Okemos residents Tom and Anne Woiwode have gotten used to visitors climbing through their second-floor bathroom window to stand on their roof.
Six hundred square feet of their roof is inhabited by plants, making it the first green roof in Mid-Michigan.
"I'm willing to put up with it," Anne said with a laugh. "Getting people to understand just how exciting this green roof is is a trade-off.
"I think it's important for people to know what something this innovative is like. I'm looking forward to other people having green roofs so that mine won't be the only one in the area."
The green roof was installed on the Woiwode home on Aug. 11 and contains Sedum, a drought-resistant plant that survives off of rainfall. The roof doesn't require maintenance and will eventually contain 11 species of Sedum, including a variety of pink, green and white flowers.
"It was a feasible and great idea," she added. "Having it is even better than we had imagined. It's just wonderful to look out the window and see a patch of green."
The roof was installed by Xero Flor America, LLC, a contractor that specializes in selling and installing green roof systems which can cost $7 per square-foot. The contractor is also working with MSU faculty and students to research the environmental advantages.
Brad Rowe, associate professor for the Department of Horticulture, said green roofs are fairly new to North America, and not many studies have been done. At MSU, green roofs are being studied to find out what plants will survive on roof tops and how the plants will help in controlling storm water runoff and reducing heat.
"One of the major benefits of green roofs is that they retain about 60 percent of rainwater depending on how much it rains at once," Rowe said. "If water runs off all at once it could overflow the storm water system which could overflow into the sewage system and end up in the river."
Roof platforms are set up on campus for storm water research and runoff is measured every five minutes. A plant competition study is also taking place to see which plants last longer on rooftops.
Mike Monterusso, project director for Xero Flor America, said green roofs shield against UV radiation and extreme temperature cycles and can help cool the interior of a building.
"The plant increases the life span of the roof," he said. "Green roofs can cool the interior of a building by absorbing the sun's energy, which can reduce the cost of air conditioning by about five percent.
"It's something that is new and interesting and looks neat."
