Syracuse (WSYR-TV) -- The roof of the Oncenter is now green. Crews are just finishing up the project to slow storm water runoff.
It’s one of the 50 green infrastructure projects the county proposed to save the rain and it’s one of the largest green roofs in the northeast.
“We're on the cutting edge of something that someday will be very common,” said President of Pro Scapes’ Rick Kier.
Proponents of green infrastructure say absorbing rainwater is just one of the green roof's many benefits.
“It will also be creating more oxygen in the environment, absorbing noise and other pollutants, at the same time reducing the air conditioning and heating costs of the building,” Kier continued.
The soil and seed were laid down along with a temporary irrigation system, and the final steps will be finished this week.
The roof will be covered with a plant called sedum. It absorbs water like a cactus. And it works with the whole system to slow storm water runoff. It’s supposed to keep one million gallons of rainwater out of the city's sewer system annually.
Onondaga County executive Joanie Mahoney says, “It's much less expensive than having to build the infrastructure to take care of all that rain water.”
It's one of 50 green infrastructure projects the county committed to building this year. Other projects like green pavements are underway as well, but the county executive says it won't be enough.
“The county can do projects like this, but it's going to take everybody doing their own small part in their own home with landscaping and rain barrels and understanding what they can do to slow rain down and keep it out of the system,” Mahoney explained.
The biggest question people have about green infrastructure is why use plants when we have such a harsh winter?
“There won’t be as much normal rainfall anyways, but about the same time that snow melts is when the plants come out of dormancy and start using the moisture again,” Kier explained.
It'll take one to two years for the plants to fully thicken and fill the entire green roof.
Mahoney said another green roof project will be finished soon. She expects the Syracuse Crunch will be skating on ice made with rainwater from the roof of the War Memorial by the time their season starts.
