Happy Earth Day! The Winner of the 2014 “Love the Earth, Plant a Roof or Wall!” Earth Day Photo Contest is…

With a whopping 729 votes, the project receiving the highest number of total votes and winner of the 2014 “Love the Earth, Plant a Roof or Wall!” Earth Day Photo Contest is…

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ASAF COHEN, who submitted the “Great Greenwall in Israel” project.  Congratulations!

 

2014PhotoContestWinner-AsafCohenAs soon as we receive additional project information from Asaf, we will highlight this project as our highly popular “Project of the Week.”

And, Asaf will now receive a $100 gift card from Amazon.com as a small token of our appreciation for entering the 2014 “Love the Earth, Plant a Roof or Wall!” Earth Day Photo Contest and celebrating the living architecture of greenroofs and greenwalls – and, of course, Earth Day itself.

In total, we received 14 entries – not including the two we submitted for samples – the Musée du quai Branly greenwall in Paris and the California Academy of Sciences  living roof in San Francisco, which, by the way, both received votes anyway.  This was a very international offering, just like our Greenroof & Greenwall Projects Database itself, with entries from Israel, Spain, Taiwan, Panama, USA (Rochester, NY; Durham, NC; New York City, NY (2); Alaska; Chicago, IL; San Francisco, CA; and Cincinnati, OH), Brazil, and India.

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The beautiful & popular 2014 Photo Contest winning entry: Green Wall in Israel by Asaf C.

It’s interesting that the first year we include greenwalls in the photo contest that a greenwall project wins!  Not only that, but the second entry, with another huge number of votes at 452, is also a greenwall – the stunning vertical garden in Zaragoza Spain.

Here are the final voting stats:

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Way to get your friends and colleagues behind you, Israel and Spain – that’s the power of social media!

2014’s submissions were so varied and all are truly awesome.  Some we already have in the Greenroof & Greenwall Projects Database, like the Golisano Institute for Sustainability (GIS) Green Wall, The Republik Building/ Xero Flor America HQ Green Roof, and the Empire State Building (see: Empire State Building, 30th Floor West with the entry photo; Empire State Building, 21st Floor East & West, and Empire State Building, 25th Floor Northwest).  And, we hope to add all of the new projects to our Projects Database so we can all learn more about each.

Thank you to everyone who entered a project and voted for their favorites on our Facebook page.  Happy Earth Day and beyond!

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Love the Earth, Plant a Roof or Wall ~ Linda V.

Voting Ends Tomorrow at 11:59 am EDT in the 2014 “Love the Earth, Plant a Roof or Wall!” Earth Day Photo Contest

Wow, all of a sudden, voting has become fast and furious in our 2014 “Love the Earth, Plant a Roof or Wall!” Earth Day Photo Contest!

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You have until tomorrow to vote – up til 11:59 am EDT on Tuesday, April 22, 2014.

We sent out a reminder email last Thursday, and the voting has exploded!  Here are the current voting stats as of 1:50 pm EDT:

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Two gorgeous greenwalls are leading the pack, one from Israel with 490 votes, and one from Zaragoza, Spain with 332 votes.

Haven’t voted yet?  It’s super easy – just:

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1) Like Us on our Facebook page;
2) Click the Earth Day Photo Contest Camera Icon;
3) Click on the Vote button;
4) Vote DAILY for your favorite roof or wall! (At least today and tomorrow morning.)

Then to get more people behind “your” project, use hashtag #earthdayphotocontest in Facebook, Twitter and Instagram!

The photo with the most votes will be announced as the winner.  Yes, it’s a popularity contest!

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At noon EDT on Earth Day 2014 – tomorrow, April 22 – the photo entry with the most votes will win a $100 Amazon.com gift card – plus receive some publicity, too, by being featured as an upcoming “Project of the Week” here on Greenroofs.com.

Participate to celebrate Earth Day 2014 and the beautiful, organic architecture of greenroof and greenwall technology!

Happy Earth Week,

~ Linda V.

Enter the 2014 “Love the Earth, Plant a Roof or Wall!” Earth Day Photo Contest Now!

The details have been finalized, and you can now enter the “Love the Earth, Plant a Roof or Wall!” Earth Day Photo Contest for 2014!

