We’ve begun the Greenroofs.com website redesign starting with the Homepage. Our new design is about improving page navigation and making it easier for our visitors to find the content they want.  More white space has been created and we changed the font type and size for better reading.  We also kept in mind that search engines like to have a sense of what role a page plays in the bigger picture of our site, and we think that this has been accomplished.

HERE’S WHAT’S NEW:

Project of the Week
The Project of the Week section has been moved to the top of the left side in order to attract the first look of our visitors.  Well-documented eyetool analysis has revealed “hotspots” where visitors looked the most on a webpage – and people look most at the left top side. This visual image of the featured greenroof project should instigate additional interest and thus a click-through that brings the latest project profile to the forefront in a separate window.  As you probably know, the project profile contains various photos and detailed content describing many important and relevant aspects of the case study.  The data associated with these profiles is administered on our MySQL Greenroof & Greenwall Projects Database via PHP scripts.  Our database currently has 1,022 project profiles with many more being added every day. By the way, the content of this database is currently indexed by Google and Google News – which means when visitors search online, the results page will contain links to the data from our database.

The Greenroof & Greenwall Projects Database has been open to the world since 2004, evolving from the “International and North American Case Studies” portion of Linda Velazquez’ initial 1999 independent research study.   Read more about how Linda selects the Project of the Week.

The Greenroof Directory
Visitors looking for companies to work with on their projects now have a quick search capability from the homepage, direct to the Greenroof Directory.

The Greenroof Directory is also a MySQL database which contains essential information (contact, products, services, photos, etc.) about Manufacturers, Suppliers, Professional Services, and Organizations in the greenroof industry.

All this information is searchable from the main Directory page and now, for the first time, from our homepage with our new quick search feature.  The most popular main categories are highlighted in this new search box, and you can also access more categories from here, too.

In a guest feature article submitted by Adam Henige, a Web consultant, he states “An analysis of search engine data for 2009 clearly demonstrates a rising trend in the general public’s awareness of and interest in green roofs. Looking at these estimates for a cross section of the most popular general roofing terms and green roofing terms performed on search engines, there was growth in both areas, but by November the monthly search volume had grown only 51 percent for general roofing terms while green roofing terms had grown 155 percent.”

No one knows the secret formula that search engines use in order to optimize a particular site and improve rankings, but fortunately for us, we have enjoyed the number one spot in all the top search engines for the most significant keywords in our industry for over 10 years.  In addition to creating lots of organic content on a consistent basis, we also have a high number of sites that consider us a great resource and thus add links back to us, which also improves search results positioning and site PageRank.  So, if you want your company to be found online, make sure you get listed with us (shameless plug!).

Video player
An embedded video player showing the latest videos from our greenroofsTV channel on YouTube has been moved to the top right side for better viewing.  YouTube is the most popular video hosting and sharing service and is owned by Google.  Their service lets users view and upload video files, and in addition to hosting videos, the service lets users rate videos, add comments, and subscribe to their favorite producers.

Public videos uploaded by YouTube online users are selected by us based on their relevance to the greenroof and greenwall industry, and then added to the respective playlist that feed the various video players throughout our entire website.  We encourage all of you to upload your videos to showcase and increase your exposure by sharing experiences, projects, interviews, tours, product demonstrations – with our marketplace and the rest of the world.

Industry News, ResearchLinks & Industry Support
The extremely long Industry News content that used to be displayed in the center column has been consolidated to a short list of the latest news with links to a new separate page fully dedicated to all the industry news associated with the greenroof and greenwall community.

The ResearchLinks section on the Navigation Bar has now been replaced simply with Industry, which now houses Industry News, Industry Support and ResearchLinks.  Industry Support used to be under Greenroofs 101, which was the basis for Linda’s 1999 paper and Greenroofs.com.

Guest Features
You’ll find them now in a highlighted box displaying the latest two features with links to the full articles. If you are an expert on a particular greenroof or greenwall design topic, you may submit your content to our Editor and it will be reviewed for publishing on our site – just email your information to: submissions@greenroofs.com.

NewsLinks
The long list of NewsLinks has also been reduced to a shorter one of the latest few, with links for more news on our page dedicated to all our NewsLinks.  We have also added a section that will highlight a particular event during the month – like the 2010 Olympics, Earth Hour, etc.  Make sure you visit often for all your industry news!

Contributing Editor Columns
Similar to Guest Features, another highlighted section now houses the latest from our contributing editors, prominently displayed within the body of the homepage with links to the respective columns.

Other changes
· The Google Search Box that allows for searching our entire website is now more visible.

·  The banners on the top and bottom of the page rotate randomly with a fade transition instead of the old slide in a sequential order.  This will allow for all of our advertisers’ banner ads to have equal exposure to our visitors.

·  Social Media icons are now top and center for easy clicks.  Make sure you stay connected with us by following us on Twitter, becoming a fan of our Facebook wall, joining our Greenroofs.com Network group in LinkedIn, subscribing to the greenroofsTV channel on YouTube and our monthly eNewsletter.

·  Finally, the bottom of the page is now filled with small logos from all our sponsors linkable to their respective color brochures in The Greenroof Directory filled with lots of pertinent information about their products and services.

·  The Sky Gardens blog box, Upcoming Events, JobLinks, and our Advertiser Press Releases and are still pretty much in their respective spots, just cleaned up a bit.

We’re still in our tweaking stages, and have a lot more work to do to the rest of our site, but we welcome your feedback for what we have done so far.  Keep us informed of all your greenroof and greenwall happenings, and stay on top of the greenroof world with Greenroofs.com!  We look forward to hearing back from you.

Known as “The Rose City” for its famous yearly Rose Festival and The Grand Floral Parade in early June, Portland Oregon could also be easily known as “The Eco City” or perhaps even “The Green City” because of their ongoing commitment to preserving their magnificent waterways and forests while promoting sustainable design and development through progressive urban policies and public outreach.  The last time we were there was for the 2nd Annual Greening Rooftops for Sustainable Communities Conference, Awards & Trade Show in 2004.  And we spent some time here in late 2003 when I was compiling info for my Sky Gardens ~ Travels in Landscape Architecture column on the area.  Such a beautiful city!

