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Green roof maintenance for non-residential buildings in tropical climate: case study of Kuala Lumpur

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Abstract

The implementation of a green roof is best suited for urban areas, as it provides an array of environmental benefits toward mitigating and adapting to climate change, including reduced flood risk, greenhouse gas emissions, urban heat island effects, and air pollution. However, green roof research and maintenance awareness in Malaysia are comparatively scarce, largely due to the absence of local tropical green roof guidelines. Therefore, this paper aims to explore current green roof maintenance practices and challenges for non-residential buildings in Malaysia through case studies and in-depth interviews. These results were then compared with three international green roof guidelines, namely those of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyor, Singapore’s National Parks Board, and the US Environmental Protection Agency. The findings show that current green roof maintenance elements implemented in the case studies are insufficient and inadequate for Malaysia’s tropical climate conditions. The paper recommends nine (9) green roof maintenance elements specific for non-residential buildings in Malaysia and the tropical climate: plant selection, rainwater harvesting system, pest control, monitoring performance, accessibility, irrigation cleaning, waterproofing membrane maintenance, plants and growing medium, and maintenance of outdoor furniture. As this paper has only included data from Kuala Lumpur, this limits the generalizability of the findings to other buildings in Malaysia and a tropical climate. The implications of this study may provide further direction for researchers to consider a larger sample size and other cities in a tropical climate. This study will allow policymakers and building stakeholders to develop suitable green roof maintenance guidelines.

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Fig. 1

Source:Zhang et al. (2020)

Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Source: Photograph of The Arc taken in 2018. Own work

Fig. 5

Source: Photograph of Laman PKNS taken in 2018. Own work.; PKNS (2019)

Fig. 6

Source: Hassan et al. (2018)

Fig. 7

Source: Photograph of FBE green roof taken in 2019. Own work

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Funding

This work was supported by the Fundamental Research Grant Scheme, Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia [FP002-2019A].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Building, Construction & Tropical Architecture (BuCTA), Faculty of Built Environment, University of Malaya, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

    Suzaini Zaid, Laila Medina Zaid & Zahiruddin Fitri Abu Hasan

  2. Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran

    Masoud Esfandiari

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  1. Suzaini Zaid
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  2. Laila Medina Zaid
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  4. Zahiruddin Fitri Abu Hasan
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Correspondence to Suzaini Zaid.

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Appendices

Appendix 1: Structured interview questions

Interviewee Details

2.1 Name:

2.1.1 Designation:

2.1.2 Job scope:

2.1.3 PART A: Introduction

  1. 1.

    How long have you worked in the building management/ facilities management department for this building?

  2. 2.

    How long has this building been operating? When was it constructed?

  3. 3.

    Are you familiar with the term ‘green roof’?

    [] YES [] NO

  4. 4.

    If YES, what was the reason behind implementing a green roof in this building?

  5. 5.

    On which floor is the green roof located at?

  6. 6.

    What is the floor area total of the green roof installed?

  7. 7.

    Is the green roof accessible by the public?

    [] YES [] NO

  8. 8.

    If YES, what is the security strategy applied to ensure the green roof is secured?

PART B: Maintenance

  1. 1.

    What type of green roof is installed in the building? Eg; Intensive, extensive, etc.

  2. 2.

    What type of maintenance and maintenance activities is carried out to ensure the efficiency of the green roof?

  3. 3.

    Are there any green roof maintenance guidelines that you follow? Ex: ASTM E2400, FLL Green Roofing Guidelines, RICS, CUGE, etc.

  4. 4.

    Is there any specific importance to applying the maintenance strategy you just mentioned?

  5. 5.

    How much is the total cost of installing the green roof?

  6. 6.

    How much is the total annual cost for maintaining the green roof?

  7. 7.

    What are the issues when it comes to maintaining the green roof as well as installing the green roof?

PART C: Data collection

  1. 1.

    Do you collect any data and information regarding the installed green roof? Such as rainwater collection, temperature, humidity, detailed drawing plans of the green roof, green roof slope, etc.

  2. 2.

    To investigate the efficiency of a green roof, data such as water runoff are needed. Do you collect such data?

    [] YES [] NO

  3. 3.

    If YES, when and how was the data collected?

  4. 4.

    If YES, may I ask for permission to view the collected data?

  5. 5.

    Do you have any suggestions for the suitable type of plants or substrate layer to be implemented on the green roof/rooftop garden for the tropical climate?

  6. 6.

    Are there any improvements relating to the green roof that you would like to suggest?

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Zaid, S., Zaid, L.M., Esfandiari, M. et al. Green roof maintenance for non-residential buildings in tropical climate: case study of Kuala Lumpur. Environ Dev Sustain 24, 2471–2496 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-021-01542-6

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