Green roofs in Australia and new zealand
Extensive green roofs for healthy cities.
Green spaces in high-density urban areas are essential for resilience during events such as heatwaves and floods. Australian cities such as Melbourne and Sydney are therefore integrating more greenery into the city by installing green roofs, also called ‘living roofs’ (not to be mistaken for rooftop gardens, by the way). We are talking about greenery in a thin substrate layer, on top of an existing roof, covering almost its entire surface.
Climate change resilience in australia
There is quite a bit of difference in temperature between Australia’s countryside and city areas. Studies show that this is mainly caused by the lack of greenery in cities, causing the so-called Urban Heat Island Effect. These studies also show that greenery can make a difference up to 4 °C. So what better way to deal with this issue than by using all those empty square metres on top of buildings? For over a decade, the City of Sydney has advocated green roofing to enhance biodiversity, human well-being and resilience to climate change effects.
Read more about the benefits
Lightweight extensive green roofs
Sempergreen’s expertise lies in the design, construction and maintenance of lightweight extensive sedum roofs . The roofs consist of plants specially grown in our local nursery to match the climate conditions in Australia and New Zealand. The green roof is provided in the form of lightweight sedum blankets. This option can be used on top of any building without altering or strengthening the building’s framework also making them the perfect retro-fit solution.
The benefits of green roofs and plant walls
The benefits of living roofs and vertical gardens are many. Besides making cities more attractive, they also improve air quality, reduce ambient noise, foster biodiversity and reduce the Urban Heat Island Effect, lowering the average city temperature. In addition, they retain rainfall, reducing the pressure on city sewers during thunderstorms.
Sedum ground cover: great effect, low maintenance
Besides being used on roofs, our sedum blankets can easily be applied on roundabouts, across vegetated slopes, in public parks or on tram or train tracks. While still lightweight, our Australian sedum blankets are slightly thicker than our European versions due to their higher water buffering properties. Sedum ground cover blankets are very versatile and require little maintenance.
