At 2.5 acres, the green roof atop the Target Center in the Twin Cities is the nation's fifth-largest and the first installed on a North American arena.
The green roof in downtown in Minneapolis is planted with sedum and plants typical to the Minnesota prairie, including lupine, wild strawberry and dotted blazing-star, reports the Downtown Journal. The plants were grown off-site in New York.
The roof, which should last 40 years, is expected to capture about a million gallons of stormwater per year. Additionally, it should help alleviate the "heat island" effect that many typical downtown structures contribute to. The green roof, and 29 smaller conventional roofs that were part of the same project, cost $5.3 million, reports the Star Tribune.
During construction of the roof, 100 percent of the old roof was recycled by Tecta America, which handled the installation, according to a press release.
Target Center is home of the NBA's Timberwolves.
Green roofs are becoming more and more popular.
The Wood County Hospital in Bowling Green, Ohio, added a green roof with 15,000 square feet of live plants at a cost of $330,000, reports McClatchy, via Energy Central.
And a vegetative roof atop the headquarters of American Life and Accident Insurance Co. of Kentucky will reduce heating and cooling needs by 20-30 percent.
