At the Top of the Academy

Everyone we know does something for (not to) the environment in varying degrees, but the Living Roof at the California Academy of Sciences does seem a little, er, over the top.

The living roof

keeps the building's interior an average of 10 degrees cooler than a standard roof would.

The plants are drought-resistant and live off trapped rainwater, not the City water supply. Lightweight construction materials kept the weight down to about twice a normal load.

Living roofs may be fine for European cities and San Francisco, but definitely not in our suburban community, which approves colors such as "granite gray" but not "slate" for roof construction. Going green is fine....for grass and trees only. © 2013 Stephen Yuen