PECO Main Office Building Green Roof

• Adaptive Reuse
• Corporate
• Existing Building
• Green Space Expansion or Reclamation
• Green/Vegetative Roof
• Local Materials
• Rapidly Renewable Materials
• Renovation
• Retrofit
• Stormwater Mitigation
• Urban

 Designed in collaboration with Roofscapes, Inc., the enormous vegetated roof atop PECO’s headquarters building at 23rd and Market Street is the largest of its kind in a Pennsylvanian urban setting and will offer a myriad of environmental benefits from stormwater absorption (soaking-up 1.5 million gallons of rainwater runoff annually), to heat island mitigation, to the creation of a welcoming habitat for birds and other wildlife.  In addition, a newly-formed partnership with the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society will allow the roof to be used as an educational tool to inspire school children and many others for years to come. 

With Philadelphia’s combined sewer/stormwater system, even moderate storm events can overload the system and result in untreated sewage polluting Philadelphia’s rivers.  At roughly one full acre in size, the vegetated roof will help mitigate this problem, absorbing 60 to 70 percent of the rainwater that falls upon it each year. In essence, the roof functions as a giant living sponge! 

While stormwater absorption stands as the principal environmental benefit provided by a vegetated roof, it also reduces summertime ambient air temperatures, cleans the air, protects the roof membrane below so as to prolong its life, provides better comfort for those in the spaces below the roof, provides a new habitat for birds, insects and other wildlife, and (last-but-not-least!) greatly improved aesthetics. In fact, this roof is a highly visible and prominent new addition to the cityscape of Philadelphia. Not only is it beautiful, it will serve as a constant reminder to thousands of occupants of downtown high rises that the roofs of our existing buildings do not need to be an afterthought, but instead can be transformed into amazing natural environments.

For additional information, please visit:
http://www.revisionarch.com/Projects.php?view=a&id=70