On March 12-13, the lovely City of Portland will be sponsor and host to their annual free Ecoroof Portland.  What an amazing city for supporting greenroofs – or ecoroofs, as they refer to them here.  Currently with about 200 projects within the city, ecoroofs cover about 10 acres, leading the U.S. in total area greened after Chicago.  And they were one of the first, if not the first, municipality in the nation to offer incentives.  As part of the Grey to Green Initiative, the City of Portland is offering an incentive of up to $5 per square foot for ecoroofs towards a target of 43 additional acres by 2013.  In the past year, the Bureau of Environmental Services (BES) awarded the incentive to 50 projects for a total of over 4 acres.  Read more in Industry Support and the City’s Incentive Project Page for more information. You can visit ecoroofs and other sustainable stormwater projects in Portland with these self-guided tours, and the City maintains an Ecoroof Blog, which is very informative, too!

The premier champion there of stormwater mitigation, and ecoroofs in particular, is Tom Liptan, ASLA.  I’ve known Tom for over 12 years, when I first contacted him about greenroofs back when I was a landscape architecture student at UGA a had “discovered” them myself.  Gracious, kind, and accommodating, he nurtured and fueled my passion for this earth-friendly sustainable technology.  And Tom has always put his money where his mouth is – he installed one of the first ecoroofs in Portland atop his garage in 1996.  The now famous Liptan Garage Greenroof served as early a demonstration project and testing grounds for a variety of factors – read more in the profile.

Designed to inform a varied audience of professionals and homeowners, the lineup of speakers will educate and inspire you to consider a greenroof on your next project.  A Vendor Fair with over 60 professionals and organizations will be on-hand both days to share their ecoroof experience, products, and services.  Featured speakers include Dr. David J. Sailor, Ed Snodgrass, and me!  Dr. Sailor is a full professor at the Mechanical and Materials Engineering faculty at Portland State University, Member Faculty of the Oregon Built Environment & Sustainable Technologies Center (Oregon BEST), and directs Portland State University’s Green Building Research Laboratory.  Ed Snodgrass is co-owner of Emory Knoll Farms/Green Roof Plants, a fifth generation farmer and nurseryman specializing in plants and horticultural consulting for greenroofs.  An accomplished speaker and writer (“Green Roof Plants: A Resource and Planting Guide”), he’s also our Plant Editor who writes his occasional column “Ask Ed“  – read my “From Llamas to Greenroofs: An Interview with Ed Snodgrass.”  See full profiles here and a complete list of all the speakers and Agenda here.

See Ed on Friday at 12:00 pm at the Welcome and Keynote Address where Environmental Services Director Dean Marriott will welcome attendees and introduce Ed as the Keynote Speaker.  His presentation will focus on the role of ecoroofs in sustainable cities.  On Saturday at noon, Commissioner Dan Saltzman will welcome attendees and introduce me – I will be presenting “Hot Trends in Greenroof Design,” a compilation of my favorite international projects from our Top 10 Lists from the past with a look at some of the new, innovative, leading vanguard and projects for 2010.  On Saturday at 4:00 pm Ed will be part of a panel where you can get some help getting started on your own ecoroof project – “The Ecoroof Doctors are IN,” along with Tom Liptan, David Elkin, and Alice Meyers from BES, and Patrick Carey of hadj design, a Green Roofs for Healthy Cities trainer, and our Architecture Editor.  Patrick writes an occasional architectural column entitled “A View from the Sky Trenches,” where he selects and discusses pertinent greenroof industry topics.

Don’t miss Ecoroof Portland!  It will run on Friday and Saturday, March 12 & 13, 2010 at the Leftbank Annex, located at 101 N. Weidler St in downtown Portland.  It’s very close to the Rose Quarter – you can find directions by clicking the following link.  Learn all about Ecoroof Portland 2010 at the City’s BES website.

If you can attend, please stop by and say hello!  Happy greening,

~ Linda V.

The Greenroof & Greenwall Projects Database has been up and open to the world since 2004, evolving from the “International and North American Case Studies” portion of my initial 1999 independent research study “Greenroof Technology: A Viable Roofing Alternative” that was the basis for Greenroofs.com.  The initial 30 or so profiles have grown to over a thousand, and we feel sharing these is an important learning experience for us all.

Our Project of the Week feature started in March, 2006 when we selected the profile of Phillips Eco-Enterprise Center (PEEC), above, submitted by Peter MacDonagh of The Kestrel Design Group.  The idea stemmed from the notion that a weekly highlight showcasing very different living roofs would stimulate interest in both the industry at large and our Projects Database – which it has!  Since then we’ve shown about 190 vegetated roofs and in 2008 we displayed our first Greenwall Project of the Week, Anthropologies, below, submitted by George Irwin of Green Living Technologies.

I often get asked, how do I pick each greenroof/wall case study out of and over so many other profiles?  The answer is actually very simple – at its core, I’m basically choosing completed profiles.  That means all the fields are completed, there is a lot of descriptive text, and all 11 of the photos/graphics are there.  The emotionally and physically attractive, sexy part about living architecture is the living part – the planting design - and people want to see photos!

After the aesthetics of the profile itself, I try and alternate U.S. and international projects, although it doesn’t always come out that way.  My goal is to show different types (extensive, intensive) and various applications, too (research, municipal, multi/single-family residential, commercial, educational) along with system types (conventional built-in place, modular, custom).

So if you’d like your company or organization’s project highlighted, check to see if we at least have an initial case study up, if not, send one in either by filling out the easy online form here, or by sending us an email to: projects@greenroofs.com.  If we do have your project listed, review it and send us any edits or additions along with updated graphics and/or photos (each profile can hold up to 11).

When possible, I’ll highlight a project that has something going on that week or month, for example I like to select profiles whose city is having a conference at the moment, or as in the case of this week’s project, a Green Building Tour this Sunday:

Our current Greenroof Project of the Week features the Sweetwater Creek State Park Visitors’ Center and Museum in Lithia Springs, GA.  Set within a 2,500-acre conservation area, this beautiful LEED™ Platinum certified building was the first to achieve this rating in the southeastern United States.  (Click on the project title to see who was involved in this very green building.)  And if you’re in the area, you can join a Green Building Tour of the Sweetwater Creek State Park Visitors’ Center and Museum this upcoming Sunday, February 14, 2010 from 2 PM to 3:30 PM and learn about sustainability, green buildings and what makes this one so special for just $5 plus $5 parking; for more info call: 770-732-5871.

The Greenroof/Greenwall Project of the Week feature on Greenroofs.com is a great way to have readers – researchers, students, media, and potential clients - see what’s been done, where, how, and by whom.  You’ll always find a new one on the Home Page every Sunday afternoon – just click on either the photo itself or the “Where in the Greenroof World?” hyperlink below to learn all about each unique greenroof or greenwall.

