I just read about this green roof and I wonder how much it will cost me if I want to use this kind of roof on top of my building? looks convenient, and most interesting part is it has cooling effect to the building.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_roof

imho. its not feasible to do so in Malaysia environment. unless, you have good water supply into the plants, strong roof support, and constant maintenance - will cost you a bomb. what kind of house youre talking about?

You don't want some ant and worm live ontop your roof.

Malaysian residential house roof, not practical
Building roof, are you prepared for the extra maintainence work ??

Hey sanfa, well what type of building you own?
Its been done in Singapore; not obvious its not possible. Just your maintenance is the issue.

Its feasible for those 3 story commercial building with good exposure to sunlight.For our Malaysia general housing;those terrace are not capable of doing it. require alot tear up.

Feasibility is there if owner have a good use of the area.- roof top bars or moon light cinema.

Eg:SG-Green.Roof


A standard design type of how its done, consult landscape architect`s about this, cos the design varies around climate.


On the logic of cooling effect on the building- it act like a dampener for the heat absorption by concrete slab on roof top. If you are on concrete slab, then its an issue where you need further consultation from architects or structural engineers of how to work it out. For DIY, not advisable because when there is issue of water seeping thru; will be hard for you to deal with.

nah wont be the issue; if it was maintained well.

actually can be an income source like; you can plant vege with short roots also.

Nice! wish to have this green roof one day if i move to landed house

wish on, if you landed on good personal lots then okay; if not forget abt doing it on terraces or semi detached.

yeah, I'm actually planning to build a house with flat roof (building design). still in planning process. Ordinary 2 storey house with a garden style rooftops.. what kind of extra maintenance that mention above?

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Added on April 12, 2012, 10:30 amits better for they to stay on my roof than going into my house.. LOL.. joking.. na, I read many articles bout this kind of roof and those ant and worm never be a problem.. the only problem occurs is water leakage..

trying to build something unique

This post has been edited by sanfa: Apr 12 2012, 10:30 AM

its better you consult an architect about this. General hand-on`s or experience cant bare the defects of design after its done. Overseas architect or landscape architect are now on this trend; local Malaysia still very lack understanding of this design & after done all the workmanship.

I seen alot commercial building/future residential mis-used the Green ideology as a way to keep their design good.

Hi fellow forumers,

I was planning to post this question but found out this topic after some searching.
I will just tumpang this post.

I have a 2 and a half floor terraced house to be renovated and actually thinking of tearing down the pitch roof of 2nd floor to make it flat for this roof garden (approx 290 sqrft) purpose which to be accessed from the 3rd floor.

My house is in penang island. I wonder anyone here can consult how costly will that be, and whether or not it's practical.

The reason I thinking of ditching the pitch roof is there were mini space extension done by previous owner on 2nd floor with rc flat roof but leakage happens causing water marks inside the room.

Hi,

For a wet country like Malaysia we have huge amount of rainfall; adding a living roof is nice green concept but unless you are prepared to spent a lot of money preparing for the green roof and maintaining thereafter is a big challenge.

If you really want a green roof I believe you should ask yourself some basic questions:
1. Why do you want a Green Roof - does it meet any of your personal financial goals?
2. What would a green roof do for me?
3. How much time am I going to spent on the green roof in a day/week/month?

Once you are satisfied with those answers, maybe the green roof can be for you. There are also baby steps green roof. Where by you plant on 4x4 planters flat tray boxes. Thereby allowing you to move the plants as required for maintenance/roof repairs. Or you could create an Orchid garden instead; and mix of grey water recycling, etc. You can start small instead of those fully committed green roof like the pictures you are showing.

That's informative.
For 2 and 3 I get my answer, but for 1, I did do some searching via google and I do see price is one crucial part of having a roof garden.. Which it might be helpful if someone could give a rough estimation like how much it gonna cost per sqrft?

Besides this my concern is does the idea of having roof garden affects the thickness of slab and beam underneath... and scariest issue of all, leakage.
Then that will be nightmare.

It sounds like if wanna do it, need to consult good landscape designer and get them involved. that might cost another bomb..

isnt it?

I believe you will need a concrete type roof or any type of roof that can hold lots of weight. When you do a Green Roof/Living Roof with soil you need to factor in water/ grey water recycling; and how you can manage the drainage. You need to take into consideration the type of plants/grass, that will be planted. How thick the soil; how are you going to water the plants during dry periods, how do you ensure fast drainage in terms of heavy rain fall.

I saw a documentary example of a living roof; this couple used vines/creeping plants on their roof; basically no soil, plants are watered using mist spray. But they were living in a desert area.

I suggest you research on the amount of rain fall you get for the whole year, as well.

Start with the type of plants you want on your roof, work backwards on the suitable soil type (then you will know the amount of soil needed) which affect the strength of the roof to hold the weight, the water required. You will need to calculate the amount of weight of Soil+ water soaked (i.e. after heavy rainfall).

Without a doubt waterproofing on the concrete roof is required; you will need to figure - worst case scenarios on roof leaks, repairs and maintenance.

Cheers.

Thanks for your information aberglow.
Yup, those creeping vines are good and yes I am having them already.

About the green roof, if I am ditching the pitch roof away, I might just make it accessible and partially sheltered. May be I am not touching the roof at all eventually.
One end is fear of workmanship (I hardly see renovated house with no leaking issue), which requires me to put a lot of planning thoughts. The other end get one more consultant involved on green roof which surely overshot budget.

If u manage to find someone to do the flat roof for u do give us an update here. i am also interested but theres not much info available here.

Hi everyone,

I know this is 5 years too late , but one of my friend is doing this new green roof system in Malaysia that's soilless, lightweight (using fire-rated growing mat made out of recycled material among other things, less than 50mm thick growing medium), low-maintenance (no cutting required, automatic irrigation with driplines/sprinklers installed) and pregrown (meaning installation will be instant green). Can be easily retrofitted onto existing metal roof (up to 40 degrees), RC roof, glass roof or tiled roof.

Only thing is that the plants on the roof are mostly the succulent kind of grass species.

I think the company is called Belalang something Green roof.

The one he brought me to see was at Jalan Raja Chulan bus shelter: