Take a grand old city library with a domed exterior and palatial marble rotunda inside. In the mid-1950’s, expand the landmark with an addition behind the 1898 building. Then, in 2010, top off the addition’s sturdy roof deck with the icing on the cake: a 33,000-square-foot green roof plus an array of 132 solar panels. Result: a big bang for your energy-savings buck. The Central Library is one of Milwaukee’s showcase buildings for green infrastructure. Its green roof is an in

Chicago’s West Town has been experiencing a boom. Not only are humans moving in, but bees are as well. This spring, for example, saw the installation of five active beehives on the roof of the building that the company The Roof Crop calls home. The solid 1928 two-story, industrial structure, originally meant to house taxicabs, is one of the first in the city to be topped by an urban farm. The Roof Crop crew moved in in 2015, after tearing out the original roof and installing

Colorful. Comfortable. Inviting. Not adjectives that describe your typical vocational school building. What was originally a nondescript brick hardware equipment factory built in 1908 on Chicago’s southwest side was gutted, cleaned up, and transformed into a modern training center. The goal of Chicago Center for Arts and Technology (CHICAT ) , which opened in 2017, is to connect technology, art, and the community. To get to class, CHICAT students – low-income adults and teena