Ford Media Center

Hero Image

Downloads

Ford's Living Roof: Ten Years In, Rouge Center Experiment Helps Cut Costs, Supports Robust Ecosystem

Ten years post-installation, North America’s largest living roof – about the size of eight football fields – continues to flourish atop Dearborn Truck Plant’s final assembly building, part of the Ford Rouge Center. Various plants, insects and animals have come to depend on what is now a thriving ecosystem that equates to a 10.4-acre garden. The living roof also serves as a cost-effective alternative to roof maintenance for Ford, while keeping heating and cooling costs in check for the factory underneath. But the roof isn’t the whole story – it’s just the beginning.