Chicago Apple Store Has a Green Roof
by Warren McLaren, Sydney on 05.21.06
Apple have just opened their Fifth Avenue retail store to much fanfare. But we prefer their Michigan Avenue store in Chicago. ‘Coz it’s the one with the 2,400 ft2 (223m2) green roof. This was created with 302 four-inch deep GreenGrid® modules, that were installed over a 12 hour period. Sedum kamtschaticum was the species of grass (er, well, to be more accurate, a perennial succulent groundcover) selected, because it takes “little maintenance, [and] is very hardy in the Chicago climate.” But in some ways the best thing about this green roof may just be that its prominent presence can be seen by surrounding offices. It might just get folk thinking about the disconnect between our built and natural environment. ::GreenGrid via MacDailyNews.
FYI - Sedum kamtschaticum is not a grass, it's a funky, thick-leaved, flowering plant that grows very low and works very well as a groundcover as long as you aren't walking on the area.
Turil beat me to it. Sedum kamtschaticum is definitely not a grass. It's a succulent which means it can pretty much survive on water from rain without requiring any extra labor to keep it alive. Most of the small species in the Sedum genus are great for green roofs.
Sorry, wasn't expecting to be taken so literal. I should've know to be more precise. Consider my wrist slapped.
no matter what it is, it's a damn good idea. It could have been even better if it was this "grass" and some solar panel to have some green energy!
Damn -- Wish LA's Apple store was as green as this. Sadly, it's in a huge mall (The Grove). I think we have one in Santa Monica too, so SoCal's totally saturated with Apple stores --
This is good for Apple, but Chicago has had a well-publicized green roof initiative for years, so it may not spark as much dialogue as it might somewhere else. Imagine - a city where being green is routine! See more here.
If Wal-Mart had a store with a roof like this, some of you would be singing a completely different tune.
Quit whining about WalMart, Al. You LOVE WalMart. We get it.
Do you have anything to comment about the actual topic - Apple and the green roof of its Chicago store?
Wal-Mart already has several (finished or under construction) green-roofed stores, with more on the way: http://tinyurl.com/gdycs
and previous treehugger story,
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/04/chicago_walmart.php
Regardless of the rest of the corporation's attitude and problems, or if you think it's just greenwash, every little bit helps.
Green roofs aren't really a new idea. Europeans have been using them for years. In Chicago, the city side of the city/county building (one building, to different sides) has had a green roof since the 2001. The green roof serves many purposes: combat the urban heat island effect, reduce heating and cooling cost in the building, collects rain water that would normally lost to the sewers. The city/county building was perfect for the green roof experiment since they could study temperature on the county side vs the city side of the building's roof.
also, isn't the ONE (first) wal-mart to be built within the chicago city limits going to be sporting a green roof as well?
Not to mention, Chicago already has a Target AND a McDonald's with green roofs!