The new Social Sciences Building at the University of Ottawa is the school's latest green initiative. The fifteen-storey building that took about four years of planning and construction to complete opened its doors in September 2012. The Social Sciences Building that cost a grand total of $112.5 million provides students and faculty with an array of space for individual studying and group work. This building is the newest addition to the University of Ottawa with its green and sustainable architecture and facilities. This building is very different among the rest of the university's buildings as its structure and characteristics are very eco-friendly. Some features that the building includes are: construction materials that were chosen due to their recycled content, a living wall that is five stories tall and composed of numerous plants that with act as an air filtration system, and a green roof. The green wall is the tallest living biofilter wall in North America. The wall is situated in the main agora of the Faculty of Social Science building and is visible from the outside. The green wall is a unique component of the building's air handling system, for it is capable of treating a large quantity of air at a time, and it provides a source of humidity that doesn't need to be artificially introduced.