Effectiveness of Non-monitored Green Roofs for Stormwater Management

Abstract

A green roof is an alternative roofing system of any building or house that provides a better environment for urban areas. It has the potential to mitigate urban water problems. This study aims to investigate the rainfall runoff performance of two non-monitored green roofs with two different slopes. The experiment uses two types of non-monitored green roofs, namely flat roofs and sloped roofs that were exposed to climatic conditions in Parit Raja. The physical characteristics of the roofs were observed and rainfall runoff data was collected. The results showed that when 4 L of water was manually poured onto the roofs, an average of 60.4% of water was retained on sloped roofs whereas 48.4% was retained on flat roofs. Based on the 5-minute interval data, the retention ranges between 55.6% and 71.2% for both roofs. In terms of daily rainfall for a week, the average percentage was 69.2% for sloped roofs and 70.6% for flat roofs. All three approaches show that the green roofs produced less water runoff compared to normal roofs with both slopes retained water efficiently. Therefore, rainfall runoff performance for two types of green roof slopes was investigated and the available storage for the green roofs was recorded. In conclusion, with little maintenance, non-monitored green roofs can be efficiently used as a water mitigation system for urban areas