text: SCV roofs confront a magnitude of challenges due to the adverse weather conditions of the Southeastern United States. High humidity levels, excessive rain amounts, prolonged heat, mold, mildew, insects, disease, weeds, soil borne disease, maintenance concerns, and sloped roofs are the major challenges faced in designing a SCV roof. High humidity levels, excessive rain amounts, prolonged heat lead to decreased plant health on CAM plants that are standard in green roof design. The decreased plant health causes diseases, insects, root rot, and plant fatality.
  Soil-borne diseases occur more frequently due to warm, rainy, humid environment rhythm of the humid, subtropical region. SCV roof plants are researched and tested at several different universities throughout the southeast to avoid system failure and economic loses. Mold and mildew can form on areas of the roof and building when proper ventilation is not taken into consideration and are also repercussions of high humidity levels and prolonged heat.
  One of the greatest challenges to SCV roofs can be hurricanes. The strong hurricane winds can cause uplifting of the roofs. High winds can scour the growth media where the plants are established. Scouring is the blowing of the particles in the growth media from the surface of the vegetated roof, thereby reducing the volume and weight of growth media and its ability to ballast the green roof.
  Sloped roofs that are prevalent in the southeastern United States also pose a significant challenge for SCV roofs. Soil media erosion and poor plant establishment are the most common problems and can occur on any angle of sloped roof if not designed properly. Erosion blankets and green roof soil media stabilization products are used to mitigate the effects of sloped roofs. Flat roofs and low sloped roofs are conventional roof slopes by the building industry in the southeastern United States and allow for successful implementation of SCV roofs.