Green architecture is really hot right now and after about a decade and a half’s worth of exploring the ecology of organic greenroof architecture in North America, greenwalls are the newest darlings in the green building world here and abroad.

More than just “green bling,” as one proponent told me recently, greenwalls add many benefits on their own to a building envelope.  While creating a lush and deliciously tactile tapestry of living plants, they offer a showy feast for the eyes that are much more visually accessible than many of their roofing counterparts.

I was asked to present on the subject last November for a local Atlanta USGBC group by Julia Gray Hines, ASID, RID, LEED AP ID+C of Chartreuse Inc. Interior Design Studio, and of course I propsed our Green Wall Editor, George Irwin, too.  Julia suggested Atlanta City Hall as a possible location, and I knew it was perfect because of their beautiful greenroof and the willingness of its resident (and entertaining) landscape architect and greenroof guru, Bill Brigham, ASLA, to share his experiences.

Learn about early influential designers such as the ground-breaking Austrian painter and architect Friedensreich Hundertwasser, and more recent innovator French botanist Patric Blanc and his Le Mur Vegetal, seen above left at the Musée du Quai Branly, and see how designers are pushing the limits in my compilation of the Top Hot Trends in International Greenroof and Greenwall Design.  I’ll also provide a sneak preview of the Greenroofs.com Top 10 List for 2010 (which I’ll present along with our Design Editor, Haven Kiers, in Vancouver, B.C. at the upcoming 8th Annual CitiesAlive! Conference later this year).

Understand the differences between green façades and living walls from George Irwin, the many new systems available today - along with options for growing media (including none at all!) - as well as the new and exciting economic and social benefits and opportunities for urban vertical farming.

Presented on Thursday, July 22, 2010 by the USGBC Atlanta Events & Education Committee, you’ll receive 1.5 LEED Credential Maintenance Units offered, and the cost is an extremely affordable $10 for members and $20 for non-members!

Registration is open from 3:30-4:30 pm at Atlanta City Hall, 55 Trinity Avenue SW Atlanta, GA 30303, on the fifth floor Cafeteria where Bill will be on hand to show off the Atlanta City Hall Pilot Greenroof, the first public municipal non-irrigated vegetated roof, and then George and I will speak from 4:30 to 6:00 pm.

Come join us next week for the USGBC Georgia Chapter ”Green Walls, Red Tomatoes and Urban Farming,” a fun and informative afternoon on the surging proliferation of these architecturally important, and sexy, planted façades!  For more info, download the PDF here.

See you ~ Linda V.

I did it – I finally took my (GRP) Green Roof Professional exam from Green Roofs for Healthy Cities, passed, and am now part of the Class of 2009-10, the first year since the launch!

Of course you passed, my friends said, you’ve been at this since the late 1990’s, been called the “Queen of Greenroofs,” the Audubon Society said I was the “Dean of Greenroofs” several years back, and Paul Kephart from Rana Creek once told an audience in San Francisco that I had a PhD in greenroofs!  I quickly thanked him for the educational upgrade, but explained really I just have an undergraduate degree in landscape architecture…

Hold on, while it wasn’t that hard, it also wasn’t that easy – I didn’t quite ace it, and it took some studying of the four Green Roofs for Healthy Cities’ courses – well, really three (I didn’t study Green Roofs 101 – I did teach it, though, for one stint during the introduction in Portland, OR, in 2004 along with Patrick Carey, Haven Kiers, and Wendy Wark, pictured at right).  But that’s the point of the exam – to ensure a certain level of comprehension of the philosophy and application of greenroof methodology and technology, which also means to know your basic understanding of the combined black and green arts, and to know when to call in a seasoned professional in one of those particular halves when necessary.

Even though I’ve been at this for over ten years with several greenroofs designed under my belt (plus writing about them, speaking, compiling the Projects Database with 1,028 profiles so far, etc.), I felt it was very important to receive my GRP designation for many reasons.  (I became a LEED APin 2004 for similar reasonings.)  I had planned to take it here in Atlanta last June, 2009 at the inaugural exam held during the 7th annual Greening Rooftops for Sustainable Communities Conference (now Cities Alive) and said so when I interviewed Jeff Bruce, but didn’t because I missed the registration deadline!

In any case, I took a look at all the cities offering the GRP exam this year and jumped at taking it New York City on Friday, April 30 because it’s such a great town and we have friends there.  Aramis and I had great hosts in Wendy and Chris Wark – Chris is our new “Energy Editor” and they’re long time greenroof compadres.  To welcome us, we had dinner at their place the night before and since Wendy is now a director at Metro North Railroad, and she promised us a special late afternoon “insider” tour of Grand Central Station, after my morning GRP exam at Pace University.