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You’ve got just over two weeks to enter on our Facebook page and rally your friends, family and colleagues to vote for your submission.  At noon EDT on Earth Day 2014 – April 22 – the photo entry with the most votes will win a $100 Amazon.com gift card – plus receive a lot of publicity!

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PhotoContestIcononFacebookVisit our Facebook page to see all the details, enter and vote, but this is it in a nutshell:

To get the party started, click on the Earth Day Photo Contest icon.  Now you’re on the right page!  Then, to enter, hit the Enter tab on the left; to vote, hit the Vote tab.

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We started the Contest by submitting two project examples, a greenroof: the California Academy of Sciences (the cover of our 2014 Greenroofs of the World™ Calendar, photo by Tom Fox of SWA Group) and a greenwall: Musée du quai Branly (photo by me from a visit to Paris in 2010) – and someone’s already submitted the first real project, the Empire state Building, above.

Want a little more info about the “Love the Earth, Plant a Roof or Wall!” Earth Day 2014 Photo Contest?  Here it is:

What is it?

The mission of the “Love the Earth, Plant a Roof or Wall!” Earth Day Photo Contest is to create interest in all kinds, styles, and sizes of beautiful living architecture and highlight some outstanding designs. It’s designed to be quick, simple, and fun, and basically is a popularity contest among our international readership. Any and all types of greenroofs and greenwalls are eligible, any place on Earth.

All you have to do is submit a photo and tell your friends and colleagues vote for your favorite greenroof or living wall using hashtag #earthdayphotocontest in Facebook, Twitter and Instagram! We’ll be keeping everyone updated on our Greenroofs.com Facebook Photo Contest page.

Each planted roof or wall needs to visually epitomize its relationship to our planet – it needs to show us how it is a living example of loving the Earth – in other words, don’t just send a close-up of pretty flowers! Show the greenroof or wall in context with its site.

The contest is open to everyone, not just the roof/wall owner or the designers of record. And voting is open to everyone, too, as many times as you like but only once per day, so tell your friends to vote for your submission! Enter early so you can get people to vote often!

What do I have to do to enter the contest?

Like us on Facebook first, then just click on the “Earth Day Photo Contest” icon and follow the directions:

1) Enter your email address;

2) Upload a stunning photo of a greenroof or greenwall.

3) Enter a caption for your photo including its name and location – tell us how it is a living example of loving the Earth and worthy of being an example of forward-thinking sustainable design to let everyone know why they should vote for this particular project photo.

4) Hit Enter and you’re in. Ask your friends to vote for you and tell others to spread the word by using hashtag #earthdayphotocontest in Facebook, Twitter and Instagram!

How do people vote?

Visit the Photo Gallery on the “Earth Day Photo Contest” Vote tab on Facebook and click the photo you want to vote for. You can vote once per day!

How do I win?

The photo with the most votes will be announced as the winner.

What do I get if “my” project wins?

The winner will have “their” project highlighted on Greenroofs.com as an upcoming Greenroof or Greenwall Project of the Week, and we’ll feature you in a Sky Gardens Blog interview so you can really tell us more about this living roof or wall and why you love it so much.

And, as a humble token of our esteem, the winner will also receive a $100 Amazon.com Gift Card.

Click here to see the Official Rules.

Enjoy and participate!

Love the Earth, Plant a Roof or Wall!

~ Linda V.

Get Your Photos Ready for the 2014 “Love the Earth, Plant a Roof or Wall!” Earth Day Photo Contest!

After a one-year hiatus – still busy with with our second Greenroofs & Walls of the World™ Virtual Summit 2013: Connecting the Planet + Living Architecture – we are happy to announce our “Love the Earth, Plant a Roof or Wall!” Earth Day Photo Contest for 2014!

Submit your favorite pictures of beautiful projects by Earth Day and receive a whopping $100 – a small token of our esteem.

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Inaugurated in 2010, we wanted to find a fun way to get our readers involved in honoring Earth Day, so we started the (almost) annual “Love the Earth, Plant a Roof!” Earth Day Photo Contest!  But now we’ve added living walls to the mix.

