rarely seen in the normal buildings due to the losing usable footage square in the city.
The building is a nice combination between the man-made and natural items. The greenery cool down the heat and also make our eyes
feel more comfortable.

In January, 2001, Tokyo urban published and applied the new “Tokyo Plan 2000”, known as “Green Tokyo Plan” to develop the green
invironment for the city’s future. The law includes the requirement for the new buildings, which are larger than 1,000 square meters,
must have at least 20% of its roof space greened up. Then, it was also used by the municipal government in the other cities in Japan
for examples: city of Kobe, Kyoto, Ota. “ The ordinance describes the metro area’s present ecological state of Tokyo, addressing
topics such as the natural environment, greenery in Tokyo, urban greenery and the heat island phenomenon, and global warming”
(greenroofs.com). Besides the listed effects, green roofs filt the traffic and industrial dust from the air, reduce the runoff water in the
raining seasons, reduce flood in the city and so on. The plan also target to reach 1,200 hectares of green roof top in 10 years. After the
greening plan started, the temperature in Tokyo has been lowered down average 0.11-0.84 ¨C a year and would have saved
approximately 100 million yen/ day for the city electric bill.

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Acros Fukuoka, Japan
Locating in the middle of the Fukuoka city, Japan,the roof creates a large agriculture field spreading not only horizontally but also
vertically. With over 35,000 plants standing floor by floor, the green roof looks stunning under the sun and among the grey buildings
surrounding. It was designed by the Argentinean architects Emilio Ambasz & Associates, refers on the structure of Babylon hanging
garden.

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Another type similar to intensive green roof is roof garden or terrace garden. Besides the decorative purpose, the roof gardens also has
many benefits like green roofs. Roof garden is believed the original term of green roof, known as the famous Babylon hanging
garden.It was seen as the luxury items for royal use or for religional purposes, such as temples. Due to the warning climate change,
nowadays, the green spaces in the cities such as green wall, green roof, roof garden, terrace garden and also green balcony are quite
common and becomes a hot trend throughout the world, especially in the developed countries. When the cities develop, the living
space becomes tight and expensive. Therefore, the roof garden can solve the problem in saving ground space. In Vietnam, roof
gardens, terrace gardens and green balconies are very common due to the hot weather and the city air quality. The plants can reduce
the overall heat absorption of the house or building and the also climate temperature. A study of University of Cardiff shows that the
green roof can cool down more than 4 – 5 ¨C. People like planting in containers to decorate their gardens. Planting in containers can
reduce the loading weight on the roof, prevents the extra stress to the waterproofing and insulation, and the plants can be replaced or
removed easier. For the people, who live in the small house or small apartment, the open space or garden space can be limited. So, a
living wall or the hanging flower pots can be a solution. Although people usually mix up green roof and roof garden, they are 2
completely different terms. A roof garden is generally created for outdoor entertaining and as an outdoor living space for the
residential building in the city to save the ground space. Besides the plants, the garden may have dinning table, swing chair, lighting
system, swimming pool, barbecue grill, and fish tank, etc. A roof garden links the relationship between human and nature, that maybe
lost in the modern invironment. On the other hand, the green roof is primarily created to cover a large area. The wildlife habitats
develop spontaneously and it less relates to the people life in that building.

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Besides the listed advantages, Asian people does believe in Feng Shui garden, which brings good luck, health and success to the
occupants living in that house. The principles is the balance of natural and man-made structures. The natural landforms, the water
need to place in the right way to balance yin and yang for the house, and to create a harmonious and peaceful space.
The greening system made a big revolution in invironmental improvement. Although there are also some weaknesses for example
unwelcome wildlife problems ( rats, raccoons, squirrels, spiders, snails,etc), causing fire in the drought season and much higher cost, it
is spreading larger and faster all over the world.

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