The Greening of our Homes
Enviromental friendly roofs are actually quite fascinating because they are in fact, alive. But what is a environmental friendly roof? Well normally a living, growing system of things like plants, herbs, grass or whatever on top of a waterproof roof.
In a more technological form, it is a highly advanced technology for roofing, that holds water in, sort of like a cactus, for the dry periods. Because of the extra water retention, and the waterproofed membrane to support it, the roofs tend to be a lot of heavier than a conventional one. This would mean that any home or building that uses a environmental friendly roof will involve supplemental roofing repair and support in order for it to hold it up and in place.
So why bother? Well when you look upon all the grassy fields, gardens, and other areas that have been paved over for people this can be a way to bring them back. Like having a family garden on your roof!
Big deal, you do not want a roof garden right? Well just having regular grass or small plants growing there can have a immense impact on your power bill. Plants can help reduce roof temperatures by up to 40degress by their normal air cooling habits. They also absorb almost all of the airborne pollutants around them, including carbon dioxide.
What sort of impact on your power bill? Think a heating bill that’s reduced for by a 1/4 and a cooling system bill that is cut almost in half. Plus a maintained environmental friendly roof can add huge value to a house and make it look very nice as opposed to the normal roofs around the neighborhood.
It wouldn’t be hard, but it could be time consuming to sustain your environmental friendly roof. The good news is it should not cost nearly as much as a normal roof to maintain and since it dramatically reduces the cost of heating and cooling throughout the year you’ll be in point of fact saving lots of money.
Saving money, reducing your carbon foot print, and having the nicest looking roof in the neighborhood? Not a bad deal.