Happy Greening!
~ Linda V.

As we continue to ring in 2010 we hope you enjoyed warm holidays with family and friends and celebrated the New Year with renewed hope for the future.  Can you believe we’ve entered a new decade?  Shall we call it 2K10, Twenty Ten, or just good old fashioned 2,010?  In any case, we’re finally out of the 0’s, now we’re into the 10’s.

Our world economy has been through a lot in the past few years, yet with a promising light hovering just over the horizon.  Although development overall has declined, there is continued desire for green buildings from both the public and private sector, and in general our greenroof & greenwall industry has weathered quite nicely.  Many of us are taking time to reflect on this passage of time and make New Year’s resolutions (another topic altogether!), and I was thinking of how far we have come since the German experience entered our architectural radar and into our collective consciousness in the 1990’s.  Literally thousands of vegetated roofs and walls have been constructed since then in every continent except for Antarctica, with ever growing support from forward thinking multidisciplinary professionals: designers, government officials, organizations, companies, universities, students and other advocates looking to make Earth a little more sustainable.

Sadly, one of those special, innovative people passed away last November 27, the indomitable architect Malcolm Wells.  Regarded as “the father of modern earth-sheltered architecture,” he was a staunch advocate of living architecture, known for his way ahead-of-the-times underground earth designs with living roofs starting in the 1960’s, see just one example below.  He leaves a legacy of what he referred to as gentle architecture, design that would, in his own words, “leave the land no worse than you found it.”

The visionary Malcolm Wells' design for an eco-gas station, from MalcolmWells.com.

Many inspirational people and organizations have contributed to our current market, and I want to highlight just a few success stories from the past year, personal and global.  So in my review, here are my favorite 2009 Top 10 Milestones and Accomplishments for both Greenroofs.com as a company and our international community as a whole:

10)  In 2009 Greenroofs.com celebrated 10 years of being in business!  We’ve seen a lot of progress and change for the good here as well as across the greenroof world.  The fledgling Greenroofs.com – “exploring the ecology of organic greenroof architecture” started out as 60+ pages in 1999 as the result of an independent research study I did at the University of Georgia.

By 2003 we changed our format and grew into Greenroofs.com – “the international greenroof industry’s resource and online information portal,” and contained 600+ pages at the end of 2009 (not counting the hundreds of .php pages from The Greenroof Directory or The Greenroof Projects Database).  At present, each month Greenroofs.com receives more than 160,000 unique visits and about 400,000 page views, and we’ve also expanded our presence in social marketing, too, so now you can stay connected with us on: Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, eNewsletter (our monthly eNewsletter consists of 10,000 opt-in subscribers) & YouTube, as well as our Blog.

9)  The proliferation of living architecture is greatly spreading and permeating into the areas of design, policy, research and education through numerous world conferences, congresses, expos, trainings, tours, and other events.  For example, the World Green Infrastructure Network (WGIN) – formerly the World Green Roof Infrastructure Network (WGRIN) - held its first CitiesAlive! World Green Roof Congress in Toronto, Canada, with the second scheduled for Mexico City this October, 2010.  The International Green Roof Association (IGRA) hosted the 2nd International Green Roof Congress 2009 in Nürtingen, Germany and the 3rd annual Green Roofs Australia Conference 2009 was held at the University of Melbourne.  Longevity was evident with the 7th National FBB Green Roof Conference in Ditzingen, Germany and the 7th annual Green Roofs for Healthy Cities (GRHC) Greening Rooftops for Sustainable Communities Conference, Awards, and Trade Show in Atlanta, Georgia.  By the way, look for the 8th annual GRHC conference to occur in Vancouver, B.C. on November 30 – December 2, 2010, rebranded as ”Cities Alive.”  Look for many new 2010 events throughout the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Germany, China, Singapore, India and more under Upcoming Events, where you can also access Past Events.

8)  For the third year, we published our 2010 Greenroofs of the World™ Calendar.  I’ve already blogged about it, and we’re very proud of our first hard product.  And we thank our Sponsors for their support: American Hydrotech, Barrett Company, Conservation Technology, Express Blower, GREEN ROOF BLOCKS, GreenGrid, International Leak Detection (ILD), LiveRoof, Roofscapes, Inc., Saul Nurseries, Tremco, Xero Flor America, and ZinCo USA.  You can find the Calendar on Amazon.com, but it’s a better deal if you order from us!

7) Green walls are firmly becoming entrenched in sustainable design, evidenced by high media attention, as much for their green properties as for their edible gardening possibilities. We’ve had tons of news articles posted in NewsLinks, our huge database of global articles, concerning living walls and green façades!  In fact, they were listed as #31 in TIME’s 50 Best Inventions of 2009 and Triple Pundit recently proposed: ”Gardens Grow Up: Are Vertical Landscapes the New Green Roofs?“ - both featuring the works of Patrick Blanc.  In our business you’d have to be living under a rock not to know who the renowned French botanist is; his often fantastical “murs végétalisés” designs stretch the limits of horticulture and design.  Since 1994, he has created over 140 public vertical gardens as well as many private installations, including his most famous, the Quai Branly Museum in Paris, shown below.  Read more about green walls from Treehugger, Daily Telegraph, Daily Commercial News, The New York Times, Times Online and CNN.com, just to name a few.

Quai Branly Museum photo courtesy and by Jean-Claude Lafarge on http://www.jeanclaudelafarge.fr/paris.html.

In 2009 Green Roofs for Healthy Cities, the North American professional association, established greenwall research projects at the British Columbia Institute of Technology and the University of Maryland, and GRHC has included an award category for Green Wall Excellence in Design for a couple of years now.  In 2008 Greenroofs.com added our 8th Contributing Editor, George Irwin - aptly titled The Green Wall Editor - to cover this growing vertical gardening field, and new for 2010 we have altered the title of our Greenroof Projects Database to reflect the inclusion of these:  The Greenroof & Greenwall Projects Database.

6) Investing in green building and infrastructure makes good economic sense by integrating green building policies into wider economic development goals, and creates a new job market. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) has prompted a gigantic increase in federal green spending, providing new money to all levels of government, aimed at stimulating the economy, promoting job growth, and lowering energy costs, providing an unprecedented opportunity for advancing green building and sustainability efforts in the U.S.  And last December, the American Institute of Architects (AIA) reported at least 138 U.S. cities with populations over 50,000 people have green building programs in place (compared to only 92 in 2007).  Referring to the economic recession, the AIA said “The downturn has had a devastating effect on construction generally, but sustainable building design continues to maintain and improve its market share.”  Read their 2009 in depth study “Green Building Policy in a Changing Economic Environment” to learn more.

