Urban Greening Factor

The Urban Greening Factor (UGF) is a planning tool designed to evaluate how green a building is. It is used by local authorities when assessing development of the built environment. This major policy initiative is set out in the New London Plan to increase green cover of cities. The aims of the UGF include to:

■□ Accelerate greening of the built environment – making sure London is greener as it grows.
■□ Ensure better planned, better quality greening interventions that contribute to a functioning GI network.
■□ Improve biodiversity.
■□ Reduce rainwater run-off.
■□ Improve carbon sequestration.
■□ Reduce air and noise pollution.
■□ Regulate urban temperature. ​

The UGF is relatively easy to calculate and score, however the targets of 0.3/0.4 are quite demanding. 
The London Plan suggested targets are 0.4 for residential properties and 0.3 for commercial buildings.

UGF figures for Bauder Green roof systems

 

Bauder Green Roof System

Urban Greening Factor

Bauder Impermeable Paving

0

Bauder Permeable Paving

0.1

Bauder XF 301

0.3

Bauder SB Sedum Blanket

0.7

Bauder Wildflower Blanket
Substrate depth 100 to 150mm
Substrate depth 150mm+

0.7
0.8

Biodiverse Green Roofs
Undulating substrate depth 100 to 150mm
Undulating substrate depth 150mm+


0.7
0.8

Bauder Intensive Landscape

0.8

 

The UK Government has announced that Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) will become mandatory in England for new developments. UGF will be delivered onsite and must still be met; even if, for BNG, a developer is looking to offsite solutions. 

Urban greening will become an integral consideration of new developments and the successful execution of these projects will require the involvement of landscape design early on in the process. Bauder is able to develop comprehensive roof systems to meet both UGF and BNG. Book a meeting with your local technical manager for further information.