Built as a Model of Sustainable Development
Last week, in the third installment of a five part series, we looked at the highlights of the revised Rouge facility before discussing how Ford was integrating innovations at the new truck plant. Today, environmental issues will be addressed, as will the restoration of historic features.
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| Ford is going to use the Rouge as an example of "sustainable development" to "serve as a model to other large industrial sites". (Photo: Ford Motor Company) |
Besides the manufacturing side, Ford is also going to use the Rouge as an example of "sustainable development" to "serve as a model to other large industrial sites," O'Brien said. The idea of sustainability is to virtually eliminate the manufacturing facility's ecological impact.
The roof, for instance, is part of a natural storm water treatment system that will release purified, oxygenated water into the Rouge River without traditional sewers and chemical treatment plants. This brought about a tremendous cost savings to the automaker as well. Instead of spending nearly $40 million on a traditional system, the roof and other natural storm water management techniques cost about $13 million, according to McDonough.
Ford has experimented with "porous pavement" on one of its shipping lots at the Rouge that reduces standing water by allowing it to soak into the ground, and thus reduce the need for salting and other winter maintenance activities. And, there are vines that will climb the sides of the factory, providing shade, natural wind insulation, and attractive greenery.
To clean up historic contamination from the ground, Ford partnered with Michigan State University in an experiment to see if certain plants could be used to cleanse the soil--a process called phytoremediation. A 1.6-acre test site adjacent to a Rouge Steel coke oven was chosen for this experiment because it had been polluted after decades of coal processing. The plantings included cardinal flower, bulrush, monkey flower and cordgrass, which can breakdown polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and red bud and hickory trees. According to MSU, these plants will cause the PAHs to degrade, producing water and carbon dioxide.