The popularity of green roofs has increased in recent years, being a unique feature of a building’s design and aesthetic and showing off the talents of architectural teams and contractors’ abilities.

Green roofs are exactly what you probably think they are. A roof of a building, whether that is the top of an apartment block or a sloping roof of an extension, consisting of its own ecosystem, filled with greenery and life.

With the net zero deadline creeping closer and closer, green roofs have been one of the most eccentric developments that have helped to combat carbon through our buildings. Not only are they an impressive design element, but they also have plenty of hidden benefits that are helping cities all over the world to counteract carbon emissions.

Because plants help to remove toxic chemicals out of the air, increasing the number of green roofs in urban areas can improve the overall air quality of the area, and in turn, reduce the number of respiratory diseases caused by pollution.

On a larger scale, a green roof can be used as a garden for those that don’t have much outdoor space or want to grow their own food. It can be somewhere people can connect with nature in places where it’s difficult to find and gain many mental and physical benefits from. It’s a method of rewilding an area and integrating rare plants or encouraging animals and insects, such as bees and butterflies to fulfil their roles in the ecosystem.

What’s most attractive isn’t just that they bring nature into an otherwise concrete jungle, but that it can work for most existing roofs and is relatively easy to implement with little change needed to the planned design.

The natural layers that a green roof is made up of also act as a barrier to all weather types. In the sun, the plants absorb the sun’s energy, reducing the summer temperatures indoors. Whereas, in winter, it acts as a natural insulator, helping to lock the heat inside, keeping up to 25% more heat inside as opposed to an uninsulated roof. They can also be a great addition to the drainage system of the building, as the water is absorbed into the substrate, reducing the amount that is released into the pipework where flooding can be a risk.

Because of this, the roof’s waterproof membrane is better protected from the elements, helping to increase the lifespan of it, with little to no maintenance involved.

The simple fact is that this is a great alternative to a typical roof that is usually a neglected area with no real use. It has some amazing economical and environmental benefits while also supporting biodiversity and wildlife habitats.

So, with all these benefits, why aren’t we seeing these everywhere in the UK?

Like almost everything else in the construction industry, it’s mainly down to cost. The implementation of green roofs costs more overall than a standard roof. That includes sourcing the materials and adapting the structural integrity of the roof to bear the excess weight – which is where retrofitting green roofs becomes a problem.

Some existing buildings won’t be suitable to adopt a green roof for practical and maintenance reasons such as the gradient of the slopes and the location. In these cases, installing a green roof can be even more costly and require large structural changes to be made.

Green roofs aren’t as popular in the UK as they are internationally. As an industry, we are working our way towards becoming more innovative, but don’t want to make changes or leap too far from the norm in fear that it doesn’t work and cause costly mistakes.

Green roofs are tried and tested, and just from reading all the above, you should be tempted to try it out on one of your buildings too.

In most cases, any disadvantages are counteracted by the other amazing benefits that they can bring to the environment, the community and a building’s functionality.

Abbott Construction have recently completed a project on Spring Lane in Canterbury for East Kent College Group where sustainability is at the heart of the design. The wildflower blanket of the green roof not only provides an aesthetic for the overlooking buildings, but has influenced the rest of the development and the values it’s been built on. The benefits to the ongoing efficiency outweighs any advantages of other roof material choices and because of this, we’re predicting an increase in popularity throughout Kent and the UK.