Green Roofs, Facades, and Vegetative Systems : Safety Aspects in the Standard

The research investigates the safety of vegetative systems combined with the building envelope (green roofs, green façades/walls). In the last years, these systems have technically evolved and countless new systems have been developed, both horizontal and vertical: modular, biodiverse, vegetable, brown, extra-light/extra weight green roofs, and modular organic panels, cladding-plant container, hydroponic walls and several others. In the meantime their application has expanded to terraces of public buildings like, hospitals and schools, interiors, and also contexts like tall buildings, in adherence to load-bearing structures and even along infrastructures. In addition to the growing popularity among the general public and the marketability for developers, country/city governments have encouraged the widespread of vegetated technologies through forms of tax relief and advantages. The presence of plants and organic materials in the layering, the quick commercialization of new systems, their increased unconventional applications (i.e. trees on the skyscrapers’ façades) make the question about safety imperative. This research provides an unprecedented in-depth study of the state of the art on vegetative systems safety, which fills a gap in the knowledge of greenery systems and their safety measures. The methodology includes the extended analysis of safety requirements, direct and indirect, obtainable from documents as: standards, guidelines, manuals, building/safety/city codes and research reports designed by national and international recognized institutions/authorities/associations. The investigated requirements concern fire safety/fire design, structural safety/wind design, maintenance and irrigation, but also systems design/layering, single components and materials. The analyzed documents come from all over the world: United States and Canada in North America, Germany, France, UK and Italy in Europe, Australia, and Singapore, Japan in Asia. From the identification of the safety requirements and their comparison, the research identifies risk elements, gaps and desirable research lines for improving the safety of vegetative systems applied to the building envelope and built enviroment. The research was peer reviewed by an international team of twenty experts of green buildings, fire safety, landscape design, wind design, greenery systems.