The influence of green roofs on reducing storm runoff

Abstract

The present research studies the way to reduce storm runoff in urban conditions by means of installing green roofs when projecting, constructing, re-constructing buildings, as well as performing major repairs. Sewer systems of rapidly growing modern cities are often unable to cope with the load. This is why today environmentally friendly and efficient reduction of storm runoff is one of the major challenges in the field of urban development. Despite the fact that foreign research on the topic and the experience of applying the green roof technologies abroad proved considerable reduction of runoff, the question of feasibility of this method in the Russian reality remains open. It is important to take into account not only water-retaining capacity of green roofs per se, but also meteorological features of the area of the planned construction, production technology methods and used building materials. Until now, little attention has been paid to this subject in the Russian Federation, which has consequently delayed the introduction of modern green roof technology in our country, as well as the development and approval of the necessary regulatory framework. The article provides theoretical proof of the efficiency of green roofs in reducing storm and snowmelt runoff in the climate conditions of Central Russia based on statistical and empirical data. The results obtained may prove valuable for further development of green technologies in construction and for ensuring environmental safety in our country.

Keywords

• green roof
• storm runoff
• stormwater management
• pollution
• evapotranspiration
• vegetation life cycle
• storm sewer system
• stormwater calculation