There were about 30 of us taking the exam, and all went smoothly.  Since we had the afternoon free, we roamed a bit, first exploring New York’s historic South Street Seaport next to the Brooklyn Bridge at the tip of Manhattan.  Most important for us, though, was to visit the Ground Zero site, pay our respects, and see the construction progress.  We started at the beautiful St. Paul’s Chapel.  Opened in 1766, it’s Manhattan’s oldest public building in continuous use – a place where George Washington worshiped and 9/11 recovery workers received round-the-clock care, and lingered at each of the memorials to the victims of that horrific day – personal mementos, photos, and messages to lost ones.  We also visited the Ground Zero Museum Workshop alongside a throng of international visitors, where we reflected at rare, heart-pulling images of the day and the models and plans of the new Freedom Tower and more.

Wendy then showed us the bustling, beautiful and massive Grand Central Terminal, revealing seven little know secrets about its Beaux-Arts architecture and past…Did you know that the four-sided brass clock in the center of the information booth in the main concourse holds the four largest opals in the world?  Drinks at MAD46 were next – a trendy rooftop lounge (of course!) followed by dinner at Guantanamera, a wonderful Cuban restaurant.

On Saturday Wendy, Chris, Aramis, and I spent our last day in the Meatpacking District touring the much publicized 1.45-mile (2.33 km) High Line, which was packed with people sightseeing, pushing baby strollers and wheelchairs, and even some taking in the sun in the extremely hot sunshine.  I found the High Line to be an extremely successful example of public space: interesting regenerative design in the form of ecological reuse of a former urban blight.

Originally constructed in the 1930s to lift dangerous freight trains off Manhattan’s streets, it was abandoned in 1980.  But today the High Line is an elevated public park owned by the City of New York and operated under the jurisdiction of the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation.  Designed by the landscape architecture firm of James Corner Field Operations and architects Diller Scofidio + Renfro with planting design from Piet Oudolf and engineering design by Buro Happold, the first section opened to the public in June, 2009.

“The park welcomes visitors with naturalized plantings that are inspired by the self-seeded landscape that grew on the disused tracks and with new, often unexpected views of the city and the Hudson River. Pebble-dash concrete walkways unify the trail, which swells and constricts, swinging from side to side, and divides into concrete tines that meld the hardscape with the planting embedded in railroad gravel mulch. Stretches of track and ties recall the High Line’s former use. Most of the planting, which includes 210 species, is of rugged meadow plants, including clump-forming grasses, liatris and coneflowers, with scattered stands of sumac and smokebush, but not limited to American natives.” ~ Wikipedia

Although I found the site’s modernist hotel to border on hideous, I loved the High Line’s overall design – its honesty to its railroad past – and the planting flow of this linear park spanning 22 city blocks, which in effect is a very large greenroof!

Which brings me back to the reason for this post – to let you know I am a proud GRP, and if you are involved with our industry or are considering entering, I highly recommend you pursue this course of study and sit for the exam – even if you, too, have been doing this for over 10 years (or more!).

Thanks to the Warks and to NYC!  Speaking of New York City, look for our second installment of Sky Gardens ~ Greenroofs of the World ™ WebTV series in about a month or two.  Sponsored by Green Roof Blocks, we’re highlighting the fabulous Cook+Fox Architects Corporate Officesand their 8th floor penthouse greenroof in Manhattan!

As usual, happy greening! ~ Linda V., GRP

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 café –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.

Wow, Greenroofs.com received 30 entries from around the world in our first greenroof contest ever – the ”Love the Earth, Plant a Roof!” Earth Day Photo Contest – and the enthusiasm has been enormous!  We wanted a way to honor Earth Day and hear what you, in our greenroof world, have done to lessen our footprint, so I came up with this idea to highlight your efforts.

Voting and submissions are now closed.  Thanks to everyone who submitted a project – each beautiful, unique and special in their own way.  And let’s admit it – any roof that has been greened is a huge step up from the traditional conventional roof – hot, barren, and certainly unproductive (OK, unless you have solar or a reflective roof)!

We’ll announce the winner on Friday, April 30, the last day of Earth Month.  And we’ll soon get to learn all about the winning roof from the person who submitted it – we already know the What (a greenroof!), but how about the Who, Where, When and Why of the project?  Stay tuned!

Check out the entries here and look for our announcement on Friday.

Happy greening,

~ Linda V.

Happy Earth Day 2010!  It’s the 40th anniversary of observing this date, and April has been unofficially dubbed Earth Month, too, in its honor.  April is also Landscape Architecture Month, a fitting selection for a profession so dedicated to respecting the Earth through responsible environmental design.

So how am I celebrating Earth Day and Month?  Well, you know we started our first annual “Love the Earth! Plant a Roof Earth Day Photo Contest“ - it’s open until April 28 for entering your favorite living roof and for voting.  By the way, there’s one clear early leader so far with over 200 votes!  Get your friends and colleagues to vote for your roof shot now.  We’ll announce the winner on April 30.

