Roof Garden

Like most spaces in The Kendeda Building for Innovative Sustainable Design, the rooftop garden will serve many purposes and help contribute to the building’s performance. The 5,347 square foot rooftop garden will consist of a honeybee apiary, pollinator garden, and blueberry orchard. These elements will help satisfy a portion of the Living Building Challenge’s Urban Agriculture Petal requirement while simultaneously offering valuable curriculum and research opportunities.

Of the rooftop’s total square footage, 1,000 square feet will be public space. This unique space will also assist in reconnecting students, faculty, and visitors with their food system by modeling a sustainable and productive infrastructure that supports pollinators and pollinator habitat conservation awareness.

Functionally, the rooftop garden will contain rainwater catchments to help manage stormwater runoff, while shade provided by the photovoltaic canopy will help mitigate the urban heat island effect.