American Institute of Architects 2009 Study of Green Building Programs by Cities

U.S. economic stimulus efforts encompass green energy and construction, including greenroofs along with other forms of green building, and just one such example of Recovery Act funds benefit Washington D.C., where the Washington Business Journal says “Nearly $4 million would go toward building more than 100,000 sf of green roofs on city buildings, including libraries, firehouses and a demonstration project atop the parking garage deck at University of the District of Columbia.  The stimulus funds would also expand the city’s green roof rebate program to allow residents and small businesses to afford another 20,000 sf of private green roof space.”

And importantly, many green building programs are also creating “green collar” jobs.  In late 2009, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and Booz Allen Hamilton conducted a study and stated “Green building will support 7.9 million U.S. jobs and pump $554 billion into the American economy – including $396 billion in wages – over the next four years (2009-2013).  The study also determined that green construction spending currently supports more than 2 million American jobs and generates more than $100 billion in gross domestic product and wages…The full report can be downloaded at www.usgbc.org/greeneconomy, where one can also find other research, resources, tools and information about green building and its role in the economic recoveries of professionals, businesses and the nation.”  According to an analysis by American Rivers and the Alliance for Water Efficiency, the Natural Resources Defense Council reports that a $10 billion nationwide initiative to install greenroofs alone would result in almost 200,000 jobs – the Senate is expected to consider its own version of the bill in early 2010.

Some U.S. leaders offering hope and opportunity by creating greenroof/greenwall-specific green collar jobs through training include Sustainable South Bronx (SSBx) and their various programs, i.e., “Green the Ghetto” and “Bronx Environmental Stewardship Training (BEST)”; D.C. Greenworks; Chicagoland Green Collar Jobs Initiative, and the Urban Farming Food Chain.

5) Green Roofs for Healthy Cities launched the Green Roof Professional (GRP) accreditation  for North America.  The GRP is a measure of knowledge of established best practices and although a voluntary program, with the designation professionals can distinguish themselves in the marketplace.  This association milestone was at least four years in the making!  Currently with more than 250 GRP’s in 2009, GRHC hopes to add more professionals in 2010.  Check their website for future testing dates, and consider attending one of their Green Roof Boot Camps to refresh and get you ready.  See my interview with Jeff Bruce, president of Jeffrey L. Bruce & Company, Chair of GRHC and the GRHC Training and Accreditation Committee, which developed the Green Roof Professional program, to learn why the organization felt this accreditation was needed, how it evolved, and where it’s heading.  For more info on the GRP, see “A Video Introduction to the GRP Program” from Green Roofs for Healthy Cities.

4) Within the U.S. industry, major contributions were made in the area to develop best practice wind and fire standards for greenroof design.  Since 2007, leaders from various organizations have been working hard on prescriptive standards, and in 2009 standards were inserted into the International Building Code from members of GRHC and Single Ply Roofing Industry (SPRI).  Read “Green Roof Wind & Fire Design Guidelines: After Three Years, Half the Battle is Won,” written by one of our Contributing Editors, Kelly Luckett, The Green Roof Guy, to learn about this winding road’s development of RP-14 and VF-1.  And stay tuned for updates with his column here on Greenroofs.com.

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUe) Wind Tunnel Testing in June, 2009.

3)  The global Greenroof & Greenwall Projects Database surpassed the 1,000 mark in December!  So where are all these greenroofs and greenwalls anyway?  Let’s continue to work together to grow, update, and share valuable case studies for our communal benefit, for free.  Even in today’s openly transparent society (think Google Earth), some people worry about confidentiality issues, and we only post information that is submitted to us by owners/project principals or that which is openly available through various media channels, and we always list owners as “private” when requested.  The Greenroof & Greenwall Projects Database is now searchable by 24 fields, including specifically for green walls.  After our Home Page, the Projects Database is the next visited page on Greenroofs.com – make sure your projects and valuable experiences are included here.

2)  My albeitly biased personal favorite, Greenroofs.com inaugurated our first episode of the Sky Gardens ~ Greenroofs of the World ™ WebTV series.  Premiering at Boston GreenFest in September, our new venture followed on the GreenroofsTV channel on YouTube, and next on our own greenroofs.tv, where you can now see it in its entirety at just under 37 minutes.  By the way, you can also view our video offshoot, ”Greenroofs 101 from Greenroofs.com” (4:50) in Greenroofs 101 or directly below, which is a great way to introduce the concept to newcomers.  Coming soon is episode 2, highlighting the gorgeous Cook+Fox Architects corporate offices in Manhattan, NY.  Our third episode is in the works, and more are being scheduled, so stay tuned!

1) 2009 saw some serious support for greenroofs, championed by professional organizations and governmental bodies alike. Global industry support has grown over the years, and many advocates continue to actively promote them worldwide.  For example, the City of Chicago, certainly the U.S. leader in greenroofs, now has over 7 million square feet of vegetated roofs completed or under development.  New support in 2009 includes:

North America:  In addition to offering eco-incentives for greenroofs, currently Toronto has the most progressive policy in North America – last May Toronto became the first city here to adopt a bylaw to require and govern the construction of greenroofs.  The new bylaw will be required on all new development above 2,000 m² (about 21,530 sf) of gross floor area and have a graduated coverage requirement ranging from 20-60%.  Working with a program budget of $800,000/year, owners of industrial and commercial buildings can apply for grants worth up to $100,000 (Canadian) to build a greenroof.  Mayor David Miller predicts the rules and incentives will create 50 to 60 green-roofed buildings per year, in addition to their current 135 vegetated roofs.  Green Roofs for Healthy Cities supported the by-law against pressure from developers opposed to the policy.  See more details under Industry Support and at the City of Toronto website.

Here in the U.S., in late 2009 ASLA, the American Society of Landscape Architects, worked with Congress to include the Green Act into the House-passed climate change legislation.  The Act would require the Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to employ greenroofs, tree canopy coverage, and other site planning techniques to help reduce heating and cooling costs in certain HUD facilities.  Still pending before the Senate Finance Committee, last January Senator Maria Cantwell (WA) introduced the Clean Energy Stimulus and Investment Assurance Act of 2009 (S.320), legislation geared toward creating high-wage green-collar jobs and revitalizing the economy through clean energy investments.  ASLA worked with Senator Cantwell’s office to ensure that a section of the bill was dedicated to green roof tax incentives, and GRHC provided technical support.  Under section 506 of the bill, residential and commercial property owners will receive a 30% tax credit for qualified greenroof expenditures.

