We love our green roofs.  Every roof area of our building is either covered
in plants or solar cells.  We have used some grasses but also lots of sedums
and some cactus.  Some of our roofs are visible to the public and have been
made into very pretty gardens with iris, blazing star, a variety of tall,
ornamental grasses, sedums with showy flowers and sedums with colorful
leaves, and a wide variety of native forbs and flowers.  There is also a
small, shallow "pond" on this roof that, in combination with a hidden
reservoir, stores rain water to water the plants here.  The other roofs are
less ornamental and store rainwater in the soil.  Here is a link that we are
still developing that shows some of the roofs (it refreshes every 30
seconds).  http://greenback.chias.org/demo.html    Some of the plantings on
these roofs are new last season so still have a lot of growing to do.
Unfortunately, the most mature and prettiest ones don't have cameras because
you can see them live.

Although we haven't had any real problems with the roofs and it doesn't seem
like we ever will, be sure everything under them is secure when they test
the membrane seal.  After installation of the waterproof membrane, they
flood the area and look for leaks.  If there is one you will know because it
will start draining into the galleries.

Steven M. Sullivan
Collections Manager
Chicago Academy of Sciences
Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum
www.naturemuseum.org
2430 N. Cannon Drive
Chicago IL 60614
773-755-5100x2042

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