Proteus Waterproofing Ltd

A short while ago, if you took a bird’s eye view over London, or any major city for that matter, you would have seen acres of concrete and glass with bare rooftops, devoid of life.

Today’s birds have a very different view of our urban landscapes. Look closer, and springing up across many, if not all our major cities, is a tracery of green – small oases of life that provide habitats that are helping in the conservation of rare and declining species in our cityscapes.

This delicate network is composed of green roofs, each one in isolation creating a new self-sustaining eco-system for urban wildlife. But when these connect together, that’s when the magic happens. They forge a new landscape above our cities – stepping stones that form a corridor in the sky – that is helping to mitigate the loss of natural habitat due to increasing urbanisation.

Studies have shown that green roofs create new habitats and food sources for wildlife and can support a variety of different species from insects to birds to mammals.

Birds use them as stopovers and refuelling stations during migration or as foraging habitat during the breeding season, and, because the roofs host diverse insect, arthropod and invertebrate communities, they attract not only birds but also mammals such as bats.

In London, it’s been found that green roofs have had a positive impact on skylarks as well as a number of invertebrate species such as butterflies, beetles, centipedes, spiders, wasps, ants and bees, and they’ve also played a part in the conservation of rare breeding birds such as the black redstart whose habitat in London was declining with post-war redevelopment and the city regeneration projects of the 1970s and 80s. And it’s not just the fauna that is benefitting. As recently as 2021, a rare species of orchid that was believed to be extinct in the UK, was discovered on the 11^th floor rooftop garden of an office building in the City of London proving that even the most unlikely places can become havens for some of our rarest wildlife.

In fact, studies have been done in various cities across the UK and the world where it has been found that green roof installation provides a mechanism for increasing green space in urban landscapes and can be an effective tool for wildlife conservation.

However, if we continue with urbanisation at its current rate of growth, it is predicted that it will cause disruptive change to those creatures at the bottom of the food chain with a consequent knock-on effect to the many other birds and mammals that depend on them as a food source. It’s necessary therefore to devise and employ novel approaches to conservation to offset the negative impacts of urbanisation.

Not only do green roofs enhance biodiversity but they also help to mitigate the effects of climate change. Unlike impervious conventional roof surfaces, green roof systems absorb rainwater slowing up its release, encourage plant growth, attract birds and insects, and generally make a positive impact on the environment. Green roofs come into their own when rain first begins to fall, significantly reducing excess rainwater that can threaten to overwhelm sewers and storm drains, and playing their part in helping to mitigate devastating flooding such that we have recently seen this year in cities such as London.

However, there are green roofs and then there are green roofs, and it’s the quality of those green roofs that count. Cheap, poorly erected green roofs often make for poorly maintained habitats.

This is where we, at Proteus Waterproofing come in, with our Pro-Living® green roof system which we believe could be the greenest, green roof system ever launched in the UK.

Green roofs come in two varieties. They can be intensive – complete gardens on rooftops with shrubs, climbers, perennials, bedding and even small trees, or alternatively, they can be extensive with green carpets of low maintenance creeping plants such as sedums.

A Pro-Living® roof installed together with our unique Cold Melt® membrane, a product that is certified by the BBA to last for the lifetime of the building on which it is installed, combines environment friendly materials such as recycled rubber crumb and organically grown products to provide the best of both worlds – strength and sustainability in one system.

And there are not just ecological benefits to be reaped. Studies have shown that a building’s internal air temperature remains more constant under a green roof; hotter in the winter and cooler in the summer meaning that air conditioning and heating systems are less relied upon. And, let’s not forget that a green roof can improve sound absorption by as much as 8db compared with a traditional flat roof system.

There are so many benefits when it comes to installing a green roof system. Proteus offers some of the world’s most technically advanced waterproof membranes along with considerable in-house expertise to advise on and support every one of our green roof installations. It’s a win, win situation that promotes bio-diversity and optimises ecological and economical excellence.

At the beginning of this article, I asked if green roofs are the answer to encouraging wildlife back into urban cityscapes.  They are certainly part of the answer – a small piece of the complex jigsaw that makes up today’s world of climate change and environmental issues. Without doubt, green roofs not only help your home but also the planet. It’s one small step towards a more sustainable future – a step that we can put off no longer.

By Justin Pitman, Sales Director for Proteus Waterproofing