Earth Day is April 22, and This Year’s Theme is Green Cities

Marking what many believe is the beginning of the modern environmental movement, Earth Day was created by Senator Gaylord Nelson in 1970.  Now in its 44th year, Earth Day promotes ecology and respect for life on the planet as well as encourages awareness of our growing ecological problems.

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Earth Day Network is the global organizer behind Earth Day and creates tools and resources for you to get involved with Earth Day in your community:

“Every year on April 22, over a billion people in 190 countries take action for Earth Day. From San Francisco to San Juan, Beijing to Brussels, Moscow to Marrakesh, people plant trees, clean up their communities, contact their elected officials, and more—all on behalf of the environment.

Like Earth Days of the past, Earth Day 2014 will focus on the unique environmental challenges of our time. As the world’s population migrates to cities, and as the bleak reality of climate change becomes increasingly clear, the need to create sustainable communities is more important than ever. Earth Day 2014 will seek to do just that through its global theme: Green Cities. With smart investments in sustainable technology, forward-thinking public policy, and an educated and active public, we can transform our cities and forge a sustainable future. Nothing is more powerful than the collective action of a billion people.” ~ Earth Day Network

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Celebrate Greenroofs & Walls with our Earth Day Photo Contest

All around the globe, people are gearing up to green their cities and communities for Earth Day.  Well, we do that every day with building and promoting living architecture, so why not get some exposure for your favorite project?

The mission of the “Love the Earth, Plant a Roof or Wall!” Earth Day Photo Contest is to create interest in all kinds, styles, and sizes of beautiful living architecture and highlight some outstanding designs.  It’s designed to be quick and simple, and basically is a popularity contest among our international readership.  Any and all types of greenroofs or walls are eligible, any place on Earth.

All you have to do is submit a photo (or two) and tell your friends and colleagues vote for your favorite photo! We’ll be keeping everyone updated on the number of votes for each project on our Facebook page.

Each planted roof or wall needs to visually epitomize its relationship to our planet – it needs to show us that it’s a living example of loving the Earth – in other words, don’t just send a close-up of pretty flowers!  Show it in context with its site.

Yes, it has to be a gorgeous photo of a spectacular greenroof or greenwall, but remember that this is a popularity contest, too!

The contest is open to everyone, not just the roof owner or the designers of record.  And voting is open to everyone, so tell your friends to vote for your submission.

What do I have to do to enter the contest or vote?

Like us on Facebook first and then follow the directions to submit your photo(s).  We are finalizing the set-up, so start gathering your pics now and watch for an update post next week.  Check out previous winners here.

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Join Greenroofs.com by sharing your awesome photos of greenroofs and walls with our community to help inspire awareness of and appreciation for our Earth’s environment – and maybe get $100 to spend on your favorite Spring project!

Love the Earth, Plant a Roof!

~ Linda V.

Happy Earth Day! The Winner of the 2012 “Love the Earth, Plant a Roof!” Earth Day Photo Contest is…

First of all, Happy Earth Day! It’s hard to believe that this is the 42nd year of recognizing April 22 as such an important date.

“Earth Day 1970 capitalized on the emerging consciousness, channeling the energy of the anti-war protest movement and putting environmental concerns front and center.

The idea came to Earth Day founder Gaylord Nelson, then a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin, after witnessing the ravages of the 1969 massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, California. Inspired by the student anti-war movement, he realized that if he could infuse that energy with an emerging public consciousness about air and water pollution, it would force environmental protection onto the national political agenda.” ~ EarthDay.org – Earth Day: The History of A Movement

…Getting back to the contest, this year we received a total of 12 entries from six different countries.  Without further ado, with 101 votes, the Winner of Greenroofs.com‘s 2012 “Love the Earth, Plant a Roof! Earth Day Photo Contest is…

Patrick Biller, who submitted the Toronto City Hall entry- congratulations for selecting a great project and for rallying your supporters!

As you know, the mission of the yearly “Love the Earth, Plant a Roof!” Earth Day Photo Contest is simply to have fun by creating interest in all kinds, styles, and sizes of beautiful living architecture, all while highlighting some outstanding designs. Designed to be quick and simple, it’s basically is a popularity contest among our international readership.  Any and all types of greenroofs are always eligible, any place on Earth.