As you may recall, Congress enacted Section 438 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA) to require federal agencies to reduce stormwater runoff from federal development projects to protect water resources and in October of 2009, President Obama signed Executive Order 13514 on “Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance” calling upon all federal agencies to lead by example and address a wide range of environmental issues, including stormwater runoff.  Federal agencies can comply with Section 438 by using a variety of green infrastructure / low impact development techniques including living roofs.  Prepared by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in coordination with other federal agencies, the “Technical Guidance on Implementing the Stormwater Runoff Requirements for Federal Projects under Section 438 of the Energy Independence and Security Act” PDF is highly detailed and instructive.

State and municipal governments also provided policy support:  Former Virginia Governor Timothy M. Kaine signed three bills promoting incentives in 2009: HB 1975 and SB 1058 authorize localities to grant regulatory flexibility and incentives to promote the construction of vegetative roofs on private homes and businesses.  The incentives or regulatory flexibility could include a reduction in permit fees, a streamlined process for the approval of building permits, or a reduction in any gross receipts tax on greenroof contractors as defined by the local ordinance.  The third bill, HB 1828, allows water authorities to offer rate incentives for vegetative roof construction, based on the percentage of stormwater runoff reduction.  In late fall, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA), Metropolitan Sewer District of Greater Cincinnati (MSDGC), and the Office of Environmental Quality created a Green Roof Loan Program utilizing money from the Water Pollution Control Loan Fund.  OEPA has made $5,000,000 available for linked deposit, below market rate loans to install green vegetative roofs within the service area of MSDGC on residential, commercial and/or industrial buildings.

Already a city offering several greenroof incentives, in October Portland’s city commission approved a Climate Action Plan which calls for a 40% reduction in carbon emissions by 2030 and an 80% reduction by 2050.  According to the Portland Business Journal, “The Plan calls for the city and county to take 93 actions over the next three years.  City bureaus must immediately begin implementing 15 of the new climate-related initiatives, such as establishing a tax credit for businesses that install ecoroofs and solar panels together.”  And last month, the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District invited governments, organizations, school districts, and businesses within the 28 communities it serves to participate in their 2010 Regional Green Roof Initiative Program.  Among other prerequisites, proposed projects must minimize impervious roof area and maximize the reduction in the rate and/or volume of stormwater runoff.

Dubai Municipality launched a greenroof initiative in line with a Dubai law on green building specifications.  The Municipality’s strategic goal is to raise per capita green area to 23.4 square meters by the end of 2011, with the green building project coming under the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, United Arab Emirate Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai.  A public awareness campaign for greenroofs was announced last month, committed to the “development of laws and regulations to keep pace with international standards in the field of sustainable development by planting green roofs and facades in the Emirate of Dubai.”  Traveling display models and educational publications will circulate residential neighborhoods and shopping centers and markets for a 12-month period.  Read more on the Dubai Municipality Portal.  One spectacular greening project currently on the boards in Dubai is the self-sustained system “Food City” below, designed by Green Concepts Landscape Architects (GCLA):

The proposed Dubai Food City, conceptualized by landscape architecture firm GCLA.

Well, those are my thoughts on the important highlights of 2009, and while on the topic of Top 10 lists, Haven Kiers – our Design Editor - and I are compiling our 4th annual Top 10 List of Hot Trends in Greenroof Designs for 2010, and we welcome your input with ideas and project example submissions, as usual!  Send comments to Linda@greenroofs.com or DesignEditor@greenroofs.com.

So here we are at the start of a whole new year – we hope you’re excited and optimistic about it, just as we are!   Whatever 2009 offered you, we hope you embraced new friends and opportunities and experienced great personal and professional growth, and we thank you for your readership.  What’s in store for our new decade?  We’ll see, but as the green building industry continues with positive signs of sustained growth, let’s also continue to collaborate and create a more sustainable world with eco-architecture embracing greenroofs and greenwalls as part of the overall green living architecture strategy.

“I woke up one day to the fact that the earth’s surface was made for living plants, not industrial plants.”  ~ Malcolm Wells

Here’s a gentle toast to continued health, love, and prosperity for you, your families, and all of our greenroof associates in 2010!

Happy Greening ~ Linda V.

An exclusive of Greenroofs.com, we’re now in our third year of publishing the “Greenroofs of the World™” 12-Month Wall Calendar series.  The 2010 version is now available and it’s filled with beautiful living roof projects and even more green building events from around the world than the previous last two years. 

I thought it might be interesting to some of you to learn about the design process, why and how we choose the highlighted projects – the ideology behind the product, which is our first.  Although I’ve been wanting to write a book (or two) for the last nine or so years, prior to the calendar all our “products” have been intellectual property offerings.  And as you probably know, all of the information on Greenroofs.com is free and without subscription, following an open source philosophy of information sharing.

I had been wanting to do a calendar for years as it was an obvious add on to The Greenroof Projects Database as well as complimentary to our Upcoming Events section where we list conferences, workshops, presentations, etc., from around the world.  So, voilá!  2008 marked the first year of the Greenroofs of the World™ 12-Month Wall Calendar series.  How do we select our featured projects?  From our website Sponsors, which is the highest level of advertising we offer on Greenroofs.com.  It’s our way to highlight fabulous examples of sustainable roof design and thank these companies who back us up by marketing their ecologically friendly products and services with us.  Each chooses their desired month on a first come, first serve basis.  I ask for two of their favorite projects each along with several shots each.  Then the fun starts!  I try and represent different types of greenroofs, sizes, and geographic locations within the U.S. and the world – and of course, the quality of the photo is a huge factor.  This is what is most time consuming!  We include a short description under each photo, and do our best to list all major designers/manufacturers of record, including the Sponsor.

As you know, greenroofs can be used at any scale, and in the past our smallest featured vegetated roof came in at 52 sf here in Atlanta, Georgia (2008), and the largest was a whopping 765,000 sf in Zaragoza, Spain (2009). For 2010, Calendar projects range from 1,000 sf in Manhattan, New York to 113,000 sf in Minneapolis, Minnesota, see below:

In addition to displaying eye-catching greenroofs, we also desired an eco friendly product, and I feel like we do create a truly eco-chic calendar!  Our 11″ x 18″ full-color glossy 12-month wall calendars are printed on 50% recycled paper with 25% post consumer waste using soy inks.  We use The Messenger Press of Carthagena, Ohio where Randy Heitkamp does a great job of printing excellent quality work – and we recommend him highly.

