Not-so-Eco Roof?

Is a green roof 'Eco' if you have to run a hose and sprinkler up 3 stories?

I just thought it was a little silly

Depends how often/how much you have to water, and how much it cuts your air conditioning bill (oh, yes, you would never) - but this sure looks like an office building, and they do - and A/C savings can pay for a LOT of watering the roof lawn, when needed. Still reducedes runoff when it does rain and urban heat island effects as well, so it also still benefits the community.

I would suspect that if someone was on their toes they could capture the condensation from the AC units on the roof to water that patch of green.

This is a wedge of a fraction of the roof of a hospital.
I like what they have done with the campus as a whole. Not too many giant lawns and more wildflower areas and walking/hiking paths. Lots of hills and texture.

Go big or go home... http://www.asla.org/meetings/awards/awds02/chicagocityhall.html

L. Jones wrote:Depends how often/how much you have to water, and how much it cuts your air conditioning bill (oh, yes, you would never) - but this sure looks like an office building, and they do - and A/C savings can pay for a LOT of watering the roof lawn, when needed. Still reducedes runoff when it does rain and urban heat island effects as well, so it also still benefits the community.

Everything L.J. said plus this. In many areas it is possible to store some water between rains. Some of this run off could be stored on the roof or just below. This would add to thermal mass which would lessen diurnal temperature swings. Very little pumping energy would be required to move this water since there would be little vertical movement.

Plus if its new, it might just be getting established. Once the roots get deeper, irrigation may only be needed during droughts.