Green Roof At Penn. Children’s Hospital Contributes To Leed Potential

At Pennsylvania State Hershey Children’s Hospital, a 6,000 square-foot green roof terrace was installed. It is the LiveRoof Hybrid Green Roof System.

Plant Roof.
Image credit: Liveroof.com

One thing that stood out in the introduction video was the ability to design the green roof system to achieve whichever patterns and colours you like, so it doesn’t only have to be a flat patch of green plants.  There can be flowers, etc. They shouldn’t even be called green roofs, as they can be other colours as well! (as you can see in the beautiful photograph above)

Apart from aesthetics, the green roof provides storm water management and insulation (because of the soil). Did you know that due to it’s insulation properties, soil is able to trap heat long enough to keep a home warm all day?

“Incorporation of natural spaces like green roofs helps Penn State Hershey fulfill our mission of providing comprehensive care to sick or injured children and their families, care that is focused on them and designed to help them heal not only physically, but spiritually and emotionally as well,” said Penn State Hershey Medical Center director of design and construction, Richard Aradine, in a press release. “Inclusion of these green spaces also puts us in a good position to achieve LEED certification for the new Children’s Hospital building, a commitment we’ve made for all new construction on our campus.”

There was no mention of gardens, though, but wouldn’t it be nice for it to serve as a garden as well? Maybe it can!

There is a saying that goes “grow food, not lawns.” This saying sheds light on the fact that people spend a significant amount of money watering and fertilizing lawns, and, on top of that, they spend money having them cut afterwards when they grow too much.

Garden fruits and vegetables do not need to be cut, just eaten and/or sold. They save money instead of costing you. It doesn’t get much better than that!

Source: Jetson Green

[source: http://feeds.importantmedia.org/~r/IM-greenbuildingelements/~3/iiKKE6swAW4/]