This year we decided to go global, and you can purchase the 2010 Calendar on Amazon.com as well as from us directly.  But I will say that you’ll save money by ordering through us at only $12.95 each, with free shipping in the contiguous U.S. and Canada (contact us for international shipping rates).  And there are quantity discounts, too.

The 2010 Greenroofs of the World™ 12-Month Wall Calendar will make a great inexpensive Christmas/Holiday gift or stocking stuffer (well, if you have a really wide stocking!) for all you greenroof aficionados out there.  See our Press Release here, where you can view each project highlighted in The Greenroof Projects Database.  And find out the details for ordering here.

 Happy Holidays!  ~ Linda V.

After a long 16 months, the first episode of our WebTV series Sky Gardens ~ Greenroofs of the World will be up and ready to see on Sunday, November 8, 2009.  You can watch Episode 1: Rock Mill Park on the Greenroofs.TV Channel on Greenroofs.com and YouTube.   Download our Press Release here.

The Sky Gardens ~ Greenroofs of the World video series grew naturally out of my previous column “Sky Gardens ~Travels in Landscape Architecture” which ran from June, 2003 through April, 2006 here on Greenroofs.com.  With that column I was combining my various fields of expertise, and the description read:

“What do you get when you cross a landscape in the sky with an ecological designer, greenroof website publisher, and an international flight attendant?  Why, a column entitled “Sky Gardens ~ Travels in Landscape Architecture” of course!  Welcome to the ramblings of my unique bird’s eye perspective of the world, as I continue to visit new cities and noteworthy landscape architecture projects ~ both at ground and greenroof level.”

My hectic schedule proved too much for such an indepth column, and it evolved into this Sky Gardens ~ where cool green meets lofty blue Blog.  But I still wanted to pursue the thought of examining greenroof projects in-depth: the who, where, what, why and how’s of the entire planning and design process.  Our oldest son, Joey, is a screenwriter with film experience and so with the help of his film production company, Red Hand Productions, last year I decided to channel this vision into a more visual medium – video.

We selected one of my own designs here in Alpharetta for the first episode, and it’s been a true labor of love.  I’ve been involved with the Rock Mill Park project since 1999 when I interned as a student of landscape architecture with the City of Alpharetta.  I was thrilled when my design for “Celebrating Ecological Design in a Native Landscape” became a reality with construction of The Greenroof Pavilion and Trial Gardens of Rock Mill Park in 2007.  So many talented and generous people contributed to this endeavor, and being able to film and share this project built on such an environmentally sensitive and culturally important former Cherokee-owned site was an honor for me.  See 2008’s Love the Earth: Plant a Roof! and What I Did on My Summer Vacation… for a little more background info.

I think you’ll enjoy our first episode, where we interviewed many people involved in the project and filmed on site at Rock Mill Park; Alpharetta City Hall at Mayor Arthur Lechtas’ office; the City of Alpharetta Engineering/Public Works Department; the historic Log Cabin at the former site of Milton High School; Saul Nurseries “Swamp” location; and the former Cherokee capital, New Echota in Calhoun, GA, now a Historic Site.

We’ve had some trials and tribulations along the way, but that just makes it more special now that it’s done!  On November 8 you can see Episode 1: Rock Mill Park in four 10-minute installments on our home page and the Greenroofs.TV page on our website, where they will be added to the Greenroofs.com playlist on the greenroofstv channel on YouTube, found at http://www.youtube.com/greenroofstv.  All four videos will be lined up in order for easy viewing.

Look for our second Sky Gardens ~ Greenroofs of the World episode which highlights the gorgeous Cook+Fox Architects LLP corporate headquarters in Manhattan, NY, and details some of the greening initiatives that New York City is spearheading, coming soon to GreenroofsTV!

~ Linda V.

Thursday, October 21 dawned grey and overcast for the various Sustainable Toronto Green Roof Tours offered by the CitiesAlive! World Green Roof Infrastructure Congress, with a promise of sprinkles in the air.  Aramis and I headed over to the Tremco Luxury Bus Tour line and since it was the most popular, there were two buses.  We got the smaller of the two “Luxury Coaches” and indeed they were luxurious, with some distinct design accents!

Plush interiors with overhead strip lighting on the mirrored ceiling and four Captain’s chairs set the mood and so we dubbed ours the “Party Bus.”  Since we were the first in line, Aramis and I claimed the super comfortable seats, along with friends Lauren Gould from Miami and Manfred Köhler from Berlin.  Everyone got a choice of a selection of boxed lunches, which by the way was very good, and Tremco had provided umbrellas which was thoughtful since we did need to use them later.

Paul Sheehy of Tremco and Rick Buist of Bioroof were our bus hosts and after about a 40-minute delay – there was some confusion about the departure time – we were on our way to our first stop, The JAS Robertson Building, also known as 215 Spadina.  Erin MacKeen from Urban Space Property Group, the client/developer, ushered us into the main lobby and we were pleasantly greeted with a lush, beautiful 8m wide x 3.6m high (24 m² or about 258 sf) Nedlaw living wall, with design by Beth Anne Currie. 

The Robertson Biowall’s soil-less system recycles the nutrient rich irrigation continuously and has two one thousand watt light system grow lights that provide some seasonal UV light, which are on about four hours/day.  Several varieties of native and exotic indoor flowering plants are set in pockets of a special fabric and the effect is stunning - the wall looks like a scene taken from a tropical jungle.

We then went up atop the 5th floor to see the lovely 4,000 sf extensive greenroof, which is enjoyed by the 40 tenants and visitors to the Robertson Building.  Since this is a Bioroof system above the membrane, Rick led this portion of the tour.  We emerged from an enclosed 400 sf glass atrium onto the wood deck viewing platform, which offered great views of the cityscape.

Designed and installed by Gardens in the Sky in 2004, half of the roof is vegetated and this is Toronto’s earliest urban example of a meadowlike roof, left to naturalize.  Planted with over 10 species of Ontario native perennials, including Green-Headed Coneflowers, New England Asters, Goldenrod, and Black-Eyed Susans, the 6″ deep growing medium is highly organic at about 40%, which actually has the same proportions as when initially installed.  Left to their own measures the plants have really flourished – what a lovely wild looking roof!  And at the time, no previous greenroof had been designed specifically with biodiversity as its motivating factor, and as a result, the roof has become a “poster greenroof” for the City of Toronto and its greening efforts.  Aside from biodiversity of plants, the living roof also has a variety of other animals including bees, butterflies, and birds.  Energy retrofits of the Robertson Building include a solar thermal system, and the tenants are so happy with the many environmental features of the building that there is a waiting list for new ones.

