On Rooftops It's Blue, White—and Green

With the installation of three more green roofs on Penn State buildings, the university is reinforcing its position as an ecological leader among institutions worldwide.

In 2006, green roofs were installed on the new Forest Resources Building (4,700 square feet) and on the top of a horticultural facility known as “The Root Cellar” (4,500 square feet) not far from Eisenhower Parking Deck. Over the next couple of years, green roofs will be installed on three buildings under construction—the Dickinson School of Law at University Park (10,360 square feet), the Dickinson Law School in Carlisle (11,687 square feet), and the new health center on the University Park campus (12,500 square feet on two separate roofs).

“That will give us close to an acre of green roof space here at Penn State,” says Robert Berghage, director of the Center for Green Roof Research in the College of Agricultural Sciences. “When they are all done, we will have one of the highest concentrations—and perhaps the highest concentration— of green roofs on any campus in North America.

“The notable thing is that we are applying our own research,” Berghage adds. “Penn State is practicing what we preach. If we believe in green roof technology and benefits enough to invest in them and put them on our new buildings, then obviously we have full faith in them.”

Each spring semester, Berghage teaches a class called Ecological Roof and Living Wall Technology in which students get to work on the green roofs and monitor the associated changes in water runoff and temperature. “The living wall aspect is new,” Berghage explains. “Basically, living walls are sort of green roofs, but vertical. They are mostly built indoors.