Install vegetated green roofs.
Vegetated green roofs help increase storm water retention, filtration, and evaporation in predominantly impervious airport areas. They reduce urban heat islands and improve thermal insulation, helping the airport reduce heating and cooling costs. Green roofs also reduce noise inside a building and enhance aesthetics. By protecting a building's roofing membrane from exposure to ultraviolet rays, temperature extremes, and precipitation, a vegetated roof can prolong a typical roof’s lifespan from 15-20 years to 40-50 years. The roof design for a green roof located within an airport environment requires close consideration to prevent Foreign Object Debris (FOD) in an active airspace. Plant species should be carefully selected to reduce the roof's attractiveness to wildlife that is hazardous to airport operations. Sedum species should be considered because of their tolerance to drought, low maintenance, lack of food production (berries or seeds), and deficiency of habitat.
Practice Information
| Capital Cost: | Moderately Expensive (>$100,000 – $500,000 US) |
| O&M Cost: | High (>$100,000 US) |
| Payback Period: | Short (2 – 5 years) |
| Staffing Requirements: | Negligible (<10 hours per month) |
| Reportability of Metrics: | Quantitative metric with no baseline for comparison |
| Maturity of Practice: | Proven at multiple airports |
| Energy Reduction: | Decreases energy consumption |
| Environmental Benefits: | Significant, multiple environmental benefits |
| Social Benefits: | Moderate social benefit |
Airport Characteristics
Categories
Case Studies
January, 2014
O’Hare (ORD) and Midway (MDW) International Airports, Chicago, Illinois
The Sustainable Airport Manual (SAM) developed by the Chicago Department of Aviation (CDA) established contractual requirements to incorporate sustainability in the design and construction of every project at O'Hare and Midway International Airports. The SAM encourages the installation of vegetated green roofs on airport facilities wherever possible to reduce the urban heat island effect, conserve energy, and reduce storm water runoff. As of Januar014, the CDA has installed 338,171 square feet of vegetated green roofs at O'Hare on 12 different facilities including a guard post canopy, a lighting control system facility, parking/rental car facilities, and the first vegetated roof ever installed on an airport traffic control tower administration facility. The CDA has also installed a 174,442 square-foot vegetated roof on the relocated FedEx Main Sort Building, the largest contiguous vegetated roof at any airport in the world and the largest vegetated roof on a free standing building in the greater Chicago area (approximately 3 football fields). The CDA’s green roofing systems needed to be wind resistant and leak proof, fall under a unified warranty (covering water tightness, success of plants, and overburden removal and replacement), and allow for easy identification and quick repair so that airport operations would never be compromised. The CDA has also installed vegetated roofs at Midway on the Economy Elevated Parking Structure and Electrical Vault and on top of the Midway Consolidated Rental Car Facility. The CDA worked with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the University of Illinois Center of Excellence for Airport Technology to find a mix of plant material that would not attract wildlife. The CDA has taken a ""lead-by-example"" approach, installing vegetated roofs atop airport-owned facilities and encouraging tenants to follow suit. Their installations demonstrate that installing vegetated roofs at airports is practical and cost effective. Operational and maintenance cost savings are expected from increased roof life span, energy use reduction, and storm water quantity/quality management. Additional benefits achieved include a reduction in noise and heat islands, air quality protection, and enhanced aesthetics.
Related Links
Green Roofs. Minnesota Stormwater Manual. Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.
Chicago Department of Aviation, “Vegetated Roofs”
Chicago Department of Aviation, A Sustainable Path, Page 24
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