My hands-on project involves a local area Daisy Troop – eleven young girls aged 7 and 8 who attend Birmingham Falls Elementary in Milton, Georgia.  Their Girl Scout Leader, mom Sandra Nichols, contacted me a while back about speaking to the troop about the greenroof I designed at Rock Mill Park in Alpharetta, GA.  The girls are working towards one of their badges, the Clover Project, which involves preserving and protecting a local treasure and saving resources.  Since Sandra had been to the park before, she felt this would be a great learning opportunity to present the greenroof idea to the girls to educate them about saving water and reducing energy usage.

By the way, our Student Intern, Caroline Menetre – below, and I had just been up to the roof last week, doing routine weeding and taking notes to see which plants had fared well and which ones didn’t – more on that later.

Being a mom of three myself, and now a grandmom, of course I said yes!  I met with them this past Tuesday and had a blast speaking about rain water, stormwater, and an introduction to greenroofs to this lively and rambunctious group.  They especially loved touching all the plants in our four Greenroof Trial Garden tabletops – and they all got to try the garlicky Alliums in the Non-native Module!

I’ll be following up with them at their school this upcoming Tuesday to help them plant two 2′ x 2′ x 4″ greenroof modules of their own – both Green Roof Blocks and GreenGrid donated a module each, which will be on display at the school for all the children to have hands-on experience and learn about different types of greenroof plants.  Thanks to Kelly Luckett of Green Roof Blocks, and Jim Lindell and Greg Harper of GreenGrid!  I should add a thanks to GreenTech as well – they offered their larger 4′ x 4′ x 8 1/2″ module, but it was decided two smaller modules placed in two locations would better serve the students.

Also, Bobby Saul of Saul Nurseries here in Atlanta and Alpharetta, GA, is donating the plants for both modules, as well as the growing media from ItSaul Natural.  After my little talk, I presented each girl with her own greenroof plant from Saul Nurseries to take home – a beautiful green Jovibarba ‘Green Carpet’ –  succulent and spiky!  You know how kids like to touch things, well, they loved these!

I know that many of you are passionate about protecting the planet, and hopefully you are doing something this April to honor our land.  I’ll leave with this quote:

“Only within the moment of time represented by the present century has one species – man – acquired significant power to alter the nature of his world.” ~ Rachel Carson

~ Linda V.

Some of you may recall back a couple of years ago that Greenroofs.com was a semi-finalist in a competition from The Green on the Sundance Channel called “What’s the Big Idea?” Contest with our 60-second video “Love the Earth, Plant a Roof!”  While we didn’t win, the tag line stuck with me – simple and direct.  April 22, 2010 marks the 40th anniversary of Earth Day and we are excited to honor Earth Day, really the entire Earth Month of April, with our first photo contest ever!

The “Love the Earth, Plant a Roof!” Photo Contest is designed to be quick, simple, and fun.  Any and all types of greenroofs are eligible, any place on Earth.  Send us* your favorite shot of that special greenroof which graphically epitomizes its relationship to our planet – how it is a living example of loving the Earth.  We’ll be keeping everyone updated on Greenroofs.com with a special page for all the contest photos, and on Twitter.

Tell us how it is a living example in 285 characters or less for the write up on the Love the Earth, Plant a Roof! Voting Page next to your thumbnail photo to let people why they should vote for this particular project and you.  Include a photo source/credit, not part of the 285 count.

For the Greenroofs.com tweet, pare it down to the meat and bones in 120 characters for all to see (we need 20 characters for the link to your photo – so people can click and vote immediately!).  Don’t follow us on Twitter yet?  Do so here.

Here’s an example for inspiration – this precious child is my own grandson, Nicky, at The Greenroof Pavilion and Trial Gardens of Rock Mill Park here in Alpharetta, Georgia, USA:

Example tweet @ 120 characters:

Vote Rock Mill Park! The design honors the land & Cherokee heritage with hands-on models & signage for young and old.

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, so tell your friends to vote for your submission!

Entries will be accepted today and voting will be open to everyone until Wednesday, April 28 at 5:00 p.m. EST – but, of course, you’ll increase your chances of receiving the most votes by entering early!  Enter now and rally your forces – don’t delay.

Vote as often as you wish by clicking on your selected photo.  Include your real name and contact info or it will be discarded.

The winner will be announced on the last day of Earth Month, Friday, April 30, 2010, in our Top 10 List for the ”Love the Earth, Plant a Roof!” Photo Contest.  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 your choice of a $100 gift card to either The Home Depot or Lowe’s for your spring projects or just a good old fashioned check!

