• Font Size    

Featured Slideshows

Openly Gay Celebrities
E-mail

Close Window E-mail This Page

Green Scene: Green Roofs Sprout In Philly

Required fields are marked with an asterisk(*)

The information you provide will be used only to send the requested e-mail and will not be used to send any other e-mail communications. Read more in our Privacy Policy

Send E-mail

   Print     Share +   
Jul 3, 2009 4:00 pm US/Eastern

Green Scene: Green Roofs Sprout In Philly

Reporting
Liz Keptner
PHILADELPHIA (CBS 3) ― Our unseasonable rain has been a boon for the city's newest green roofs. Even under the shadows of skyscrapers, green grows!

"The broad area of this roof contains only 3 inches of soil like material," said Charlie Miller of Roofscapes, who designed this roof for PECO's headquarters.

Those low plants are called sedum, succulent plants that are common in Asia and thrive in temperate climates.

They absorb thousands of gallons of water that otherwise could overflow into the river. Because the plants are always evaporating water, they help cool the building naturally.

"We're actually anticipating to see a 60-degree reduction in the roof temperature, which should help save energy overall at our main office building," said Ben Armstrong of PECO.

Practically a stone's throw away from PECO is Philly's first municipal green roof at the Free Library of Philadelphia.

President Siobhan Reardon showed us the terrace, which is flanked by 5000 square feet of plants.

"The grasses are about half the height of what they're going to be," said Reardon.

Summer sun won't wilt these plants! They're drought-tolerant and low maintenance, and the library hopes they thrive in Philly.

"It's actually exciting to see us taking what used to be tar and turning it into glorious green roofs," said Reardon.

The library, whose green roof was sponsored partly by PECO, hopes to open it for more public tours to show that green is good.




(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

CBS3.com Editor's Picks

You need the latest Flash player to view video content.
Click here to download.

Click here to bypass this detection if you already have the latest Flash Player.

Special Reports

Top News Stories

© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.