A green roofs is one of the recommended methods of practice in improving the sustainability of urban areas. Green roofs can be used as a passive technique to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from the atmosphere. This is due to the role of green roof layers which are vegetation and soil to process the photosynthesis activities and to capture CO2 from the atmosphere. The objective of this paper is to quantify and to compare the amount of CO2 sequestration by ten potential green roof plants, in order to estimate the CO2 reduction within the surrounding atmosphere. It is found that, by planting the Alternanthera Paronychioides (Alternanthera P.) on the roof surface could reduce the indoor air temperature as well as the CO2, thus enhance the quality of air. This study also revealed that the Alternanthera P. generates the highest photosynthesis rate or CO2 uptake compared to the other nine plants, as high as 23.59 μmol CO2 m-2s-1. It is predicted that if the Alternanthera P. is to be installed on a 0.64 m2 test bed roof, the CO2 could be reduced almost 0.010 tonnes, annually. This suggested that by planting Alternanthera P. on the roof surfaces may potentially give advantages on mitigating the greenhouse gas emission, particularly CO2, and reducing the impact of global warming.

A green roof is an alternative roofing system of any building or house that provides a better environment for urban areas. It has the potential to mitigate urban water problems. This study aims to investigate the rainfall runoff performance of two non-monitored green roofs with two different slopes. The experiment uses two types of non-monitored green roofs, namely flat roofs and sloped roofs that were exposed to climatic conditions in Parit Raja. The physical characteristics of the roofs were observed and rainfall runoff data was collected. The results showed that when 4 L of water was manually poured onto the roofs, an average of 60.4% of water was retained on sloped roofs whereas 48.4% was retained on flat roofs. Based on the 5-minute interval data, the retention ranges between 55.6% and 71.2% for both roofs. In terms of daily rainfall for a week, the average percentage was 69.2% for sloped roofs and 70.6% for flat roofs. All three approaches show that the green roofs produced less water runoff compared to normal roofs with both slopes retained water efficiently. Therefore, rainfall runoff performance for two types of green roof slopes was investigated and the available storage for the green roofs was recorded. In conclusion, with little maintenance, non-monitored green roofs can be efficiently used as a water mitigation system for urban areas