Some employees on upper floors of the Birch Bayh Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Indianapolis soon will see small plants growing outside their office windows. Not just a few stray sprouts taking root here and there, but a blanket of planned vegetation visible from inner windows overlooking a lower section of the roof.

A “system” of grasses, drought-resistant plants (sedum) and a rainwater harvesting system will be installed to cover a 28,000-square-foot section of the Birch Bayh building’s roof. It’s one small component of a nationwide program. The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), the federal government’s real estate manager, is investing $4 billion in stimulus funds to transform a long list of GSA properties into high-performing, environmentally friendly facilities.

EYP Architecture & Engineering is serving as lead/design architect and engineer for this $69 million renovation, funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Shiel Sexton, an Indianapolis-based firm, is GSA’s choice to manage the project construction and Jacobs Engineering serving as the construction manager for the project, which began in January 2010. Upon completion, expected in the summer of 2012, the facility will boast the largest living roof in Indianapolis.

The downtown building, named for the former Indiana senator, was built in 1905. At that time, the building did not have a cooling system and coal and boilers were commonly used for heat, but there were no thermostats to maintain a comfortable temperature. A valve that required a manual adjustment on individual radiators raised and lowered the heat. The vegetative roof, combined with the conversion of the building’s 300 manual heating and cooling system controls to one digital control, will transform the 105-year-old landmark property into a higher-performing, greener building.

The living roof provides added insulation that minimizes heat loss in cold temperatures. In hot weather, the vegetation minimizes heat absorption and reduces the roof’s surface temperature, sparing thousands of kilowatt-hours of heating and cooling equipment operation. In addition, it helps shield roof membranes from extreme temperature fluctuations and the negative impact of ultraviolet radiation, which extends the functional life of the roofing systems.

The roof will complement the property’s existing landscape and will help absorb sound from the surrounding urban environment. The plantings will emit an amount of oxygen equivalent to that of about 18 trees. Drains in the vegetation area will collect rainwater and direct it into a filtration system in the building’s basement. The filtered water will then supply new low-flow toilets, potentially cutting usage of city water by about 10,000 gallons per year. 

In two years, the matured, low-to-no-maintenance vegetative roof will add an aesthetic element to this historic Indianapolis landmark for its several hundred workers and visitors. But benefits will extend far beyond appearances. The entire building renovation encompasses 450,000 square feet of upgrades and improvements that will propel this building, with its new, smaller carbon footprint and unadulterated 105-year-old architecture, well into the 21st century.

Historic preservation and workplace modernization is mastered by few, and EYP’s resume lists major green renovations for numerous government properties that also are historic landmarks. The firm is also celebrated for its sustainability practices and ranked number two on Architect magazine’s Top Green Design Firms and number 17 on Engineering News Record’s Top 100 Green Design Firms. 

When the project is complete, staff and visitors to Birch Bayh will be hard-pressed to identify the vast majority of the changes. But what we leave behind will be a higher performing, greener building that serves the GSA’s mission to become the leader in sustainable practices.

For more information, visit www.eypaedesign.com.