BROWN
&ER&
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Community Rooftop Garden on
a Former Retail Property
Sustainability Project Background
OKLAHOMA
*
EPA's Brownfields Sustainability Pilots provide technical assistance to
support communities in achieving greener, more sustainable results from
assessment, cleanup, and redevelopment at their brownfields projects.
These pilots also provide models for other communities across
the country.
EPA provided the Latino Community Development Agency (LCDA) in
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma with technical assistance for the sustainable
redevelopment of a former commercial retail property into a community
center. EPA helped evaluate the structure of the retail property for the development of a green or blue roof. More
specifically, LCDA wanted to explore the feasibility of a green roof as a community garden that could be used as a
venue for community programs. The LCDA also considered the feasibility of a blue roof - a roof that retains water to
reduce stormwater runoff and reduce cooling costs.
Latino Community Development Agency Background
LCDA provides community programs for children, youth and adults in Oklahoma City. The city helped LCDA acquire a
new building so that the agency could relocate its headquarters and community services. The property was a former
retail property with a large roof area. The LCDA wanted to construct a green roof (community garden) that could be
used to support some of its community programs as well as provide citizens with a connection to nature.
Project Execution
Initially, EPA provided technical assistance to LCDA for a structural assessment of the building to support a green
roof. The analysis showed that due to weather conditions and the existing structural infrastructure of the building, a
green roof was not feasible. The property is located in an area that experiences high winds and high temperatures
and as a result it was determined that the maintenance costs would be high and usage would be limited.
Following the determination that a green roof would not be feasible, the technical assistance shifted focus to
investigate the feasibility of a blue roof. A blue roof retains rainfall to reduce runoff impacts and to reduce the loads
on building Heating, Ventilating, and Air Conditioning HVAC equipment by cooling the roof. Again, the conclusion of
this evaluation was that the building was not structurally sound enough to support the weight of a blue roof without
significant reinforcement.
The technical assistance showed that neither a green roof nor a blue roof were viable options for redevelopment of
this building, saving LCDA time time and resources on the design and planning for this project. LCDA continues to
explore options for the building's reuse.
Sources for Additional Information
For more information on this project, please see the full Brownfields Sustainability Pilot report at:
www.epa.gov/brownfields/sustainjDlts/reports/sustain j~eport_web_final.pdf
Regional Contact Information
For more information on the Oklahoma City Green Roof project, please contact:
Monica Smith
EPA Region 6
214-665-6780
smith.monica@epa.gov
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Challenges and Lessons Learned
Structural Limitations
EPA support determined that the existing building
roof structure was unable to support additional
weight. Experts found that the cost of retrofitting
the building to support a rooftop garden or a
blue roof would be prohibitive. Additionally, the
energy savings gained by either a green or blue
roof would be less than the cost of retrofitting the
structure to support these uses.
Local Climate Consideration
During the site visit, the technical assistance
experts visited a local museum with a rooftop
terrace to get a sense of the potential issues with
building a green or blue roof in this area. The
terrace had experienced operational issues, mostly due to severe winds and high temperatures. Many days
too windy for the terrace to be used and the wind creates higher than average maintenance costs.
Example of a green roof. Photo source: Green Grid Roofs.
it is
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