Green Roof Ford Rouge Plant

At the behest of then chairman of the board bill ford the dearborn assembly plant at the company s historic rouge facility was rebuilt in 2000 as a green showpiece under the.

Green roof ford rouge plant.

It s ten years since the start of construction of the green roof on top of the big river rouge plant. Last month unveiled a huge green roof at its new truck plant in dearborn mich. In 1999 architect william mcdonough entered into an agreement with ford motor company to redesign its 85 year old 1 212 acre 490 ha rouge river facility. Ford elected to have an irrigation system installed as part of the green roof project as an insurance policy since the green roof would be viewed by thousands of rouge plant visitors each year as part of their factory tour program and they wanted to avoid any temporary setbacks during periods of extreme or prolonged drought or hot weather.

Kevin described it in treehugger in 2004. The living roof s primary function is to collect and filter rainfall as part of a natural storm water management system. The 10 4 acre living roof is part of ford s redevelopment of the ford rouge center which includes a number of progressive environmental initiatives. Working together the living roof porous pavement underground storage basins natural treatment wetlands and vegetated swales significantly reduce the amount of storm water flowing into the rouge river while also improving water quality.

World s largest green roof ford s dearborn truck plant has the world s largest living roof according to guinness world records. The 10 4 acre sedum roof insulates the building. The design of the new assembly plant includes people friendly features such as overhead safety walkways day lighting team rooms cooler air in the summer. Installed in 2003 the living roof on top of ford s dearborn truck plant is flourishing as an environmental touchstone amid the iconic rouge center.

The roof is covered with 10 4 acres of sedum a genus of perennial plants that tops a 3 in thick four layer system incorporating a root resistant membrane a drainage layer a fleece mat and a vegetation blanket see schematic.