MNN - Mother Nature Network

The Mercy Health System’s McAuley Ministries has awarded a $500,000 grant to the YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh to install a green roof on the Thelma Lovette YMCA.  With a $9 million budget, the construction of the new YMCA building will begin later this year. 

 

The green roof at the YMCA will have an exercise area for adults, space for community activities and an outdoor playground for children.   The project will use the guidelines set forth by the U.S. Green Building Council and LEED certification will be pursued.

 

So what is a green roof? 

 

“Green roofs consist of plants being grown on roofs, thus replacing the vegetated footprint that was destroyed when the building was constructed. The highest density of green roofs occurs in Germany, widely considered a leader in green roof research, technology and usage, where it is estimated that 10% of all flat roofs are green.” Source: MSU

 

One recent LEED certified building that uses a green roof is the California Academy of Sciences.  The museum is LEED Platinum certified and has more than 1.7 million plants on the roof.

 

It will be a couple of years before the new Thelma Lovette YMCA is completed but the grant from McAuley Ministries will help the YMCA in achieving its goal of receiving LEED certification for this project.