Instead of putting up a parking lot, the Burpee Museum of Natural History replaced its carport parking lot with a 2,000-plant green roof?making it arguably a bit of paradise atop the facility. According to a museum spokesperson, the green roof is part of the museum?s efforts to become more eco-friendly, conserve energy, and ?naturalize? the museum grounds.But the museum was also having some problems they hoped the Green roof could solve. Chief among these: on days with high temperatures, the roof became extremely hot, radiating heat throughout the area. Additionally, on rainy days, the roof shed gallons of water into surrounding parking areas and walkways. Eventually the water ended up in already-stressed city sewers and treatment centers.

Although there are many Green roof systems, the museum wanted one that was quick and easy to install and cost effective as well. Their choice: a modular GreenGrid Green roof from Weston Solutions. Prefilled with growth and plant media, modules made of 100 percent recycled plastic were installed atop the roof. The entire installation took about four hours based on how long the crane was there?much faster than if a built-in-place system had been selected?and staff and visitors were enjoying the Green roof right away. Interestingly, the best view of the new GreenGrid Green roof is from the third-floor exhibit?aptly called ?Windows to the Wilderness.?