Some 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, but send the contest photo clearly identified as such).
• ~ It has to be a real project, no Photoshopping!
• ~ Didn’t take the photo yourself?  Make sure you credit the source and check for any copyright issues – we’re not liable!
• ~ Don’t break any laws or bones while taking the photos!
• ~ Minimum size: 491 x 367
• ~ And, obviously, by submitting the photo you agree to its being published.

* Include your real name and contact information; a 120-character including spaces description for the tweet starting with ”Vote (Name of Project)!…”; a 285-character including spaces (or less) description for the write up including Name of Project, City, State, and/or Country; any additional photos in case you win, but that can come later.

Submit away and good luck – start telling your friends now!  Vote for your favorite here on the Love the Earth, Plant a Roof! Voting Page.

Happy Greening for the Earth, ~ Linda V.

Our GPW is the Dennis and Judith Jones Variety Wonderland, a delightful children’s playground in historic Forest Park, St. Louis, Missouri.  One of the largest urban parks in the United States, Forest Park opened in 1876 and is the former site of The World’s Fair of 1904, drawing more than 20 million visitors from around the world.  At 1,293 acres (5.2 km²), Forest Park is over 50% larger than New York’s Central Park (843 acres or 3.41 km²)!

Home to the region’s major cultural institutions—the Zoo, Art Museum, History Museum, Science Center and the Muny Opera, today Forest Park attracts more than 12 million visitors a year.  It also serves as a sports center for all kinds of activities and the park serves as a natural oasis for the city (see a Visitor’s Guide here).

The Dennis and Judith Jones Variety Wonderland is the City of St. Louis’ first inclusive public playground.  Designed in 2005 so that all children, able-bodied children and children with disabilities, could experience playtime together, it all began with feedback from a local organization: the Variety Family Council.  Now Variety, the Children’s Charity of St. Louis, they couldn’t find a public playground where their children with disabilities could play with their siblings – and so a saga was born.  Variety serves children with physical and mental disabilities in the region from infancy to the age of 21. Variety Week is April 17-24, 2010, and serves as a means to maximize awareness and fund-raising opportunities to benefit community children.

“We wanted this to be a place open to all children,” said Jan Albus, executive director of St. Louis Variety. “The most important thing was that it make it so children with disabilities could play right along with all other children.”

Three years, seven local donors, and a lot of hard work later, the $2 million state-of-the-art playground design includes 29 pieces of equipment on a soft, porous 10,100 sf surface.  The Dennis and Judith Jones Variety Wonderland playground is divided into five sections designed according to age, physical strength and abilities.

“First Adventures” is for children ages 2-5 and ”Big Adventures” for children ages 6 to 12.  Specialty areas are the “Observation Relaxation Deck,” “Living Shelter,” and the “Secret Garden.”  The Secret Garden contains 14 colorful perennials that attract, feed and house butterflies.  Learning stones will teach children about the life cycle of Monarchs here amidst the natural habitat.

Constructed to ADA standards for handicap accessibility, equipment includes a slide for children with cochlear implants, Braille and clock panels for the blind, talk phones, surface fountains and 8’ high ramping so children can experience a tree house affect.  You’ll also find a spyro slide, double slide, corkscrew climber, swings with bucket seats, spring pods, disc swing monkey bars with a vertical ladder, a pipe barrier with a steering wheel, and more.
 

This all-inclusive playground is located adjacent to the Dennis and Judith Jones Visitor and Education Center.  Formerly the Lindell Pavilion, it was built in 1892 as a shelter for streetcar passengers, and after a $4 million restoration, the facility is now home to Forest Park Forever, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to raising private funds for the restoration of Forest Park.

Kelly Luckett, LEED AP, GRP, and President of Green Roof Blocks (and one of our contributing editors, also known as “The Green Roof Guy“), was responsible for the lovely modular greenroof atop the walkway pavilion that connects from the Visitor and Education Center and greets children to the play area.  I asked him how he became involved with Forest Park Forever, and he replied:

“I did a lunch and learn for Powers Bowersox Associates, a St. Louis architectural firm.  After lunch, they showed me the preliminary sketches of the project and said they wanted to do a green roof on the structure so that it better fit into the green landscape of Forest Park.  They liked the portability of the modular concept that allowed us to pre-grow modules so the plants were more mature for the dedication ceremony.”

The roof is constructed of 60 mil reinforced EPDM fully adhered to poly-isocyanurate over metal deck, and 76 Green Roof Blocks were grown offsite at Jost Greenhouses for approximately 10 weeks allowing the plants to mature to 80% coverage at the time of installation.

