Indiana Hospital to Install Green Roof Atop New Tower
Ball Memorial Hospital will plant a 30,000-square-foot green roof on its new $87 million extension called South Tower. Read More
Ball Memorial Hospital will plant a 30,000-square-foot green roof on its new $87 million extension called South Tower.
The roof, expected to be installed in spring, will be the second in Muncie. The first, installed in September, sits atop an arm of an arbor flanking the main building of the Minnetrista Cultural Center.
A contractor has not yet been selected for hospital project, but the new roof is expected to help reduce the hospital’s energy expenses for the tower by 10 to 15 percent and has a projected cost of $400,000 to $550,000 dollars, according to The Star Press.
Green roofs typically cost $15 to $20 per square foot, and estimates for the hospital’s new roof average out to just under $16 per square foot.
By comparison the 2.5-acre living roof on the new California Academy of Sciences building in San Francisco costs $17 per square foot.
Living roofs help buildings stay cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter and in doing so reduce energy costs for the structure. They also aid stormwater management and retention. And they help mitigate the heat island effect created by a concentration of buildings with conventional roofs.
Green roof featuring native plants have been found to enhance performance of living roofs.
Ball Memorial’s green roof will crown a 180,000-square-foot tower with 108 patient rooms. The hospital plans to have an open house this month to showcase the new South Tower.