Next up we visited the gorgeous Covenant House Toronto greenroof, also using a Bioroof system, this time over a Tremco waterproofing membrane.  John, the Physical Facilities Manager, and Shawn from Tremco escorted us through this welcoming, beautiful, and secure building.  Covenant House Toronto is an emergency shelter for runaways and homeless youth for ages 16-24.  Although some stay for months, the average stay here is five days, and many of the young people return often for continuing educational support or sometimes just a hot meal and a warm, safe bed to sleep at night.  The director showed us an informative and heartwarming video in the words of former residents about their experiences and how the caring and nurturing of the dedicated staff helped them transform into successful adults today.

Bioroof added a unique touch and set a mellow mood on the roof by providing a jazz guitarist as we toured the 7,200 sf roof.  Approximately 5,000 perennials, raised vegetable planters, a wetland area, a fish pond with a fountain, and an overhead trellis are just some of the features of this outdoor classroom.  Designed to comply with the City of Toronto’s Green Roof Incentive Pilot (now Eco-Roof Incentive Program), Rick explained the numerous sustainable features of the 6″ deep extensive greenroof which incorporates 12″ intensive planters with built in seating.  Each of the intensive planted areas are used for a particular educational program, and the vegetables (tomatoes, peppers, various herbs, etc.) are used in the kitchen.

Photodegradable netting is used as erosion control throughout.  The focal area concentrates on the area of the curving steel and wood arbor, with a variety of plantings, hanging baskets and a unique feature – a dry river bed.  More than simply decorative, it collects water here and directs it to the single roof drain.

And the kids love the goldfish in the elevated pond!  Filled with water plants, it also introduces sound with an umbrella spray, and you can sit on the ledge and touch the water – it’s an overall great design!

Afterwards we headed to the Toronto Water Treatment Plant where John Campbell of Tremco was our guide.  Exploring the varied ideas of roof sustainability, we saw two types of cool white roofing installations side by side, a Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) system and a white calcite aggregate roof on an inverted, protected assembly by Tremco.

Although the BIPV roof was installed after the aggregate roof, the white aggregate roof looked much cleaner, and in fact we were told required minimal maintenance.

The final stop on our tour brought us to the large Tremco complex where Paul Sheehy, Ontario Manager at Tremco, was our host.  Tremco treated us to lovely wine and cheese refreshments after our long day (very well received by all!).  Paul also introduced his 19-year old daughter, Lynn Sheehy, a freshman in college who needed to interview three people for her journalism and communications class.  She needed feedback on the CitiesAlive! Congress, and asked for volunteers after the program had finished.

Tremco has many years of experience in the roofing industry and now has over 1 million sf of greenroofs installed within Canada alone, with many more in the pipeline.  So after Paul gave us some more history on Tremco and their company philosophy, we cautiously climbed up the steel rung ladder onto the roof in the light rain to see their highly efficient solar array installation with tracking system.  Ashleigh Uiska of Fishburn Building Sciences Group very knowledgeably fielded some technical questions about the PV system – the Tremco engineer was just a bit late but answered more questions for us later.

Rick then spoke about his company and range of products and demonstrated step-by-step how to install a Bioroof System, above the membrane.  It’s always interesting to see exactly how systems are built, and Rick went into great detail about each layer and noted important installation aspects of each, especially around parapets, flashings, and edging.  Everyone was given a parting gift of a pre-seeded jar with Bioroof Eco Mix growing media, but those of us crossing the border had to decline due to Customs regulations!

Prior to closing, Aramis felt the need to volunteer me to speak with Lynn since no one had volunteered themselves.  She was really cute and I felt my interview was just rolling along when she ran out of tape…We suggested she also interview Lauren Gould, greenroof enthusiast, who attends many greenroof conferences as well as those from other green industries, to get her take on the Congress.  After Lauren, Lynn spoke with Melanie Mullen, an environmental blogger from Canada who also covers the vegetated roof field.

We all loaded back into the Party Bus for one last voyage to the CitiesAlive! Closing Gala at the Toronto Botanical Garden (TBG), where Terry McGlade of Gardens in the Sky was our host.  He took us on a tour of TBG’s main greenroof designed by his company in 2005, planted with a colorful Sedum mix.  Highly visible due to its slope, the 646 sf extensive greenroof ranges from 20° to 30°.  Soprema was the system used, and a geo-textile was included to ensure growing media retention.

We also visited the smaller one located on the property, too.  The Annie Shed is the first registered straw bale building in Toronto, constructed through two weekends of hands-on workshops.  The vegetation on this roof was planted as part of a research effort by Ryerson University.

The Toronto Botanical Garden grounds are lovely and the abundunce of nicely tended flowering perennials, vine-clad walls, and beautiful trees in the gardens was appreciated by all on this autumn day.

The Gala itself was a Mexican Fiesta celebration, honoring the host city for the second World Green Roof Infrastructure Network Congress: A Sustainable Alternative for Big Cities in Mexico City, to be held on October 7-9, 2010.  Reception co-host Tanya Müller Garcia, President of WGRIN Mexico member AMENA (Asociación Mexicana para la Naturación de Azoteas), and Director of ‘Reforestacion Urbana, Parques y Ciclovia’ (Urban Forestry, Parks and Bikeways) in Mexico City, welcomed us and presented “Outstanding Public and Private Green Roofs Across Mexico.”  Flowing margaritas and Corona beer, tasty food, and a lively Mariachi band gave us a preview for things to come at next year’s Congress.  Prof. Dr. Manfred Köhler of Hochschule Neubrandenburg (University of Applied Sciences) and World Green Roof Infrastructure Network (WGRIN) Chair thanked everyone for attending and showed slides of unique greenroofs from around the world.

All in all we had a great time seeing old friends, although there wasn’t enough time to catch up with everyone!  We were very impressed with the feel of the Congress, and felt like we really received a lot for our money.  The receptions, coffee breaks, Tuesday lunch and barbecue dinner, and tours were all included in the Congress fee, which in comparison to other conferences was quite low at only $149 for members of GRHC, or $249 for non-members.  Since my individual membership had expired, we finally bit the bullet and Greenroofs.com became a Corporate Member of GRHC for the first time. 

