Ford Rouge Plant Green Roof

At the behest of then chairman of the board bill ford the dearborn assembly plant at the company s historic rouge facility was rebuilt in 2000 as a green showpiece under the.

Ford rouge plant green roof. It s ten years since the start of construction of the green roof on top of the big river rouge plant. The roof of the 1 1 million square foot 100 000 m 2 dearborn truck assembly plant was covered with more than 10 acres 4 0 ha of sedum a low growing groundcover the sedum retains and cleanses rainwater and moderates the internal. The 10 4 acre sedum roof insulates the building. The 10 4 acre living roof is part of ford s redevelopment of the ford rouge center which includes a number of progressive environmental initiatives.

The design of the new assembly plant includes people friendly features such as overhead safety walkways day lighting team rooms cooler air in the summer. The river rouge plant also known as ford dearborn truck assembly plant won the 2004 green roofs for healthy cities award of excellence in the extensive industrial commercial category. The roof is composed of a drought resistant. This makes it the largest green roof on a single building in north america and one of the five largest in the world.

Installed in 2003 the living roof on top of ford s dearborn truck plant is flourishing as an environmental touchstone amid the iconic rouge center. By contrast rain and snow at the ford rouge center falls on acres of soft surfaces like the living roof where storm water is captured and cleansed. In 1999 architect william mcdonough entered into an agreement with ford motor company to redesign its 85 year old 1 212 acre 490 ha rouge river facility. World s largest green roof ford s dearborn truck plant has the world s largest living roof according to guinness world records.

Kevin described it in treehugger in 2004. And as large as it is the 10 4 acre living roof is just one part of an extensive natural storm water management system surrounding the dearborn truck plant. The living roof s primary function is to collect and filter rainfall as part of a natural storm water management system.