The Green Roof Manual The Green Roof Manual A Professional Guide to Design, Installation, and Maintenance Edmund C. Snodgrass and Linda McIntyre Frontispiece: This extensive green roof at Penn State University uses a few perennials and grasses to increase the ornamental value. Copyright © 2010 by Edmund C. Snodgrass and Linda McIntyre. All rights reserved. Photographs are by Edmund C. Snodgrass unless otherwise indicated. Published in 2010 by Timber Press, Inc. The Haseltine Building 133 S.W. Second Avenue, Suite 450 Portland, Oregon 97204-3527 www.timberpress.com 2 The Quadrant 135 Salusbury Road London NW6 6RJ www.timberpress.co.uk Printed in China Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Snodgrass, Edmund C. The green roof manual : a professional guide to design, installation, and maintenance/Edmund C. Snodgrass and Linda McIntyre. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-60469-049-1 1. Roof gardening. I. McIntyre, Linda, 1964– II. Title. SB419.5.S65 2010 635.9’671dc22 2010005074 A catalog record for this book is also available from the British Library. Contents Acknowledgments Introduction 1. Green Roof Basics What is a green roof? Green roof benefits A brief history of green roofs Will green roofs remain a small niche, or are their numbers likely to increase? 2. Anatomy of a Green Roof Assembly The living part of the green roof: growing medium The living part of the green roof: plants Non-green aspects of green roofs: loading, waterproofing, and drainage 3. State of the Industry Buyer beware Guidelines and standards Research and testing Professional and industry information Risk assessment Third-party certification Accreditation Green roof economics and the role of incentives Integrating green roofs into regulations and policy 4. Designing and Building Your Green Roof The design process The installation process Green roof design paradigms: simple extensive green roofs Green roof design paradigms: green roofs as amenity spaces Green roof design paradigms: specialty green roofs Special design considerations and challenges 5. Maintaining Your Green Roof Green roof maintenance basics Weeds: the first order of maintenance business Maintaining plant and soil health Maintaining the non-green elements of a green roof When maintenance isn’t enough Sample Specification Resources Selected Bibliography Index Campanulas light up a green roof on a dormitory at Swarthmore College outside Philadelphia.