City considers routes toward sustainability

Most people strolling on the manicured lawn in front of the Indianapolis Museum of Art don't realize they're walking across a roof.

It's not just a grass-covered roof, either.
Flowers, shrubs and about five-dozen Red Sunset maple trees have all been planted atop a massive underground parking garage.
City officials hope the rooftop can help inspire a larger movement toward more environmentally friendly building practices in Indianapolis as part of Mayor Bart Peterson's pledge to push a "sustainable" city agenda.
Following in the footsteps of cities like Chicago and Seattle, city officials are exploring various measures. Under consideration: switching to alternative fuel sources, planting more trees, upgrading walkways, overhauling the city's recycling program and cutting government energy consumption.
After Mayor Richard Daley created a rooftop garden on Chicago's City Hall in 2000, the city skyline has literally bloomed with more than 200 green rooftops, covering about 2.5 million square feet. Chicago officials are now considering green-roof technology at O'Hare International Airport, as well as requiring that new public buildings be certified as environmentally friendly.
Indianapolis is further behind.

from the Indianapolis Star