 London: City of Urban Honey and Green Ideas
National Geographic, by Dan Stone
London, UK. "...Since 2011, Transport for London, the city’s public utility in charge of managing the city’s entire public transportation system, has been testing “green walls,” or vertical gardens, at some of London’s busiest subway stops...Aside from being visually stunning, the wall has shown some positive results. Over three months last spring, an analysis of the plants showed they captured 500 grams of particulate matter. That is certainly a tiny fraction of what is floating around London, but it’s still a model to rationalize the installation of more green walls around the city..." [5.22.13]
 Colleges conduct construction research in addition to teaching
Journal of Commerce, by Peter Caufield
Vancouver, Canada. "...Maureen Connelly, director of BCIT’s Centre for Architectural Ecology, said the centre studies the relationship between the natural world and the built environment, such as green roofs and living walls. A green roof research facility was constructed on BCIT’s Great Northern Way campus in 2003 to evaluate green roof performance for storm water source control and thermal efficiency. The facility is outfitted with a weather station, which measures rainfall, temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and direction, and solar radiation. The three independent roof surfaces – one reference roof and two green roofs – each have their own weather poles to measure the same climatic parameters..." [5.20.13]
 Dubai hotel exterior to be covered in 27,000 plants
ArabianBusiness.com, by Shane McGinley
Dubai, UAE. "The Novotel hotel in Dubai’s Al Barsha is currently being covered in around 27,000 plants as part of a six storey ‘green wall’ being installed in the lower part of the building’s exterior. The green wall cover an area of 1,200 sq m and will contain around 27,000 plants, a spokesperson confirmed. The wall is designed to be a low maintenance garden and the hotel’s operator has installed an automatic irrigation system with fertiliser injection pumps to give all the required chemicals and fertilisers to the plants..." [5.20.13]
 Grow your own roof: As this year's Chelsea Flower Show opens, learn how to get one of its key looks
Daily Mail UK, by Staff
London, UK. "Green roofs have been popping up everywhere at the Chelsea Flower Show in recent years. The idea is simple: instead of using hard materials such as concrete, why not grow plants on that surface? Green roofs also help keep buildings cool in summer and warm in winter, and they have great aesthetic appeal. The RBC New Wild Garden, winner of a Silver-Gilt medal at 2011’s Chelsea Flower Show, attracted a lot of attention for its roof planted with a mixture of wildflowers, sedums, herbs and flowering perennials, all selected to enhance biodiversity..." [5.17.13]
 Why Manhattan's Green Roofs Don't Work--and How to Fix Them
Scientific America, by Amy Kraft
Manhattan, NY. "City rooftops covered with vegetation are seen as a way to reduce the urban heat-island effect and cut energy usage--but so far, the results have been unimpressive...Krista McGuire has taken sedum’s inadequacy as a challenge. The assistant professor of biological sciences at Barnard College wanted to see if a variety of native plants could survive on green roofs and how well they would deliver the desired benefits..." [5.17.13]
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