Previously, when I wrote about green roofs, there was no national policy or regulation in the UK that stipulated that new developments had to include green roofs. This put the UK on the back foot compared to other countries. For example, in Brazil and Switzerland, national legislation stipulates, “all new and renovated flat roofed buildings must have a green roof installed” (1).

Whilst the UK still has no legislation regarding the mandatory inclusion of green roofs in new builds, there has been some definite progress. For example, in 2010 there was a new bill called the Flood and Water Management Bill, which stipulates that new developments have to take responsibility for their flood water management [2]. The new bill has meant that the inclusion of green roofs in new developments has started to become the norm [2].

There has also been a new industry code of practice that explains the necessary requirements to build a successful green roof. This is the first time that there has been specific advice and guidance in the UK for anyone who builds a green roof [2]. The code is called the Green Roof Organisation Green Roof Code and it has been funded by European Commission [2]. Such improvements in the guidance that is available to those building Green Roofs will hopefully result in the idea of them being more accessible to developers and therefore we will see an increase in their inclusion in new flat roof developments. However, ultimately the UK still lacks the compulsory legislation that countries such as Brazil and Switzerland have and until this changes, we may still only see a superficial use.

Copies of the code can be downloaded from www.greenroofcode.co.uk.

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References

[1] www.4ecotips.com.

[2] The Garden, RHS magazine, January 2011.