Alliance Executive Director David Bancroft and C.T. Hill, SunTrust, Mid-Atlantic Chairman, President

SunTrust Bank, Mid-Atlantic and the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay recently celebrated the construction completion of Virginia’s newest green roof at the commercial banking organization’s Mid-Atlantic Headquarters facility located in downtown Richmond. The constructed green roof serves as Virginia’s largest, covering 11,800 square feet, as well as the first public demonstration site for the Richmond area.

The SunTrust green roof was planted with a mixture of seven varieties of succulent plants, including sedums, that will mature into a quilt-like carpet, flowering at different times and changing colors with the seasons. SunTrust headquarters employees and tenants, and tenants in neighboring buildings in the downtown area will now be able to look down upon the 3rd floor rooftop for a change of scenery from the usual bleak rooftop that adorns most downtown sky rises.

To set up an appointment to view the green roof at SunTrust Bank: contact Walter Swartley, Facilities Manager for SunTrust, Mid-Atlantic Headquarters at (804) 782-5998 or walter.swartley@suntrust.com

For a listing of other public green roofs in Virginia as well as green roof engineers and contractors, please download the brochure listed below under Resources.

What is a Green Roof?

Green roofs are living roofs, clothed in plants that help to manage rooftop in addition to providing a number of other benefits. Green roofs are especially effective in controlling stormwater runoff during intense, short-duration storms and in reducing and delaying runoff from roofs, thereby reducing water quality impacts from impervious surfaces such as buildings. Green roofs as a whole contain a variety of designs and purposes, but all green roofs contain four basic components: waterproofing and root barrier, insulation (optional), drainage and filter layer, and soil and plants.

The green roof type promoted through this project is termed an extensive green roof (versus an intensive green roof with larger plants and trees). Extensive green roofs require a relatively light system of drainage and filtering components and a thin layer of soil mix (2-4 inches) planted with sedums and other drought-tolerant herbaceous vegetation.

Benefits of Green Roofs

Recent research on stormwater management benefits of extensive green roofs demonstrates they are effective at both reducing peak stormwater runoff (60-90%) as well as delaying runoff from the rooftop by several hours. In addition, the following benefits are also recognized from green roofs:

• Increase in roof longevity – due to protection from ultraviolet light, green roofs are estimated to have longevity of 40 yrs, compared to 7-13 yrs for a typical roof.
• Increase in building energy efficiency - provides insulating properties, thereby reducing heating and cooling costs.
• Quieter building from insulating sound-absorbing properties.
• Cool surrounding air by reducing urban heat island effects. Urban Heat Island Effect is the condition of hotter air in urban areas because paved surfaces absorb significant amounts of heat during the day and release it very gradually at night, keeping urban areas warmer than surrounding rural areas. Urban Heat Islands also trap pollutnats in the air.
• Improve air quality – by reducing CO2 levels and filtering and binding airborne dust and other particles.
• Increase habitat for birds and butterflies – partially compensating for landscape lost to building development.
• Increase roof’s attractiveness for tenants and for other surrounding buildings.

About the Project: The Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay sponsored a promotional contest in February 2005 in order to accelerate the use of green roofs within the central portion of Virginia’s Chesapeake Bay Watershed as a type of innovative low impact development technique. SunTrust Bank, MidAtlantic was selected as the winning applicant and received partial funding towads the green roof construction and consultant costs. SunTrust additionally provided matching funds. Applications for existing and newly constructed buildings located within the following localities were accepted: Cities of Richmond and Petersburg and Counties of Chesterfield, Goochland, James City, Henrico, New Kent, and Powhatan.