A green roof: the importance of weight
When installing a green roof, there are several factors to consider. You are probably wondering how much such a green roof weighs and whether your existing roof will be able to bear that weight. In this blog, we discuss how our trays (also known as tiles) provide a solution to the challenges you face when installing a green roof.
What is ECCOsedum?
ECCOsedum is a green roof system consisting of ready-to-use green roof tiles for both flat and sloping roofs. In 1 tray, 7 different sedum plants are combined to obtain a nice variety of plants. Moreover, our sedum trays are pre-cultivated to 80-85%, which means you get immediate results. This is in contrast to conventional systems, which use substrate layers and sedum cuttings/sedum mats, which always need a certain period of time to take root and grow dense. Another advantage of our trays is their low weight per square metre, namely 84 kg/m² in fully saturated condition.
Advantages of a light green roof
The weight of a green roof system is a crucial factor to consider when installing a green roof. As mentioned, our sedum trays have a low weight per m², allowing the ECCOsedum system to be used on almost any existing roof. The low weight per m² has its own advantages.
Easy to handle
Our trays are very easy to handle and can be placed by 1 person thanks to their low weight, ensuring a very quick and efficient installation. The trays have a weight of 11 to 19 kg each, depending on whether they are dry or saturated. Keep in mind that this may vary slightly in practice as the tiles may expand when filled with substrate.
Easily removable
A concern that often surfaces when installing a green roof is: what to do in case of roof work or water infiltration? Because ECCOsedum is a green roof system consisting of tiles, you can remove them after installation, if necessary. With the classic system, the entire substrate layer must be removed and everything must be installed again afterwards.
Constant substrate thickness
The sedum trays are filled with a substrate, vegetation and drainage layer, with the substrate thickness being constant. In traditional green roofs, the substrate thickness varies from 1 to 8 cm, which brings weed growth. This is thus avoided with ECCOsedum green roofs. Moreover, this substrate layer has several functions. For instance, it provides nutrition, oxygen and water for the vegetation. In addition, the construction of the tray (in combination with the protective layer) ensures that the total water buffering volume is 35 litres per m² in a lightweight cassette. If you choose ECCOsedum cassettes, your green roof will weigh only 84 kg per square metre when saturated. The low weight makes it possible to install the trays on almost any existing roof, whether flat or sloping. For more information, be sure to visit our YouTube channel.
