The green roofs for reduction in the load on rainwater drainage in highly urbanised areas

Rapid weather phenomena, particularly sudden and intense rainfall, have become a problem in urban areas in recent years. During heavy rainfall, urban rainwater drainage systems are unable to discharge huge amounts of runoff into collecting reservoirs, which usually results in local flooding. This paper presents attempts to forecast a reduction in the load on the rainwater drainage system through the implementation of green roofs in a case study covering two selected districts of Opole (Poland)—the Old Town and the City Centre. Model tests of extensive and intensive roofs were carried out, in order to determine the reduction of rainwater runoff from the roof surface for the site under study. The potential of the roofs of the buildings to make a green roof was also determined using geographical information systems (GIS), for a case study of two central districts of Opole. It proposed a methodology to determine the rainwater drainage system load reduction by making green roofs. The analyses carried out lead to the conclusion that, in the districts selected for the study, the execution of green roofs on 25% of the of buildings with the potential to implement this type of roof solution could reduce the load on the rain water system by a degree that protects the city area from local flooding.