Patrick, who hails from lovely Toronto, said in his entry:
“Toronto City Hall is an extremely important historical building in the city, and is also the city symbol.  This is the first time since the opening of Toronto City Hall in 1965 that the podium roof is a functional, beautiful public space. Although originally envisioned as a public gathering place, it never lived up to that billing due to the 120,000 sq ft of interlocking pavers without a shred of vegetation.  This $2.3-million green roof, which at 3,400 square metres is the largest in Toronto, is part of a $42.7-million plan to redo Nathan Phillips Square, set for completion in 2012.  The Nathan Phillips Square green roof was constructed with the LiveRoof brand hybrid modular green roof system. It contains a combination of 6″ deep and 4″ deep LiveRoof Standard Modules. It has everything from ornamental grasses to perennials, sedums, trees, benches for the public, a state of the art irrigation system, and advanced LED lighting.  This roof has become an important urban park and is enjoyed thoroughly by tourists and residents of this beautiful, vibrant city every day. Visit http://www.greenroofs.com/projects/pview.php?id=1121 for more info on the project and more photos.” ~ Patrick Biller

We’ve highlighted Toronto City Hall before as our Greenroof Project of the Week – when it was still called the “Toronto City Hall Green Roof Demonstration Project,” which was disassembled in 2009, below, and in September, 2010, too:

Newly reopened to the public in 2010, we’ll be featuring the Nathan Phillips Square Toronto City Hall Podium Green Roof tomorrow as our Greenroof Project of the Week in honor of Earth Day and Patrick’s submission – and Patrick will be receiving $100 for his entry, too.

Here’s another shot of Toronto City Hall by Patrick Biller:

The project receiving the second highest number of votes, 56, was the Aliso Viejo in San Juan Capistrano, California, submitted by Lauren Moss:

The third spot went to the National Great Rivers Research and Education Center (NGRREC) in East Alton, Illinois, submitted by Joe Donnelly, which received 32 votes:

Thank you to all who entered and participated! All awesome projects!  View all of the entries here.  They are all unique and beautiful in different ways, and if we don’t already have them included in our Greenroof & Greenwall Projects Database, I hope to soon.  And, if you haven’t already, we invite you to Like us on Facebook and become part of Greenroofs.com’s online community.

By the way, if you are interested in learning more about Earth Day, here are some short, outstanding, and inspirational videos:

EarthDay.org’s “Earth Day: The History of A Movement” is an original 2:48 video broadcast by Frank Blair on NBC News from Wednesday, April 22, 1970 – very cool!  Look for the ending statement about global warming warnings if pollution wasn’t checked.

And Russell McLendon in MNN – Mother Nature Network – blogs about “Earth Day: 8 epic videos of our planet.”  He writes that “in honor of Earth Day’s all-inclusive nature, here’s a video tribute to all seven continents – plus the oceans and atmosphere – that highlights some of the planet’s less obvious wonders.”

These time lapse videos are simply spectacular!  I hope you enjoy them when you have time – they’re all about three minutes long.

Happy Earth Day and remember to “Love the Earth, Plant a Roof!”

~ Linda V.

Enter the 2012 “Love the Earth, Plant a Roof!” Earth Day Photo Contest Now!

In appreciation and celebration of the Earth’s natural environment, 2012 will be the 42nd year of recognizing April 22 as Earth Day.

And, now in our 3rd year, Greenroofs.com will be doing our small part to promote the greening of our planet and encourage the sustainable design of earth-friendly living architecture by once again sponsoring our “Love the Earth, Plant a Roof!” Earth Day Photo Contest in celebration of Earth Day 2012.

In 2010 the beautiful corporate offices of ESRI Canada’s Garden in the Sky won, above, and last year the sinuous residential/multi-use hi-rise Aqua, below, took home the prize with the most votes cast.

What is it?

A fun photo contest!  The mission of the “Love the Earth, Plant a Roof!” Earth Day Photo Contest is to create interest in all kinds, styles, and sizes of beautiful living architecture and highlight some outstanding designs. It’s designed to be quick and simple, and basically is a popularity contest among our international readership.  Any and all types of greenroofs are eligible, any place on Earth.

All you have to do is submit a photo and tell your friends and colleagues vote for your favorite greenroof!  We’ll be keeping everyone updated on the number of votes for each project on our Facebook page.

