january 2004

Green Roofs for Healthy Cities

2004 Will Be A Year of Laying the Foundations for Unprecedented Growth in the Green Roof Industry
By Steven Peck

Green Roof Demonstration Project on Toronto's City Hall; Courtesy S. Peck

This year promises to be outstanding for the continued growth and maturation of the green roof industry in North America!  Sustainability requires that we develop, design and operate buildings that are not only less damaging to the environment, but that are also restorative or regenerative in their nature. Green roofs have a central role to play in helping to achieve greater progress towards regenerative buildings and by extension, more livable, healthier and sustainable communities.

Following on the heels of the first green roof conference in Chicago last May, Green Roofs for Healthy Cities is pleased to be co-hosting with The City of Portland, Oregon, Greening Rooftops for Sustainable Communities: The 2nd Annual International Green Roof Infrastructure Conference, Awards and Trade Show from June 2-4, 2004.  This event coincides with Portland’s famous Rose Festival and will acknowledge Portland’s leadership in supporting the research and implementation of green roofs.  The conference will present over 50 speakers drawn from nine countries.  The Trade Show is twice the size of the Chicago show, and is already 50% sold out. It will showcase over 75 suppliers of leading green roof infrastructure products and related services.  An International Business Opportunities workshop will enable green roof firms from around the world to network together and discuss joint ventures and licensing opportunities.

We’ve revamped our Green Roof Awards of Excellence, which will acknowledge and highlight the very best completed green roof projects from across North America.  The categories this year include: Extensive Green Roofs and Intensive Green Roofs on: Commercial/Industrial; Institutional; and Residential Buildings.  Semi-Intensive green roofs will be included in the Intensive Category.  Awards will be presented to the six winning design teams on June 3, 2004 at the Hilton Hotel.  The call for 2004 submittals will be launched on January 19, 2004.

2003 Green Roof Award of Excellence Winner, Church of Latter-Day Saints Jesus Christ Conference Centre, Salt Lake City, UT; Design by Olin Partnership, Landscape Architects; Courtesy Steven Peck

In response to our members concerns about quality design and installation, we’ve assembled a multi-disciplinary team of over 40 experts to develop an intensive, one day training workshop called Green Roof Design 101, to be launched in Portland on June 2.  This is the first of a series of training workshops that will provide a high standard of training excellence in the marketplace - a key foundation for the development of a successful green roof industry. Green Roof Design 101 will be a core course in our Green Roof Training and Accreditation Program which will be unveiled in greater detail in Portland.

We are also having a special meeting of the green roof research community in Portland to share experiences and work towards improved funding and communication of results.  There continues to be a blossoming of green roof related research and new research facilities many of which will be presented in the Research Track during the conference.

This year, we also plan to work with more cities and related government organizations to continue to build the case for public policy incentives in support of the green roof infrastructure implementation and the many tangible public benefits that widespread implementation can bring.  Greening Rooftops for Sustainable Cities will provide an unprecedented opportunity for public planners and policy makers to learn how to develop a green roof industry from some of the leading jurisdictions, including Chicago, New York, Portland, Atlanta and Toronto.

In 2004, Green Roofs for Healthy Cities has lowered our membership dues, increased membership benefits and added a few new membership categories in order to continue to build a community of designer, manufacturer’s, researchers, policy makers and others who are working to develop this industry.

I’d like to publicly thank all our new and renewing members for their support, and particularly our Patron Level members: GreenTech, Garland, Flynn, McGuire Woods, and Soprema, whose significant financial support and expertise is critical to our ongoing efforts to build the green roof industry. I look forward to continuing to share the dream of greener, healthier, restorative buildings and sustainable cities with all of you in Portland in June 2004!

Steven W. Peck is Executive Director of Green Roofs for Healthy Cities , a member-based network of public and private organizations founded in 1999 by The Cardinal Group Inc dedicated to the development of a multimillion dollar green roof industry in North America.  Green Roofs for Healthy Cities is organizing a major green roof conference and trade show in Portland, Oregon June 2-4, 2004, publishes the Green Roof Infrastructure Monitor, runs the Green Roof Awards of Excellence and is developing a voluntary training and accreditation program for designer, installer and maintenance professionals.

For more information visit www.greenroofs.ca, call Steven at 416.971.4494, or e-mail him at: speck@cardinalgroup.ca or Angela Loder, Director of Membership, at: aloder@cardinalgroup.ca.

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