Green Roofs for Stormwater Runoff Control

This online engineering PDH course will investigate green roofs as an approach to control stormwater discharge and pollutant content.  This course provides the data and background municipalities and private entities need to move forward with decisions to implement green roofs as a stormwater control technology, or best management practice (BMP).

Urban development has led to large areas of impervious surfaces such as parking lots and building roofs. Runoff from these areas is causing problems for many urban and suburban communities. Not only is total volume of wet weather flow (WWF) increased, but peak flow rates are also increased. Implementation of traditional stormwater BMPs in urban areas may not be practical in all circumstances due to limited available surface area and other concerns. Green roofs have been suggested as a means to reduce the stormwater impacts of development because they have been shown to both detain and retain stormwater. The purpose of this study is to quantify runoff reductions resulting from the use of extensive green roof systems.