Each planted roof needs to visually epitomize its relationship to our planet – it needs to show us that it’s a living example of loving the Earth – in other words, don’t just send a close-up of pretty flowers!  Show the greenroof in context with its site.

The contest is open to everyone, not just the roof owner or the designers of record. And voting is open to everyone, too, as many times as you like but only once per day, so tell your friends to vote for your submission.

Yes, it has to be a gorgeous photo of a spectacular greenroof, but remember that this is a popularity contest, too!

What do I have to do to enter the contest or vote?

Like us on Facebook first, then just click on the “Submit an entry” tab and follow the directions:  Tell us how it is a living example of loving the Earth and worthy of being an example of forward-thinking sustainable design in the caption field of the submittal form to let everyone know why they should vote for this particular project photo.  Upload your photo, then let your friends in on the action!  Enter early so you can get people to vote often!

To vote, click on the “View entries” tab where you can cast your daily ballot.

It does not have to be “your” project – just make sure to follow the photo submissions rules.

What do I get if “my” project wins?

The photo with the most votes will be announced as the winner.  The winner will have “their” project highlighted on Greenroofs.com as an upcoming Greenroof Project of the Week, and we’ll feature you in a Sky Gardens Blog interview so you can really tell us more about this living roof and why you love it so much.

And, as a humble token of our esteem, the winner will also receive $100.

How It Works

–  Enter by 12:00 PM Eastern time, April 21, 2012
–  Vote from 11:59 PM, April 3 until 11:59 PM, April 21, 2012
–  Winner selection is Sunday, April 22, 2012 – Earth Day!

Read all about it, including the always popular Official Rules, and submit an entry now!

Love the Earth, Plant a Roof!  (So take a photo of it, too, and send it in!)

~ Linda V.

The Winner of our 2011 “Love the Earth, Plant a Roof!” Earth Day Photo Contest Is…

Photo submissions and voting stopped yesterday for Greenroofs.com‘s second annual “Love the Earth, Plant a Roof!” Earth Day Photo Contest and with a total of 71 votes, the winner is:

Aqua in Chicago, Illinois, USA!

“The Aqua, Chicago, Illinois, USA taken by Tim Barrett, Barrett Company, Millington, NJ” ~ Linda Smith

Well, it’s not the most descriptive entry by a long shot, but it sure makes up for it visually.  Congratulations to Linda Smith from Barrett Company who submitted this lovely project!  One of the tallest buildings in Chicago, the Aqua is a $4 billion development with an 80,000 sf intensive greenroof.  The 82-story mixed-use residential skyscraper is located in the Lakeshore East development in downtown Chicago designed in the Modern architectural style.  The beautiful terrace gardens comes complete with gazebos, pools, hot tubs, a walking/running track and even a fire pit.

Linda will receive a check for $100 and we’ll be highlighting it soon as our GPW, or Greenroof Project of the Week.  I want to get more shots of this stunning recreational greenroof and project info to share with you first.

The Aqua was neck and neck with Cultivated Abundance, another beautiful and sensitive project in New York City, below.  But yesterday, Friday, the voting really got furious and it’s obvious the Aqua fans made the difference into the evening hours.

Cultivated Abundance was submitted by Jennifer Nitzky from Mark K Morrison Landscape Architecture PC and came in second place, receiving a total of 59 votes.  I have to say that Jennifer’s write up is certainly the best – remember I wanted everyone to tell us why they felt their project was worthy of being an example of loving the Earth?  Read her entry below:

“Cultivated Abundance, a 2,000 SF intensive/extensive green roof with commanding views of New York Harbor is located on the penthouse of The Visionaire, a LEED Platinum residential high rise in Battery Park City. This dynamic intensive/extensive green roof in New York City sets a new precedent for cultivated abundance while incorporating such sustainable initiatives as recycling gray water for irrigation and retaining 95% of storm water on site. The vision and collaborative efforts of the landscape architect and client resulted in a residential landscape which celebrates bio-diversity, environmental responsibility and provides an urban farming component worthy of educational dialogue for urbanites looking to produce their own food with over 160 different species of plants. (photo credit: Mark K Morrison, RLA, FASLA, GRP)”

This year, we organized our Photo Contest a bit differently from last and utilized Facebook – each person could vote multiple times for their favorite, but just one time per day.  In 2010 we had a total of 1,500 votes for readers’ favorites, compared to this year’s 212 votes.  This really lowered the overall number of votes per project, but we felt it would provide a fairer approach than simply voting a ton of times a day for your favorite.  In any case, it’s still a popularity contest!

