Green Roofs – From a fire technical point of view
Green roofing alternatives are something that has increased in popularity in the construction industry in recent years and the demand for green roofs is constantly growing. The green roofs entail several benefits from an environmental point of view and therefore give high points in most environmental classification systems that many construction projects now use.
From a fire protection point of view, on the other hand, green roofs in many cases pose a problem, as many desirable types do not meet the requirements of the test method specified in the National Board of Housing, Building and Planning’s Building Rules. If a roof does not meet the simplified requirements, so-called analytical dimensioning can be applied to show that the fire protection still meets the level of requirements specified in the building regulations’ functional requirements. In order to be able to carry out such a dimensioning, however, some knowledge of the material and its properties in the event of fire is needed.