The role of vegetation in regulating stormwater runoff from green roofs in a winter rainfall climate

Extensive green roofs composed of a thin layer of growing medium topped with vegetation can significantly reduce both the timing and magnitude of stormwater runoff relative to a typical impervious roof. However, regional climatic conditions such as seasonality in rainfall and potential evapotranspiration could strongly alter the stormwater performance of green roofs. In this study we evaluate the stormwater performance of green roofs in the predominately winter rainfall climate of the U.S. Pacific Northwest. We also test whether the amount of irrigation used to maintain green roof vegetation in a seasonally dry climate such as the Pacific Northwest influences stormwater performance. We monitored stormwater performance over one year for sets of experimental roofs constructed using three designs: a conventional impervious design, a medium-only design, and a typical extensive green roof design that included vegetation. During the winter rainy season vegetation had no significant influence on stormwater retention; medium-only and vegetated roofs reduced stormwater runoff nearly identically relative to the impervious roofs. In contrast, during summer vegetated roofs retained significantly more rainfall than medium-only roofs, although this effect depended strongly on the size of the rain event. In addition, total relative retention for both roof types was significantly higher during summer than during winter. Irrigation significantly reduced summer retention capacity of both medium-only and planted roofs, but only during the largest dry season rain event. These results suggest that cool wet season climates such as the Pacific Northwest are challenging ones for green roof stormwater performance. In order to optimize stormwater benefits of green roofs, designers should create explicitly regional designs that include plant selections better matched to the specific environmental and management constraints. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.