It’s been fun for me to read all 161 of the comments from everyone on Facebook – most are short and sweet, which is a great way to get the point across quickly.  You can still do that, too, if you’re interested, and see who voted for whom by clicking on each photo.

There were a lot of cool projects from which to choose, from small to large, single family residential to huge institutional.  I’d like to include each of these in our Greenroof & Greenwall Projects Database so that we can all learn more about them and see more photos, too.  See everyone’s submissions and their total vote counts here.

As Earth Month comes to a close for 2011, I hope we all continue honoring our planet with thoughtful decisions, living roofs and walls, and more forward-thinking sustainable design.

Happy greening!

~ Linda V.

Enter the 2011 “Love the Earth, Plant a Roof!” Earth Day Photo Contest!

This year marks the 41st anniversary of Earth Day, and there are tons of events planned on and around April 22 to raise global awareness about the environment – I say let’s celebrate the entire month of April!

Last year our inaugural “Love the Earth, Plant a Roof!” Earth Day Photo Contest was a lot of fun and a big success!  We had a great response with 30 contest entries (see the Top 10 here) and over 1,500 votes for our readers’ favorite greenroof.   We’re pleased to offer it again in celebration of Earth Day 2011:

What is it?

The Love the Earth, Plant a Roof!” Earth Day Photo Contest is a great way to create interest in beautiful living rooftop architecture and highlight some outstanding designs.  It’s designed to be quick, simple, and fun, and is basically is a popularity contest among our international readership. Any and all types of greenroofs are eligible, any place on Earth.

Submit a photo and your friends and colleagues vote for your favorite greenroof!  This year we’ll be using Facebook to post entries and track votes plus keeping everyone updated on our Greenroofs.com Facebook page.  The contest is open to everyone, not just the roof owner or the designers of record. And voting is open to everyone, too, as many times as you like – but only once per day – so tell your friends to vote for your submission!

Here’s an example for inspiration, although you can certainly vote for it, too:

When is it?

Photo Submission Dates: April 8 – 22, 2011
Voting Dates: Earth Day, April 8 – April 29, 2011
Announcement of Winner: April 30, 2011

What do I have to do to enter the contest?

First, you’ll have to be our Fan on Facebook.

Then read the Official Rules, and click on the “Submit an entry” tab and follow the directions: Post your photo – remember this is a photo contest and it should be gorgeous!  In the caption field, start with the Project Name and Location.  Tell us how this roof is a living example of loving the Earth to let everyone know why they should vote for this particular greenroof project photo.  Make sure to credit the photographer if it’s not yours (also make sure you have permission).  Then tell your friends!

The project doesn’t have to be listed in The Greenroof & Greenwall Projects Database, but we’d love to have it included so people can read more about it.  (For example, see the Heinz 57 Center/Gimbels Building Restoration profile here.) Check to see if one already exists, and if not, you can use the online submittal form here, or just send us info and up to 11 photos and/or graphics to projects@greenroofs.com.

Requirements:

~ You can enter as often as you wish, but only one photo per project for the Contest (send more photos and project description for the blog post if you win or the Projects Database profile).
~ Entries must be color digital images, and less than 5 megabytes in size.
~ It has to be a real vegetated roof project, and no graphics or Photoshopping!
~ You must be the sole owner of the copyright of any image submitted.  Didn’t take the photo yourself? Make sure you check for any copyright issues – we’re not liable!  Send us written permission from the copyright holder if it’s not yours.
~ State the date photo was taken or at least the year.
~ Don’t break any laws or bones while taking the photos!
~ And, obviously, by submitting the photo you agree to its being published.

What do I get if “my” project wins?

The photo with the most votes will be announced as the winner.  The winner will have “their” project highlighted on Greenroofs.com as an upcoming Greenroof Project of the Week and we’ll feature you in a Sky Gardens interview so you can really tell us more about this living roof and why you love it so much.