Green Roof Blocks are low-maintenance, self contained, portable units consisting of a 24″ x 24″ module fabricated of heavy gauge anodized aluminum.  Walk pad material is fastened to the bottom, serving both to protect the roofing surface and to allow drainage under the Green Roof Blocks.  The walk pad material used is procured from the manufacturer of the building owner’s roofing system to insure compatibility and warranty integrity.

Powers Bowersox did not like the look of the sides of the aluminum modules and they requested Kelly to design a sheet metal trim piece that could be painted to match the edging of the roof, so a red metal skirt was installed at the Forest Park playground around the perimeter Blocks.

Remarkably, from a survival point of view (let alone plant diversity), the Green Roof Blocks were propagated with a single Sedum floriferum cultivar named ‘Weihenstephaner Gold,’ which performs beautifully in USDA Heat Zones 3-7.  Although quite luscious in its profusion of yellow and pink-hued summer blossoms (see above in flower from last spring 2009) as well as being and very effective and successful, it was the company’s last foray into a mono-crop green roof palette.  As current policy, Green Roof Blocks since uses multi-species for all projects.  Kelly explains:

“The plant species was selected for the evergreen characteristics, though we have since moved away from single species planting strategies for our green roof projects.  Only having one plant species planted on a green roof leaves the project vulnerable to weather anomalies or species specific pest that could affect the entire green roof.  We now plant at least five different species within each module.  This strategy establishes a diverse eco system more closely mimicking what we see in nature.  The plants on this project continue to thrive in part because the green roof plants have been included in the hundreds of thousands of plants that are under the constant watchful eye of the Forest Park Forever horticulturists.”

The growing media here is a 4″ deep blend of 80% red lava rock and 20% composted pine bark.  The plants were initially fertilized using Scotts Osmocote with a 12 to 14 month release.  Kelly says that each year since, he has picked up Vic (of Jost Greenhouses) and driven to each of their St. Louis green roof projects for maintenance and assessment.

“We give each one the spring feeding of slow release fertilizer, the plants get inspected by the trained eye of horticulturist Vic Jost, and I get a chance to get fresh photos of another year of plant growth.  We do not provide routine maintenance on our projects in other parts of the country.  Our St. Louis customers find this added perk to be a nice touch,”  Kelly Luckett adds.

Kelly says he is pleased that some stakeholders even make it a point to be present so they can discuss the project with Vic and himself, and looks forward to their maintenance visit each year.  So for almost five years, this simple vegetated roof has not only survived with minimal maintenance, by all accounts it has flourished quite nicely.

Aramis and I had the opportunity to visit the stunning Park Forest grounds and this beautiful playground in late June of 2006 when I was invited by Dr. Bill Retzlaff of Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville, IL (SIUE) and Kelly Luckett to speak at the SIUe Green Roof Symposium.  By the way, Kelly is also the author of “Green Roof Construction and Maintenance” (GreenSource Books), 2009 from The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. - a great resource, full of detailed, useful information for all of us.

Kelly and his wife Trish played wonderful hosts to us and showed off their lovely city by highlighting the Forest Park Forever playground, where I found a very cool drinking fountain feature, above, and also taking us to many attractions – the iconic image of St. Louis - the Gateway Arch, a Cardinals baseball game, and the awesome and sometimes surreal glass-blown designs of Dale Chihuly at the Missouri Botanical Gardens “Glass in the Garden” exhibition, below.

Forest Park is really a midwestern gem – a peaceful place to relax and reflect in a lush, green space filled with water, trees and sky.  As we all know, playtime is one of the strongest teachers and in such a fun and accessible environment, children will learn naturally about various forms of diversity, disability and acceptance while developing increased strength, coordination, confidence and social skills.

I had the pleasure of seeing kids of all ages and abilities benefit while playing in this charming and educational wonderland, and I sure had a good time, too!

An important urban oasis of green within metro St. Louis, Forest Park offers a respite for migrating birds and butterflies, and an integrated ecosystem where humans and nature interact – especially on one albeitly small playground and its simple greenroof.

~ Linda V.

Where will you be at Earth Hour 2010?  When is that, you say?  Easy:  Always the last Saturday in March or this Saturday, March 27, 2010 at 8:30 p.m. local, wherever.

What is that?  Earth Hour is a movement sponsored by the international conservation organization WWF to bring attention to energy waste and global warming.  Since its inception three years ago, Earth Hour’s non-partisan approach has captured the world’s imagination and became a global phenomenon.  Nearly one billion people turned out for Earth Hour 2009 – involving 4,100 cities in 87 countries on seven continents. 

Aramis and I here at Greenroofs.com have been observing Earth Hour since 2008 when we had a lovely dinner and played cards by candlelight.  We also blacked out a portion of our Home Page to commemorate the event.  We’ve now gotten our grown kids and their friends to join in!

