Rooftop Gardening – A Natural Thermostat
The concept of roof top garden may raise few eyebrows today, as many don’t know about its practices and advantages. However it is a very old practice dating back to medieval periods. To be exact, in the Mesopotamian civilization in 600BC, plants and trees have been grown on terraces above the ground. During roman civilization Pompeii had similar structure known as Villa of Mysteries where gardens and trees were grown on the elevated grounds. Even during 11the century Egypt had plenty of structures that had gardens on their roof.
Roof top garden is not different from any other garden except that it’s on elevated grounds preferably, on the terrace. This can also be termed as roof top farming. There are two ways of setting up gardens on top. One is Extensive Gardening where a thin layer of roofing material is used to cover the entire roof. It does not require much maintenance. Another is Intensive Gardening where entire roof is covered with soil or in containers. This type does require regular maintenance especially the drainage system.
Apart from lush green terrace, it also provides food and helps in controlling temperature in and around the building. Now again, few eye brows would have gone up with the mention of temperature control around the building. Let me explain about the cooling effect inside the building first.
On any given sunny day, the sun rays falls directly on the roof. With regular impact from the rays the material gets heated up and the heat is dissipated in and around. On a high rise building the top floor would brunt the heat more than any other floor. With buildings made of materials that absorb heat rather than reflect, it has become very difficult to maintain temperature without air conditioners. With rooftop garden, the terrace is covered with soil completely. The heat is absorbed by the soil and is prevented from reaching the roofing material. Similarly plants also absorb sun light for their photosynthesis and in that process maintain their temperature at around 4 to 5 degree Celsius.
Now when I mentioned about reducing the temperature around the building, what I meant was reducing global warming. This idea is not farfetched as some of you may think. In a village filled with more trees than houses, the sun’s heat is absorbed by the plants, thus resulting in cooler atmosphere in that area. However, in cities where there are hundreds of houses and buildings for one tree, the heat does not escape out. Roads and buildings absorb most of the radiation and thus maintain warm temperature all around. Scientist previously thought that painting the roof white would reflect the sun light back and reduce global warming.
Recent studies have indicated that green roof tops are much more effective in reducing global warming than any other methods. Carbon is the main element that increases global warming. Carbon Dioxide is emitted from every vehicle via smoke. Plants help in reducing the carbon level by absorbing them.
Author Byline:
Ruby Jones is an avid blogger. She identifies various free and discounted stuff like the coupon code 2013, deals and offers. She also regularly contributes her findings related to home décor, gardening and other DIY stuff.
