What are the major advantages of green roofs?
Green roofs provide many ecological and aesthetic benefits, including: • Controlling stormwater runoff, erosion and pollution, • Improving water quality, • Mitigating urban heat-island effects, cooling and cleaning the air, • More than doubling the service life of the roof, • Conserving energy, • Reducing sound reflection and transmission, • Creating wildlife habitat, and • Improving the aesthetic environment in both work and home settings. For a German in-depth case study in which green roofs are an integral part of urban stormwater control, see Study of Extensive Green Roofs in Berlin, by Manfred Köhler and Marco Schmidt.