Hi, my name is Amber Mullen and today I would like to talk to you about rooftop gardening, what exactly it is, a bit of its history, and what types of plants and vegetables we can grow using this method.
So what exactly is rooftop farming? A roof garden is any garden on the roof of any building. It does provide a decorative benefit, but also is also to provides foods, building temperature control, hydrological benefits, architectural enhancements, corridors and habitats for wildlife such as wildlife walls, bat houses, bird nesting areas, bee hives, etc. Usually these roofs are done using green roof, hydroponics, aeroponics, air-dynaponics systems or container gardens. Aside from using already present space on the roof itself additional platforms can be created between high-rise buildings, that are similar to a bridge, which is why they are called “aero-bridges”.
Humans have grown plants atop structures since antiquity. Roof gardens are most often found in urban environments. Plants have the ability to reduce the overall heat absorption of the building which then reduces energy consumption. The primary cause of heat build-up in cities is insolation, the absorption of solar radiation by roads and buildings in the city and the storage of this heat in the building material and its subsequent re-radiation. Plant surfaces however, as a result of transpiration, do not rise more than 4–5 °C above the ambient and are sometimes cooler. This then translates into a cooling of the environment between 3.6 and 11.3 degrees Celsius , depending on the area on earth . Aside for rooftop gardens providing resistance to thermal radiation, rooftop gardens are also beneficial in reducing rain run off. A roof garden can delay and reduce the rate and volume of run off. As cities grow, permeable substrates are replaced by impervious structures such as buildings and paved roads. Storm water