So why don’t you sign up, spread the word, and switch off your lights, too!  You’ll be in good company:  So far 30 U.S. States, Washington D.C. and 150 other municipalities are officially supporting Earth Hour.  In fact, 3,100 cities in 121 countries on all seven continents are confirmed to turn off their lights on Saturday, March 27, 2010 at 8:30 p.m. local time.

Is Earth Hour the answer to our rampant energy consumption and dependency on oil?  No, of course not.  The website states:

“On Earth Hour hundreds of millions of people around the world will come together to call for action on climate change by doing something quite simple—turning off their lights for one hour. The movement symbolizes that by working together, each of us can make a positive impact in this fight, protecting our future and that of future generations.”

At best it serves as a call to action and commitment to cleaner air, evolving into a more enlightened society, finding alternative ways to power our planet.  At least it can serve us to becoming more aware of our actions, one hour at a time.

Happy Earth Hour 2010! ~ Linda and Aramis V.

Before the second day of Ecoroof Portland’s Vendor Fair and program sessions, Tom Liptan co-led an ecoroof tour starting at 8:30 a.m.  Along with Jason King of TERRA.fluxus, on March 13 the group was comfortably and efficiently transported by ecoShuttle around northeast Portland to see a variety of roofs, below.

The five sites visited on Saturday morning were the Metro Regional Headquarters Ecoroof and Yakuza Restaurant (above), K-4 Condominiums (left), and the O’Brien and Omey residences (below).

I’m sorry to say we just couldn’t make ourselves get up early enough to join in!  But our trusty friends Casey Cunningham at the City of Portland Bureau of Environmental Services and Jason shared these photos with us (I hope to add/update these profiles soon to The Greenroof & Greenwall Projects Database) – by the way, Jason King is a very talented landscape architect here and has been involved with many ecoroof projects, including the Multnomah County Multnomah Building, top photo above.

After the 10:30 Intro to Portland Ecoroof session, Commissioner Dan Saltzman welcomed everyone and spoke about the City’s vision for a sustainable future and some of their ongoing projects.  Then I was introduced as the keynote speaker, sharing my presentation “Hot Trends in Greenroof & Greenwall Design.”  A compilation of my favorites from the past three years of Haven Kiers, our Design Editor, and my Top 10 List of Hot Design Trends in Greenroof Design, I also added some outstanding projects that will make our Top 10 for 2010 (under construction), including this one below, the $90 million Oregon Sustainability Center, designed by Portland firms SERA Architects and GBD Architects:

Saturday’s first afternoon session was all about case studies – small and large, public and private.  Kevin Falkerson, AIA, and Kerrie Lee Cole, GRP, of SYMBIOS shared their experience of design-based solutions with the Salmon Creek School living roof, from concept through construction and follow-up.  The LEED Platinum Sonoma County, California environmental center has many eco-friendly features, offering the students of this K-8 grade school numerous opportunities for place-based learning – about the ecology of the natural site and the greenroof itself.

The semi-intensive roof sports a diverse palette of non-native and native sedums and succulents, accented with beautiful detail plantings including boulders and rocks.  See a photo gallery here.

Next up was the energetic Walt Quade, a general contractor with Cully Construction Co. (and Green Home Oregon), who built his own energy-conscious, partially underground home with a custom-designed 1,490 sf greenroof in north Portland.  He also started from research to conception through several design options, before deciding on the one that would best suit his family’s needs and desires.  Walt not only described the construction process step-by-step, he also provided insights on lessons learned.  His message was clear:  ecoroofs do not need to be a high cost item if you are knowledgeable about products, and they are not that difficult to execute – but you do need to know your limitations and hire professionals when necessary.  See his photo gallery here.

Karl Schultz from the Port of Portland followed with the new sustainable headquarters facility for the Port of Portland at PDX, Portland International Airport.  Situated in front of the terminal which is connected to the parking garage, the 10-floor LEED Gold-designed facility has extensive daylighting, high performance glazing, radiant heating and cooling ceiling, reflective membrane, and a Living Machine – an organic wastewater treatment system that treats wastewater onsite to be used in the building for non-potable uses.

The structure also features an intensive built in place greenroof on the 8th floor and the larger 10,000 sf LiveRoof modular greenroof on top of the 9th floor on the north side installed for rainwater treatment  – both incorporate “adaptive plant Micromist irrigation.”

The final session was the very interesting, informal, and lively ”The Ecoroof Doctors are IN” panel with Tom Liptan, Ed Snodgrass, Patrick Carey, Dave Elkin, and Alice Meyers from the BES Ecoroof Incentive Program.  They offered advice and fielded many questions from architects, homeowners, and designers about a ton of subjects – from which are the best plants to benefits of modular vs. built in place systems to construction details.