And, as a humble token of our esteem, the winner will also receive $100.

Last year, although it didn’t win (ESRI Canada’s Garden in the Sky did), we featured the absolutely stunning Longdrive in Long Eddy, NY on the cover of our Greenroofs and Walls of the World™ Calendar – and once again, we’ll choose one of the “Love the Earth, Plant a Roof!” Photo Contest photos for the 2012 Calendar cover – that’s some high profile free advertising!

Can I post the same project as last year?

Sure.

How do I vote?

It’s easy – just hit the Vote now button at the bottom of the page.  To vote for your favorites, click “Comment to vote.”  Your comment is your vote for that entry!

Get Going!

Start submitting, good luck, and start telling your friends now! Vote for your favorite on the Greenroofs.com Love the Earth, Plant a Roof! Voting Page on Facebook.  What better way to love the Earth than by celebrating ways to tread more lightly, like with living roofs?

Happy Greening for the Earth:  for the month of April, Earth Day, and every day!

~ Linda V.

The 2010 “Love the Earth, Plant a Roof!” Earth Day Photo Contest Top 10 List

You know by now that the winner of our inaugural “Love the Earth, Plant a Roof!” Earth Day Photo Contest 2010 is ESRI Canada’s Garden in the Sky, and here we go, following up with our Top 10 List of the entries accumulating the highest number of votes overall.

We received 30 photos of international living roof projects representing seven countries, including the United States (18), Canada (6), UK (2), Japan (1), Singapore (1), Germany (1), and Sweden (1).

Without further ado, here are the top votes in descending order – click on hyperlinks to learn more about each project – if they don’t have one, that means we don’t have a profile yet in The Greenroof & Greenwall Projects Database, but we will soon:

2010 “Love the Earth, Plant a Roof!” Earth Day Photo Contest
Top 10 List

#1) ESRI Canada’s Garden in the Sky, Toronto, Ontario, Canada – 735 votes

Overlooking one of Toronto’s busiest highways, this 7,500-sq-ft portable garden reduces urban heat, noise and stormwater runoff. It provides lush meeting space for staff and visitors, as well as habitat for birds and butterflies. It helps create a greener, healthier environment. Photo by Margaret Mulligan.

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#2)  parc24, Vero Beach, Florida, USA – 190 votes

Parc24 is taking a stand, and directing Vero Beach into the future, where business can be smart by design and green by nature. Photo by Leah Campbell.

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#3)  Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Canada – 158 votes

This green roof is the pinnacle of what a green roof should be. It combines Art, Architecture, Design, and Ingenuity, without sacrificing its Ecological Benefits. Photo by Patrick Biller.

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#4)  Bellevue Towers, Bellevue, Washington, USA – 86 votes

At nearly an acre in size, the rooftop garden’s bold, modern geometry is informed by the curvilinear tower design, which includes 27,100 square feet of intensive roof garden planting area and 6,400 square feet of extensive ecoroof.  The intensive gardens between towers provide a valuable, usable outdoor spaces for the residents and a visual asset to the condominium units above and adjacent office buildings. This project is certified LEED Gold. Photo by Ben Johnson.

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#5)  Longdrive Residential green roof, Long Eddy, New York, USA – 85 votes

Located on 63 acres in upstate New York the house sits at the edge of the woods overlooking a meadow.  The planted roof on three levels blends into the natural landscape and encourages the wildlife to creep in close to the house. Photo by Steve Chrostowski.

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#6)  St. Louis Children’s Hospital Rooftop Garden,  St. Louis, Missouri, USA – 71 votes

Just outside St. Louis Children’s Hospital’s eighth floor, patients have a unique setting to enjoy time with nature, a private walk or quiet reflection. The 8,000-square-foot Olson Family Garden , an interactive rooftop oasis designed expressly for children and families who want a place for privacy, solace and healing, is another reason why St. Louis Children’s Hospital is a special place for kids. Photo by Tom Tyler.

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#7)  Trent University, Peterborough, ON Canada – 47 votes

Trent’s roof top garden sits on our Environmental Sciences Building providing learning and volunteer opportunities for students.  In this garden we grow vegetables and herbs that are served in our organic campus cafe, the Seasoned Spoon!  Photo by Leslie Menagh.

