U Iowa Grows a Green Roof

Campus Technology: The University of Iowa recently opened its new $126 million interdisciplinary biomedical research center, which sports what it claims is a first for the state: a green roof. The 6,440 square-feet of rooftop on the Pappajohn Biomedical Discovery Building will feature soil six inches deep with green plantings. This rooftop greenery is intended to reduce rainfall runoff, filter water, reduce energy used on the interior for heating and cooling and prolong the life of the roofing materials. Runoff reduction is particularly important to the university, which lost several structures in a 2008 flood.

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