Rainwater Interception System Roof Applications
Our rainwater interception system can be used within the following roof applications:
Applications
Green roofs
A green roof is one that is partially or completely covered with vegetation and a growing medium, planted over a waterproofing membrane and incorporating drainage and irrigation systems. Green roofs slow the rate of rainfall to the drainage system and can store and attenuate water. There are two types of green roofs:
Intensive roofs:
These roofs are typically a minimum depth of approx 13 cm, and supporting a wide variety of plants. These designs are heavier and require regular maintenance.
Extensive roofs:
These roofs are shallow, ranging in depth from 2cm to 13cm, they are lighter than intensive green roofs and require minimal maintenance.
The benefits created by a green roof, apart from helping with a stormwater management system, include:
- Providing insulation
- Creating a habitat for wildlife
- A natural usable space providing amenity
- Reducing lower urban air temperatures and mitigating the heat island effect
Brown roofs
Brown roofs, also known as biodiverse roofs, are similar to green roofs except they incorporate locally sourced materials to form the natural growing medium, usually locally sourced aggregate and soils. The roofs are allowed to self-colonise with plants or can be seeded with native species to increase their biodiversity potential.
Blue roofs
A blue roof is specifically designed to store water, intercepting rainwater at source and reducing peak flows using flow control outlets. Blue roofs can be open water surfaces, storage within a porous media or beneath a surface within a proprietary modular geocellular system. Stored water is treated (where required) and reused for the irrigation of green/brown roofs, amenity/recreation and biodiversity. It can also be re-used internally for laundry, car washing and toilet flushing. Blue roofs are an effective solution for making space for water in urban sustainable drainage schemes.
Plazas and podiums
Many buildings incorporate landscaped basements and roofs known as plazas or podiums, the basement usage can vary from habitable space or storage, to car parking. Increasingly these areas are being landscaped using both vegetation and hard standing materials and can be designed to incorporate a rainwater interception system.