(ABC 6 News) – Olmsted County has made another step in “going green,” thanks to some new rooftops in Rochester.

The roof at the government center is one of two roof that the county created, the other coming on an Olmsted County campus building. Both roofs feature reflective white rock surfaces, designed to reduce heat absorption and help reduce what the county calls the “urban heat island effect.”

That is the idea that urban areas experience higher temps than rural areas. The county also installed solar panels to create energy at the site, offsetting electrical use.

The project is expected to save the city up to $7,500 per year in utility costs.

“We use more energy in the summer months or the months of July and August to cool our buildings, so the idea behind the white roof is to reflect some of that heat away from the building and helps reduce the cooling load,” said Mat Miller, the director of facilities and building operations at Olmsted County.

The county is also looking to add more solar panels in the near future at Graham Park. Groundbreaking is expected to begin in either August or September, with the project expecting to finish in January of 2027.