Office vegetated ceiling,
Madrid
In Madrid, we had the opportunity to implement a green roof project on the roof of an office building, executed in two distinct phases. Initially, a section of the green roof was installed, which not only improved the aesthetics of the building, but also provided tangible benefits such as thermal insulation and external noise reduction. Pleased with these positive results, the company decided to expand the green roof to the rest of the roof when they expanded their office space.
This expansion not only doubled the amount of green area on the roof, but also reinforced the company’s commitment to sustainable practices and improved well-being for its employees.
Last August we installed a green roof in Madrid as a solution to energy savings, which led to a reduction in air conditioning and consequently to economic savings.
The system we use for the installation of this roof is of the rhizome type, which is characterized by the fact that it is not walkable.
Description of the system
These green roofs are composed of the following materials:
Diagram of the rhizome system
- A waterproof sheet, which is made of liquid polyurethane.
- Polyurethane is a monocomponent product that dries with ambient humidity, forming a continuous and elastic membrane that is resistant to extreme temperatures and ultraviolet rays.
- A separating layer is made of a non-woven geotextile made of 100% high tenacity polypropylene staple fibers, mechanically bonded by a needle-punched and heat-set process, with a thickness of 0.6mm and a grammage of 100gr/m2.
- The substrate has rock wool sheets of density 100kg/m2 with dimensions 1000x600x40mm.
- The vegetation planted was sedum sod.
The irrigation system is buried and consists of 16 cm diameter pipes with integrated drippers of 33 to 55 cm. The pipes are made of low-density polyethylene.
These types of systems are born as active sustainable solutions before an infinity of passive and temporary options, such as ventilation. These types of solutions are not very well known by people, but they are undoubtedly considered one of the most effective and permanent solutions to keep the house cool in summer. That’s why we invite you to discover more about active roofs by reading this article about active cooling in green roofs.
We like to be in contact with our clients and know if they are satisfied with the result of our work. In this case, the client told us that it was worth installing this type of roof, since after its installation he has not put the air conditioner back on.
In August 2018 we started a new project consisted of installing a Rhizome system green roof on a roof of an office in Madrid.
Initially, the roof was installed up to half of the extension of the roof, since that was where the office was located. A year later they contacted us because they had bought the adjoining space and wanted to extend the office area. After observing the results of energy savings they had obtained during that year, they decided to extend the roof area in the same way with another vegetation cover.
Energy efficiency
The main purpose of installing green roofs is to achieve energy savings. By energy saving or also called energy efficiency we understand:
The lower than average consumption of energy used to carry out an activity.
Currently the increase in CO2 emissions into the atmosphere have increased significantly therefore the main objective of energy efficiency is an environmental awareness where the citizen consumes less energy and therefore achieve energy savings.
Benefits of green roofs
From SingularGreen to achieve greater energy efficiency as a solution we propose green roofs as it produces a number of effects both direct, indirect, functional or health and some of them are as follows:
Improved rainwater management
When heavy rains occur, there is a situation in which the sewage system is insufficient to evacuate all the water. Therefore, green roofs help to reduce runoff by storing large amounts of water on their surface.
They save water
Water consumption is balanced and optimized due to the accumulation and use of rainwater.
Saves space
It is not necessary to find space for vertical gardens or green roofs, it is possible to take advantage of an existing space.
Reduces the heat island effect
The Urban Heat Island Effect (UHI) is the increase in ambient temperature in urban areas, caused by the replacement of natural vegetation by pavements, buildings and other structures designed to provide a habitat for the population. In response to this, green roofs act in the following way: On the one hand they absorb solar radiation, and on the other hand, they cool the air through the transpiration of the species, which absorb moisture from the substrate and expel water vapor.
Filtering pollutants
Large cities are subjected to very high levels of pollution, so the vegetation in green roofs helps to absorb these pollutants.
Increased thermal insulation
Green roofs have a lower thermal transmittance and a higher thermal inertia than conventional roofs, which translates into insulation.
Improved acoustic insulation
Green roofs are excellent noise attenuators, especially at low frequencies. An extensive roof can reduce up to 40 dB, while an intensive roof can attenuate up to 50 dB.
Rhizome system green roof
The Rhizome system is a very light and thin vegetative cover, which can be placed on flat or sloping surfaces due to the adherence of the substrate to the lower layers of the system itself.
The Rizoma system uses the latest technology in synthetic substrates, the rock wool panels perform the functions of retaining, draining and substrate layer, with only 4 cm thick. On them are placed species of the Sedum genus or grass sods, obtaining a total thickness of the substrate of 7 cm. In this case we have an underground drip irrigation system.
In these images we show you the assembly we made in 2018 and the current assembly.