Earlier this year, March was declared “Ecoroof Portland” month by Mayor Adams, and the learning and fun didn’t stop with Ecoroof Portland 2010 - here are a few more opportunities to learn what they’re all about from sponsors the Portland Audubon Society, Urban Greenspaces Institute, and the City of Portland (check for space availability):

South Waterfront Ecoroof Tour, March 27th
Green Roofs and Living Walls for Wildlife, March 30th – with one of our perennial favorites, Brit Dusty Gedge of Livingroofs.org 
Downtown Ecoroof Tour, March 31st

We left Portland with a greater understanding of how City employees, from the Mayor to City Commissioners to everyone at BES, view their work.  I felt that the employee buy-in for eco-friendly stormwater management options for a cleaner and greener Portland is just amazing!  It was evident from everyone we met how much they loved their jobs and how strongly they felt that ecoroofs were a real solution.  They really impressed me with their friendliness, professionalism, and dedication – thanks for inviting me!

Oregon is a land of widely different people, places, and ecosystems, and the beautiful City of Roses is always a pleasure to visit.  The City of Portland serves as a shining example to the rest of the U.S. on how municipal government can really work effectively for and with their people to promote healthy, sustainable development.  Ecoroof Portland is a win-win event for everyone here – the citizens, the City employees, and as a result from all the support and financial incentives, the local environment as well.  Stay in touch by visiting the City’s BES website.

~ Linda V.

Since the 1990s, Portland, Oregon, has worked hard to earn its reputation as a sustainable building pioneer.  Very socially conscious, it’s also a very young city in terms of energy and spirit.  As the host of Ecoroof Portland 2010, the City of Portland’s Bureau of Environmental Services (BES) does a great service to its citizens with this free yearly event with information and technical assistance about ecoroofs – other sponsors included ReDirect Guide, EcoMetro, KXL radio, KINK radio, Portland Business Journal, Left Bank Annex, and ecoShuttle.

A large number of BES staff was on hand to assist, but Matt ran the show.  Matt Burlin is the Outreach Coordinator, Sustainable Stormwater Management, City of Portland Environmental Services, and did an excellent job of organizing and coordinating everything!  Held at the Left Bank Annex close to the Rose Quarter, Ecoroof Portland was easily accessible by public transportation, and in fact, the city encouraged folks to do just that.  The industrial urban space venue was chock full of environmentally friendly features including great daylighting, recycling bins everywhere, and water conservation features in the restrooms.

The program provided options for all levels of sophistication – beginner, professional, researcher, and those who were ready to put an ecoroof on their own house or commercial structure.  Friday started out at a very civil 10:30, with ”An Introduction to Ecoroofs in Portland” given by Matt and Amy Chomowicz (also offered on Saturday morning).  Attendees heard about general ecoroof information – how they work, why they’re important, and what resources are available in Portland to help you get started on your own project to gain skills and experience in the industry.

 
The Vendor Fair was open at 10:00, and I was surprised to see how full both the intro session and exhibitor area was for a Friday morning.  We skipped the intro and perused the trade show on the main floor, mingling with old friends and meeting new ones.

These regional expos are so important for a variety of reasons, and it also gives us an opportunity to meet with local reps of some of our advertisers, too, and learn about business in their neck of the woods – we connected with “new” folks from Tremco, Tournesol Siteworks, American Hydrotech, Xero Flor America, GreenGrid, ILD, and Etera Green Roof Plants (Northwest Horticulture), below.

I was pleased that there was such a high number of professional firms exhibiting among the manufacturers and suppliers, for example landscape architects Lando & Associates Landscape Architecture(who have worked on many ecoroofs here including The Metro Headquarters Greenroof) and Walker Macy (who worked on the Platinum LEED OHSU CHH building, among others).  Architects, consultants, contractors, structural engineers, and researchers also had booths.

In addition to product and service vendors, non-profit organizations and community organizations were also here including the Green Roofs for Healthy Cities booth, which was manned by Patrick Carey, a trainer for all of the courses needed to get your GRP designation – the 101, 201, 301 and 401.

And it was great to see Ecoroofs Everywhere and meet Greg Haines, above left, after all these years (who used to work at BES, seen with Matt, right).  Greg has been installing ecoroofs in Portland since 2002 when he co-founded Ecoroofs Everywhere as a non-profit organization (since 2007 it has been a for-profit partnership).  Of course, the City of Portland had booths to answer questions about their Ecoroof Grant Program (they gave out beautiful posters) and WorkingGreenPortland.com, a website and tool to educate and motivate people about site specific stormwater management options, and city grants and incentives for each.