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#8)  College of Law, Saskatoon, Canada – 36 votes

This 650 m2 green roof is thriving in an extreme climate. Pasture sage, a plant indigenous to the region, grows above the Native Law Centre. In late summer, the sage is harvested in a traditional manner by faculty of the NLC to use for smudging in ceremonies throughout the following year. Photo by Goya Ngan.

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#9)  Greenroof Pavilion at Rock Mill Park, Alpharetta, Georgia, USA – 32 votes

The Greenroof Pavilion design honors the land and Cherokee heritage in this historically and environmentally sensitive Big Creek Watershed with The Greenroof Trial Gardens display; hands-on models and interpretive signage inform young and old alike. Photo by Caroline Menetre.

Note:  FYI – Although I designed this, I did not vote for it, nor any other project for that matter.  This entry was submitted by Caroline Menetre, our Student Intern, who has helped me with planting, plant trial record keeping, and weeding duties – I like how she didn’t even bother to come up with her own narrative, but felt comfortable just copying my own example above!

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#10)  Miami Science Museum, Miami, Florida, USA – 21 votes

The Museum’s four green roof assemblies, each with varied depths and irrigation schedules, include interpretive signs and rain/ temperature sensors. They provide information for visitors and data for the designers of the Museum’s new building. Photo by Chris Trigg.

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See all the photo submittals here.  In my eyes, everyone who entered a photo is a winner, and I know we all enjoyed seeing this wide assortment of greenroofs.  Next year I promise to start earlier so you can have more time to get your “people” to vote for your favorite project – but it was fun, although a bit fast and furious!

Happy greening ~ Linda V.

The Winner of our “Love the Earth, Plant a Roof!” Earth Day Photo Contest is …

The Winner of Greenroofs.com’s “Love the Earth, Plant a Roof!” Earth Day Photo Contest for 2010 is:

ESRI Canada’s Garden in the Sky in Toronto, Ontario, Canada!

“Overlooking one of Toronto’s busiest highways, this 7,500-sq-ft portable garden reduces urban heat, noise and stormwater runoff. It provides lush meeting space for staff and visitors, as well as habitat for birds and butterflies. It helps create a greener, healthier environment. Photo by Margaret Mulligan.”

In our first photo contest ever, we received 30 contest entries and over 1,500 votes for readers’ favorite greenroof!

ESRI Canada’s Garden in the Sky entry received an incredible 735 votes!  Talk about rallying your friends and family for support – quite a networking coop there!

Josephine Chan will receive her choice of a $100 gift card to either The Home Depot or Lowe’s for spring projects or just a good old fashioned check.  Of course, I don’t think people submitted their project for the chance at the whopping $100 prize, but more to share their pride of accomplishment – a gorgeous, earth-friendly, living roofing alternative that only does not harm the Earth, but who’s design can actually help heal the Earth and sooth some of our development problems.

And we all know that living roofs do just that – through living, breathing, plant material.

There were so many awesome, stunning projects!  I had many favorites myself, and it would have been extremely hard to choose one.  Once again, this was a subjective photo contest about which greenroof loves the Earth the best by the photo and the description submitted.  So, basically, it really boiled down to a popularity contest since voting was open to everyone, not judged by a panel conforming to any particular standards.  See all the photo submittals here.

The winner will have “their” project highlighted on Greenroofs.com as the upcoming Greenroof Project of the Week starting on Sunday, May 2, 2010 and we’ll feature the submitter in a Sky Gardens interview so you can learn more about this particular vegetated roof and why she feels it’s so special.

On Monday I’ll also post the Top 10 List of Greenroof Projects in order of most votes received – I’d like to eventually feature these projects, too, as our Greenroof Project of the Week along with all of the projects received, so you can look forward to gaining an appreciation of each one in the future.

So, for now, congratulations to Josephine Chan and ESRI Canada!  Check back here later next week for the GPW, or Greenroof Project of the Week, highlight with plenty of photos, project description and inspiration.

I hope you all enjoyed and celebrated Earth Day and Month in a special way – aren’t we fortunate to be involved in an industry that allows us to feel good every day about what we’re doing and promoting?  I’m sure Mother Earth appreciates organic greenroof architecture, too!

~ Linda V.