The City of Atlanta wishes to set an example of sustainable and ecological design for its citizens with the investment of a 3,000 square foot greenroof on Atlanta City Hall. By implementing this greenroof project, the City of Atlanta hopes to generate reliable technical data on greenroof performance in areas such as energy efficiency, stormwater retention, the extension of roof membrane life span, and plant survival. In addition, it is a goal to conduct research on temperature cooling benefits of greenroofs in the summer months. The most promising result will be increased awareness of greenroof technology benefits to citizens and professionals who could implement this technology.The most recent event within the City of Atlanta is the adoption of a Sustainable Design standard for municipal financed construction projects. This design standard/ordinance will put into place a mechanism for all municipal financed projects to incorporate environmental and energy efficient design practices much like the nationally know LEED program. As the City progresses and grows, the City Council is committed to codifying residential sustainable design standards. The effort is to promote greenroofs as one of the many measures available for sustainable design and urban heat island mitigation that can be implemented in the City of Atlanta.

The Atlanta City Hall Pilot Green Roof is located on the fifth floor adjacent to the City?s cafeteria. Completed in mid-December, 2003, the total project area was 3,000 sf with approximately 2,000 sf of vegetated area and 1,000 sf of pavers. The space once functioned as patio, and thus the design sustained the patio area for staff use. Additionally, the greenroof is accessible to all that visit the building. It is visible by surrounding buildings that are above the fifth floor of City Hall. In May, 2009 the City installed about 100 sf of two types of GreenGrid modules. Twenty-one 4″ deep and four 8″ deep modules have been planted with different plant materials for testing and monitoring purposes.The plants are predominantly sedums with some perennials, cacti, and herbs. The landscape plan called for over 2,800 plants from 31 species. The growth media varies in depth from 3 to 10 inches, and 70 cubic yards of soil was installed on the roof. Structurally the building was designed to hold approximately 560,000 pounds, or 186 pound per square foot. With the construction of the greenroof, 175,000 pounds (58 pounds per square foot) was added to the structure. The greenroof was designed with no supplemental irrigation system. In the design, a one-inch PVC line was installed along the perimeter of the greenroof as well as from each drainage box to drainage box. The one-inch conduit is available for monitoring equipment or supplemental irrigation if needed. The greenroof was officially completed on December 18, 2003. Then Mayor Shirley Franklin and City Council informally opened the greenroof to City employees just days after it was completed, and in April 2004, the Mayor officially dedicated the greenroof as a feature of City Hall.The greenroof at Atlanta City Hall has been featured in recent media as a component to green building strategies. But the most exciting event has to be the history-making, first Greenroof Wedding! On May 22, 2010 the landscape architect/designer of Atlanta’s first municipal living roof, Bill Brigham, married his bride, Beate Allio, here with friends and family in attendance.