At noon, Environmental Services Director Dean Marriott welcomed everyone, gave us a quick update on the Ecoroof Grant program and introduced the keynote speaker, Ed Snodgrass.  Ed, in his usual laid back and affable way, presented “Ecosystem Services: How Ecoroofs Contribute to Sustainable Cities” sharing his thoughts on how greenroofs add benefits to our highly sealed urban areas by mimicking natural processes within the bigger picture.  He showed multiple examples of how the natural technologies of plants and soil protect the environment, economy, and equity in cities through connecting living roofs, rain gardens, porous paving/vegetated parking lots and other systems, while providing stormwater management, energy reduction, cooling properties, treatment of graywater and sewage, wildlife habitat and more – for example the corporate campus of Mercedes-Benz, below, a model of sustainability.

Next came current research and monitoring efforts specific to the area. Portland State University (PSU) graduate student Debbie Beck gave a presentation on “Greenroof Soil and Water Quality – Changes in Runoff Water Quality When Biochar is Mixed into a Greenroof Soil.”  Growing media needs to be designed to ensure low concentrations of nutrients in stormwater runoff; biochar is a soil amendment made from the pyrolysis of waste products, ranging from biomass to tires in a carbon-net-negative process.  It was evaluated for its ability to retain nutrients in greenroof soils, and Debbie also presented findings on its cleansing properties.

Tim Kurtz, PE, from the City of Portland BES talked about ”Stormwater Monitoring of Three Ecoroofs in Portland, Oregon” explaining that although ecoroofs have become a primary option for reducing roof runoff into sewers and streams, at present they’re all treated the same, regardless of growing media depth or composition.  Data was presented from the Hamilton Apartments, the Multnomah County Multnomah Building, and the Portland Building, above, to determine which greenroof design and maintenance variables are most important to maximize stormwater retention.

 And featured speaker Dr. David Sailor from PSU presented “Energy Performance of Ecoroofs – the Role of the Roof in Affecting Building Energy and the Urban Atmospheric Environment” – enlightening us how energy analysis of ecoroof performance requires sophisticated techniques and that complex energy balances on vegetative roofs vary from time of day and season to season.  Dr. Sailor concluded with his initial results of studies involving both greenroofs and photovoltaics, with a focus on potential system interactions and synergies.  His findings clearly demonstrate the effectiveness of the two technologies working together – the plants fare better with some shading from the harsh sun and the panels perform better from a cooler rooftop.

“Portland’s Shift to a Sustainable Future: The Role of Ecoroofs” took over the late Friday afternoon session with an interactive panel featuring Dan Vizzini of City of Portland Environmental Services, Tom Puttman of David Evans and Associates, and Tom Liptan, ASLA, Ecoroof Technical Program Manager with BES.  Fourteen years after ecoroof guru Liptan installed his own atop his garage, the City continues to boost implementation of green infrastructure practices, including a target of 43 acres of ecoroofs by 2013. The panelists discussed their evolution from “grey to green” and how these changes will influence the fabric of their city.

At 6:00 pm the Vendor Fair was closed to the public, and the City provided a lovely reception for the exhibitors and speakers.  This casual gathering and networking opportunity was a great time just to relax a bit.  Matt and Linda Dobson (she manages BES’s Stormwater Team) welcomed Portland Mayor Sam Adams and it was easy to understand the city’s success with their ecoroof initiatives – you could feel the Mayor’s pride, commitment and passion for their projects and staff.  He extended an open invitation to all to embrace sustainable business practices and sustainable design, and let us know that the City was looking into funding low interest loans.  He also informed us that he was talking up the challenge to green his own garage roof, à la Tom Liptan!

Tom Liptan then introduced me in such a nice way, reminiscing about my student days at UGA and how I called him back in 1998 wanting to know all about his garage greenroof and what could we do to promote these earth-friendly roof covers.  I presented a short demo of The Greenroof & Greenwall Projects Database – how it began with my 1999 research study when I initially had about 30 case studies, to how it’s grown to 1,023 at the moment; why I felt the industry needed an open, free resource for compiling and maintaining a clearing house of sorts.

Ed was up next and Tom also shared his funny recollections of meeting him several years ago.  Ed showed some very unique and interesting” Greenroofs from Around the World” with a fast-paced show of his highlight reel.

Afterwards we were off to the richly decorated Alu Wine Bar for a glass of a spectacular local pinot noir (2007 Arterberry Maresh from Dundee Hills, OR) with a bevy of BES people.  From there Aramis, Ed and I met Patrick and Brian Heather, GRP, from SolTerra for dinner at the very funky and famous Cajun Montage – quite a noisy and fun local favorite!  Patrick and Brian have been collaborating on various projects in Portland and Seattle, and we topped the evening off with a visit to the mixed-use SolTerra offices to see some of their innovative handiwork.  SolTerra provides a variety of services and products for the solar, ecoroof, and living wall markets, and what we saw looked very impressive!

Tomorrow I’ll wrap up our visit and experiences at Ecoroof Portland 2010 ~ Linda V.