The Green Room

Taking sustainability to new heights

By Walmart Green Room on October 15, 2012 Leave a comment

It can be mesmerizing to see our communities from a bird’s eye view. We crane our necks during takeoff and landing in the airplane and map our homes on Google Earth to check out the unusual perspective. The next time you explore your community from above, keep an eye on the roofs.

In addition to solar panels, eco-roofs – roofs with drainage systems, root repellants, and plants – are becoming increasingly popular. In fact, in 2011 alone, the green roof industry grew by 115 percent in North America, according to Green Roofs for Healthy Cities and its Annual Green Roof Industry Survey.

Walmart has been testing eco-roofs for a number of years, and we’re set to open a new store in Portland, Ore., next fall with 90,000 sq. ft. of roof space to work with—and we’re planning to put that space to good use. Last month we started construction on an eco-roof that will spread across more than 40,000 sq. ft. of the building’s rooftop—making it the largest green roof in the city. The space will have three different sections with various levels of soil to test the most effective green roof practices. It will also create a habitat for birds and insects, decrease storm water runoff, absorb carbon dioxide, and help save on heating and cooling costs. This eco-roof will be our second, with our first constructed in Chicago in 2008.

Do you know of eco-roofs in your community? Have you ever seen a green roof?  If not, the video above offers a tour of our green roof on our store in Chicago. Take a look and let us know what surprised you most.