An Intensive Green Roof or Roof Garden includes unlimited plant and design varieties. Likewise in an outdoor or open space planning, which allows any form of vegetation. Intensive greening may consist of perennials, grasses, bulbs, summer flowers, shrubs and large trees. Because of high maintenance requirements, Lawn is considered an intensive Green Roof. However, the general maintenance of intensive Green Roofs without lawn is less than most people would expect. Considerably, this all depends on plant selection and overall design.
Overall, an intensive Green Roof can restore the entire environmental footprint of a structure, if designed with the similar biodiversity of the project location. E.g. Urban Tiny Forests on roof tops are one option for meeting a country’s Carbon goals.
How intensive green roof works?
That intensive Green roofs require high maintenance is partially a myth because this strongly depends on the plant selection. For instance and urban rooftop forest hardly requires any maintenance other than professional trimming after every other year. Sure this can require some costly equipment but in comparison to some intensive Green Walls projects this is insignificant.
Green Roof Technology’s solutions incorporate an artesian irrigation system, where the vegetation controls the water supply. This can operated accurately without electricity and entirely invisible. Thus, no loss of precious water (patented in 1974). As a result it reduces the amount of water by 50-80% comparing to conventional systems. It works in any Climate Zone and it is around 30% cheaper. In arid climate Zones, additional near surface irrigation maybe required, depending on plant selection and overall depth of the system. At the end it all comes down to a well-engineered soil horizon.