The largest green roof in Seattle covers 60,000-sq-ft or about 1.4 acres, but it’s not at a public park or a museum. It covers the roof of the parking garage adjacent to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation headquarters, which is currently under construction and seeking LEED gold certification. The garage itself is also seeking LEED gold. The vast, sloping green roof is easily visible from atop the Space Needle and from homes on Queen Anne Hill.
From DJC.com, via Groovy Green:
Shannon Nichol of GGN, said the green roof sets a precedent in Seattle because of its size and design, which was inspired by German roofs. In Germany, she said, a green roof is viewed not as a garden but as a functional roofing choice that is optimized to be as low maintenance as possible. “You could call it a minimalist green roof.”
The Gates roof has five inches of soil over a layer of synthetic drainage. Other styles of constructing green roofs include sod-based roofs and planter-based roofs. Models predict the roof will treat about 90 percent of the water that falls on it. The other 10 percent goes into the local combined sewer overflow system.
Nicol says that they hoped to give area residents a nice view, providing an example of how green roofs can beautify cities. It softens the stark concrete urban environment and is meant to reflect the natural history of the area, which used to be a meadow.
You might think that ol’ Bill is trying to make up for having America’s largest carbon footprint, but the Gates Foundation wasn’t even going for sustainability when they made it. Lisa Howe Verhovek, community relations manager, says being green it wasn’t specifically a part of their mission.
Intentional or not, it’s great to see Seattle getting in on the green roof action. Perhaps this will spark a trend that will give this rainy city some mood-brightening greenery.
Link [DJC] via [Groovy Green]
