Green roofs on Target for county

Kathy Osvath Albemarle County
Published: July 22, 2008

After reading the article in the July 17 Daily Progress (“County building’s green roof a tourist draw”), I wondered whether the County Office Building’s green roof success story might be applied to commercial buildings in Al-bemarle County — and whether Albemarle should incentivize builders to install green roofs.

A quick online search for more information about this topic revealed that the Chicago is a leader in the green roof movement, where even the Home Depot store has installed a green roof. In fact, the recently conducted, Chicago-funded Green Roof Study estimated that if every building in Chicago had a green roof, $100 million dollars in energy costs could be saved annually and peak energy demands could be cut by 720 megawatts — equal to the energy production of a small nuclear power plant.

On a more local level, one of the newest rooftop eyesores in Albemarle County belongs to the Target store located in the Hollymead Town Center off U.S. 29 North.

Recently, as I was driving along the back entrance to Target from Airport Road and Timberlake Boulevard (through the construction site), I emerged from the roundabout at the top of the hill and was struck by how the massive and unattractive Target rooftop spoiled one of the most expansive and dramatic mountain views in Albemarle County. It was truly appalling.

Research has shown that green roofs can reduce overall heating and cooling costs by 25-50 percent, can absorb up to 99 percent of a 1-inch rainfall (preventing runoff into city sewers — think recent U.S. 29 North sinkhole repairs), and can prevent rooftop degradation. And, a green roof is simply more aesthetically pleasing. Imagine how different it would feel to passers by and nearby residents if Target were to install an attractive rooftop garden that was framed by mountains in the background.

For additional information about green roofs, go to the Albemarle County Web site, http://www.albemarle.org/greenroof, or http://www.greengridroof.com.