Forge green roof has it covered

As visitors to our Shropshire office know, Forge Barn has a green roof. It’s covered in sedum, a low growing plant which needs very little maintenance and is tolerant of drought conditions. Sedum is available in a variety of species, offering a range of colours and heights. If you are interested in creating a wildlife-friendly roof and would like your building to look visually attractive, a green roof, or a living roof as it is sometimes called, is well worth considering.

There’s a lot more to a green roof than just providing colour and interest. Green roofs have a number of benefits. They provide excellent insulation, keeping us warm in the winter and cool in the summer. They slow down rainwater run-off and provide a wildlife habitat.

There are a couple of downsides. A green roof is comparatively heavy, weighing around 125kg per m2, which is about 2.5 times the weight of slate. If you are interested in having a green roof installed, it’s worth getting structural advice. It’s also quite expensive, costing around £100 per square metre, compared to slate at around 40 per square metre.

Charles Lawson, Director