Green Roofs-Flood and Water Management Act

Green Roofs-Flood and Water Management Act

In 2008 the Government's Water Strategy for England acknowledged that the below-ground piped systems were insufficient when coping with extreme rainfall and identified the importance of Sustainable Drainage Systems (SUDS) and green roofs, for climate change mitigation and water management.

The Green roofs inclusion within the SUDS strategies have been limited to date however must surely be desirable, as they:

Extend the roofs waterproofing durability

Reduce energy consumption

Provide amenity space

The feasibility of the green roofs within the SUDS strategies shall therefore be evaluated against SUDS design criteria.

1) Water Quality Improvement by ways of reducing water runoff velocity, filtering pollutants such as nitrogen, copper, zinc, lead and calcium.

2) Amenity Benefits by ways of providing green space (e.g. roof gardens, communal parkland, areas of recreation and entertainment. Increased access to greener and cleaner spaces is believed to benefit health by reducing blood pressure, and reducing heart rates.

3) Ecological Enhancements: Almost 90% of England's population live in approximately 10% of land cover. Habitat lost to urban development therefore lowers species diversity-threatening future food and medicine sources. Whilst not directly replacing habitats green roofs can create compensatory habitat for a variety of flora and fauna.

4) Hydraulic Performance: Conventional drainage systems typically convey greater and faster run off however green roofs manage storm water more sustainably through the evaporation of rainfall intercepted by the plant surfaces.

Lowering Runoff Volumes...

Long term research from the University of Sheffield, has highlighted has indeed indicated that green roof's are indeed effective in reducing run off volumes.

Reducing Flood Risk....

The response to extreme events is clearly of most interest in managing flood risk....the green roofs performance in this response was equally noteworthy: Of 30 significant events, a hydrologic benefit was evident for every event, whether this be reducing the run off of water or reducing the volume of water.

With previous research haven been investigated different roof configurations and in different climates, worldwide, divergent results are inevitable. There are also seasonal trends.

The Future?

Hopefully in the future green roofs schemes will feature more prodominantly within SUDS Strategies, as they must recognise the physics-based research of the hydraulic benefits.

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