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Green Roofs’ End of Life: A Literature Review

Author

Listed:
  • Gianfranco Rizzo

    (Engineering Department, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze Ed. 9, 90128 Palermo, Italy)

  • Laura Cirrincione

    (Engineering Department, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze Ed. 9, 90128 Palermo, Italy)

  • Maria La Gennusa

    (Engineering Department, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze Ed. 9, 90128 Palermo, Italy)

  • Giorgia Peri

    (Engineering Department, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze Ed. 9, 90128 Palermo, Italy)

  • Gianluca Scaccianoce

    (Engineering Department, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze Ed. 9, 90128 Palermo, Italy)

Abstract

Green roofs are increasingly being used in urban settings because of the many benefits they are capable of providing. Because of their widespread use, the issue of how to conduct proper disposal of green roofs once they have reached their end of life is beginning to be raised. The present study is a review of the scientific literature published between 2007 and 2022. Specifically, the contribution of this review study is to clarify whether a waste scenario exists and if so, identify the methodological frameworks and/or criteria used in green roof-related studies to establish the end-of-life scenario of a given green roof, which will then be used to analyze its environmental and economic performance. The literature analysis indicated that a standardized method, widely adopted, which allows identifying recovery and/or disposal treatments to be assigned to waste from the disposal of a green roof, is missing. In general, the feeling one gets from reading all these articles is that when it comes to the end of life of green roofs, everything is rather vague, and that one proceeds in no particular order. The main results of the study are a collection of the criteria currently proposed in the literature to identify the end-of-life scenario of green roofs. These essentially include predominant waste management practices in place in the country where the green roof is located, safety sheets of products constituting single layers of the green roof, and statistical data on the management of specific types of waste. The results also include an overview of the current body of knowledge related to the management of the end-of-life of these building components. This study also intends to serve as a starting point for opening a debate on the disposal of green roofs, a current hot topic and still open as it has not yet been codified. Finally, some recommendations for future research work in this field are proposed.

Suggested Citation

  • Gianfranco Rizzo & Laura Cirrincione & Maria La Gennusa & Giorgia Peri & Gianluca Scaccianoce, 2023. "Green Roofs’ End of Life: A Literature Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(2), pages 1-16, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:16:y:2023:i:2:p:596-:d:1024824
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Coma, Julià & Pérez, Gabriel & Solé, Cristian & Castell, Albert & Cabeza, Luisa F., 2016. "Thermal assessment of extensive green roofs as passive tool for energy savings in buildings," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 1106-1115.
    2. Jaffal, Issa & Ouldboukhitine, Salah-Eddine & Belarbi, Rafik, 2012. "A comprehensive study of the impact of green roofs on building energy performance," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 157-164.
    3. Aboelata, Amir, 2021. "Assessment of green roof benefits on buildings’ energy-saving by cooling outdoor spaces in different urban densities in arid cities," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 219(C).
    4. Stefano Cascone, 2019. "Green Roof Design: State of the Art on Technology and Materials," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-27, May.
    5. Laura Cirrincione & Maria La Gennusa & Giorgia Peri & Gianfranco Rizzo & Gianluca Scaccianoce, 2022. "The Landfilling of Municipal Solid Waste and the Sustainability of the Related Transportation Activities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-16, April.
    6. Elisa Peñalvo-López & Javier Cárcel-Carrasco & David Alfonso-Solar & Iván Valencia-Salazar & Elias Hurtado-Pérez, 2020. "Study of the Improvement on Energy Efficiency for a Building in the Mediterranean Area by the Installation of a Green Roof System," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-14, March.
    7. Maria La Gennusa & Pere Llorach-Massana & Juan Ignacio Montero & Francisco Javier Peña & Joan Rieradevall & Patrizia Ferrante & Gianluca Scaccianoce & Giancarlo Sorrentino, 2017. "Composite Building Materials: Thermal and Mechanical Performances of Samples Realized with Hay and Natural Resins," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(3), pages 1-15, March.
    8. Peri, Giorgia & Traverso, Marzia & Finkbeiner, Matthias & Rizzo, Gianfranco, 2012. "The cost of green roofs disposal in a life cycle perspective: Covering the gap," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 406-414.
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