Living Green in College

University of Minnesota Student Transforms Campus Roof Into Living Green Landscape

For more than two years, Jonathon Hensley, a horticulturalist and graduate student at the University of Minnesota, used his academic expertise and interest in renewable energy to transform the roof of the school's Williamson Hall from a traditional building cover into a living green landscape.

Hensley experimented with planting and growing a variety of perennial plants, grasses and bulbs on the roof in an effort to create a low-maintenance energy efficient system that would benefit the entire building. Infrared thermometer readings taken inside Williamson Hall during the course of the project suggested that the parts of the building directly under the living roof were noticeably cooler than areas that were not.

Despite promising results, the initially costly two-year living roof project recently came to a close; however, valuable research related to the green experiment may be used by the city of Minneapolis' Parks and Recreation Board for upcoming projects. READ MORE  OR  HERE