Monitoring Green Roof Performance With Weather Stations

In the world of environmentally sensitive and sustainable building, green roofs are becoming more popular in new construction and renovation projects. The investment in covering a roof with soil and plants can pay off through mitigating stormwater runoff, lessening the heat island effect, and offsetting interior heating and cooling costs.

In order to verify that a green roof is indeed providing the benefits to justify the investment, it’s important to monitor performance. For building projects participating in the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) Green Building Rating System®, documentation of green roof performance is a requirement.

Data logging weather stations are the ideal tools for the job. A weather station can measure parameters such as rainfall, stormwater runoff, temperature, relative humidity, and many others 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The information a weather station collects can help you make wise choices about designing, tuning, and maintaining a green roof.

This guide will explain how a weather station can be a valuable component of a green roof project, and will share information particular to this type of application.

Green Roofs

A green roof is a roof covered with layers of synthetic and natural drainage layers, soil, and growing plants. The roof’s base structural support is typically covered with insulation, waterproofing, drainage space, a filter membrane, a root barrier, and finally, soil and plants. Most large green roof projects are installed on flat roofs.