At first the work defined in a general way the Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems, describes their characteristics and makes a classification into which green roofs are categorized as systems of control surfaces. Then it presents an overview of green roofs, its definition, advantages and disadvantages of its implementation, its components, and different ways to classify them. Following this, it builds an analysis about policies to promote the installation of green roofs around the world, and develops all the related to the architectural point of view, with subjects such as green roofs factors that determine the building design, and the influence of these on the comfort conditions of the building, such as thermal and acoustic insulation. After, deals with matters related to environmental engineering where it develop the themes of global environmental impact, such as increasing green areas and the creation of habitat, reduced heat island effect and global warming, and an analysis of the environmental impact of materials which green roofs are made of. In addition, it also develops related to the environmental impact at local level, on issues such as air quality and water and hydrological behavior of green roofs. At this point it also discussed technical issues such as design, construction and maintenance. Finally it establishes recommendations on topics that require further development.