TORO Irrigation - Roof terraces Graz

CITYGREEN Gartengestaltung GmbH, an experienced expert in the greening of buildings, roofs and green spaces of all kinds, was only able to start planning the greening of the two roof terraces in Graz city center after the building had been completed. In general, however, the earlier the planning of the irrigation technology is included in the construction planning, the easier and more cost-effective the implementation will be.

The first apartment was initially planned to have an extensive green roof garden. There were also no water connections. Then came the desire for a finished lawn covering around 100^m2.

Due to the structural design, only a very low substrate height of 15 cm (including an undersized water reservoir) could be provided. When planning the irrigation, it was therefore essential that the lawn was supplied with moisture exactly when and only when it was needed. Precisely, because this is the only way to avoid wasting water. For demanding projects, Mr. Hubert Trixl likes to call in the irrigation specialists from Prochaska. An additional challenge was the low water flow pressure on the roof of the house: 1.8 bar – i.e. only around 10 liters of water per minute. This was almost too little for automatic irrigation.

The Prochaska | TORO irrigation team used hydraulic calculations to determine the exact amount of water required and planned the irrigation precisely, taking into account other important parameters such as soil structure and shade. Prochaska put together a system with very short (5cm) pop-up sprinklers from TORO. The installation of the TORO Evolution® control unit with a weather station was essential. This ensured that the lawn plants were optimally supplied with water in all weathers.

In addition to a lawn area, the second green roof was also to have larger plant troughs with cherry laurel and small trees. Here, the Prochaska | TORO team, together with CITYGREEN, opted for the combined use of drip irrigation for the plants in the troughs and again short sprinklers for the lawn area.

For optimum results and maximum water savings, professional installation of an irrigation system is essential in addition to optimum planning. Under such conditions, the high precision of TORO control units and modern sprinkler nozzles reduces water consumption by up to 30% compared to conventional systems*.

*www.toro.com/en/about/corporate-responsibility/product-safety-sustainability/irrigation-efficiency

Here, two needs-based irrigation solutions were successfully implemented on green roof terraces with very tight specifications.

Irrigation of roof terraces in 8010 Graz