Hydroponic Green Roof Systems as an Alternative to Traditional Pond and Green Roofs: A Literature Review

Abstract

Among the several methods investigated over the past few years for the thermal mitigation of buildings in urban areas, green roof systems seem to be one of the most suitable solutions for several reasons, and researchers encourage the further study and implementation of these roofing techniques because of the potential benefits that they offer. So far, intensive, extensive and semi-intensive green roofs are considered to be a better option in terms of both energy efficiency and green area increase. However, there are some aspects that cause green roofs not to be suitable to every application, preventing their use from spreading, such as high maintenance and costs required by these sophisticated systems. Few studies aimed at overcoming the limits of green roofs have hinted at the possibility of implementing hydroponic cultures in green roof systems. This soil-less technology might overcome some issues, such as identifying the suitable substrate to support the growth of the vegetation. This paper aims to provide a systematic review of hydroponic green roof systems (HGRS), based on the rigorous analysis of the evidence gathered from the thorough evaluation of the available literature on the subject, in order to assess their potential use as an alternative to traditional green roofs. The review was carried out by analyzing studies that have assessed the performance of hydroponic green roofs as well as those of comparable systems, such as pond roofs and green roofs. The results of these studies show that HGRS provide similar performances to the above-mentioned systems in terms of the passive conditioning effect, lowering the cooling/heating load of buildings, with slight changes depending on the climatic conditions. However, they offer other significant properties such as higher efficiency in water runoff management, alongside others discussed in this paper, while also requiring minor maintenance. Significant results have been provided; however, gaps in the knowledge have also emerged, and further studies need to be conducted to provide exhaustive information.