Metro Health Hospital in Wyoming, Michigan will be the first full-service hospital in Michigan and one of only a handful in the U.S. to achieve LEED Certification by the U.S. Green Building Council. Even more impressive?every building in Metro Health Village will be LEED certified. And Metro Health Hospital has a 1-acre+ green roof that contains over 108,000 flowering plants. The new greenroof system took nearly three years to plan, and at the time of planting in June, 2007, it was the second largest greenroof in the state and the only one on a Michigan hospital. About 180 patient rooms overlook the energy-efficient roof.

Six different kinds of plants, including five varieties of sedum cover the larger than one acre roof. The types of sedum selected work well on green roofs because they are not only drought resistant but also hold onto and store water, while growing in just four inches of soil. Flowers will bloom in the summer, and even in the winter, some of the plants will turn beautiful shades of burgundy, amber, and purple. The only non-sedum variety on the roof are alliums, which are from the garlic family. They are very hardy and will have big pink blossoms in the summer.Metro spokesman John Ebers notes: “Right now, we have five different species of flowering sedum. They were selected because they are very great at adapting to the environment.”