Ford Rouge Assembly Plant

A green roof is not at its most photogenic in a Michigan winter. In fact, it's hardly green at all--more like gray and brown--though it still insulates the building below just as well. But while some of the green aspects of Ford's showcase Rouge assembly plant have succumbed to the January weather, others operate year-round. A recent tour highlighted aspects of one of the greener car factories in the U.S., whose green features are nearing a decade old and functioning just as planned. Vines, lightboxes, asphalt The vines that insulate the metal sides of the assembly hall are no more than...