My suggestions for future CitiesAlive! Congresses is to make the presentation sessions a 2-day event, not just one, and if possible, not have four concurrent tracks, but two.  It was simply too much information in too little time.  It works alright for the Greening Rooftops for Sustainable Communties Conferences, but they differ in that it is feasible for more than one person in a company to attend since you’re dealing with domestic travel (for most of us).  People can swap notes, and in any case you get a CD with all the papers for later review.  We also should have received a CD or booklet on the actual papers for this first Congress, which would have helped also since there were quite a few presentations that were hard to understand due to the breadth of international participants.  I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I feel WGRIN could charge more in the future to help cover a 2-day event (keeping the tours included) which would be more beneficial to all.

Toronto is a beautiful city with much to be proud – the last time we were here was in June of 2000, when I attended a green roof workshop by Steven Peck, when Green Roofs for Healthy Cities was a consortium of five companies.  Attended by about 20 people including Steven, architect Monica Kuhn, Dr. Brad Bass (who showed Aramis and me his wonderful research of rooftop hydroponic plantings at the University of Toronto), greenroof designer/contractor Kaaren Pearson, John Beaudry, formerly with the Chicago Department of Environment, City of Chicago engineer Kevin LaBerge, and Marie-Anne Boivin of Soprema, among others, it was my first introduction to the fledgling greenroof community.

The kids at Covenant House Toronto have a spot reserved in their rooftop garden for future seeds of success.  Our industry has come along way in the past 10 years and working together we can continue to promote healthy living architecture and make greenroofs and green walls standards within the architecture world, not just the green architecture world.

Happy Greening!

~ Linda V.

Last Friday October 9 I spent the entire day greenroof hopping in Atlanta with Landon Donoho, a student film director from Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), and his crew (Rachel, Logan, and Curt).  A friend of our youngest son, Ari, as a senior Landon has to make a documentary for school and decided to do it on greenroofs in the Atlanta area – enter me for a little help!  I gladly obliged since I know so many people here and he is such a nice young man. 

We started bright and early (way earlier than I would normally get up) at Atlanta City Hall at 8:00 a.m., where Landon interviewed Bill Brigham who has been intricately involved from day one with the Atlanta City Hall Pilot Green Roof, the first municipal greenroof in the southeast U.S.  If you don’t know Bill yet, you should – he’s a transplant from Jersey and is really funny – in a good way!  He kept us laughing with his continual banter and commentary, with blatant teal blue socks in view.  When asked what his position with the City of Atlanta was, he explained that after 17 years his title was really much more of an epithet: Bill Brigham, ASLA, Principal Landscape Architect/Project Manager, Bureau of Watershed Protection, Department of Watershed Management, City of Atlanta.

Greg Harper, the local GreenGrid rep, was there and afterwards showed us a mirror image testing area also off the fifth floor where they’re monitoring plant survival on various GreenGrid modules.  We had quite an entourage as our oldest son, Joey (the screenwriter and director), and our daughter Anjuli (passionate about film herself and an aspiring producer) joined us for a while, too, along with Saul Nurseries‘  Kathy Saul and Robin Andrews.

From City Hall we travelled a couple of minutes north to the Southface Energy Institute Eco Office and their Turner Foundation Green Roof, where Landon interviewed Bourke Reeve, a seemingly mild mannered MHP, LEED AP, Technical Associate Commercial Green Building Services kind of guy, but he turned out to be a real natural in front of the camera!  The views of downtown were spectacular.

After a very quick lunch next we headed a few blocks north again, and with Greg as our tour leader and were able to see all three of the greenroofs located on the property of the Woodruff Arts Center, home of the High Museum, the Alliance Theatre, and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, among other facilities.

Via the higher, normally non-publicly accessible roof of the #1 Woodruff Arts Center SCAD Dormitory, we could see across to #2 the Frances Bunzl Administration Center of the High Museum of Art, and down to the actual overstructure roof (over the huge parking garage) of the #3 Woodruff Arts Center itself with one of its sculptures in the garden below in view.

The view of midtown Atlanta was great, and from this vantage point we could even see the intensive greenroofs on 1010 Midtown, 1180 Peachtree, and Colony Square.  Greg spoke about the Woodruff Arts’ commitment to sustainability and their efforts to green a multitude of buildings on the campus, and how the SCAD Dormitory was the second GreenGrid roof here after the Bunzl roof.

We then rode north up 400 and visited Northpark 400 and Northpark 500, the award-winning office towers and corporate campus.  We spent most of our time filming on 500, which has great vantage views of the some of the Atlanta skyline and the northern suburbs.  While they got great shots of the surroundings and some cool time lapse photography of the gorgeous, fast moving clouds, Landon tried to interview me amidst some very high winds, which didn’t prove too successful – so we returned on Sunday afternoon and re-shot some of that sequence under more peaceful skies.

Other greenroof sites were visited by Landon and crew over the weekend including the new Chattahoochee Nature Center and 901 Moreland Avenue, a single family residence, where they interviewed architect David Butler.  We got really lucky with a pretty spectacular, drizzle-only weekend as we were sandwiched by continuous thunderstorms on either end.   These storms accompanied by flash flooding have been wreaking havoc recently on a multitude of Georgia communities, and many are still feeling the effects of the “Flood of 2009.”  It really drives home some of the potentially dangerous effects of stormwater gone wild. 

Landon hopes to have a finished documentary in about five weeks, and I know he’ll make a great director, he’s really kind and patient and passionate about his craft – all qualities that should guarantee success in life.

Can’t wait to see it! ~ Linda V.

I receive a lot of great info about a variety of topics from readers – tidbits and sometimes more elaborate – usually not quite enough to qualify as a Guest Feature on Greenroofs.com, but certainly enough to pique our interest for a blog post.  Of course I don’t have unlimited time at my disposal to further research all of these newsworthy items, nor do our Contributing Editors, so we’ve decided to open up our Sky Gardens Blog to Guest Posts. 

Talking about our Contributing Editors, as it is I’m the one blogging the most anyway – they all have their real careers and companies to run, after all, so I think this will open up our piece of the blogosphere a bit – new blood and all that.

So how does it work and what are we looking for?  Posts will come through me, and I’ll determine if the topic is pertinent, appropriate, and in-line with the tone of “Sky Gardens ~ where cool green meets lofty blue.”  So what’s that, again?  From my bio in About Us:

“Cool green?”  Cool green architecture, cool green people, cool green environments, etc., you get the picture. “Lofty blue?”  As in sky high spaces, places, ideals, and ideas. 

Ask yourself, Will the greenroof community be eager to read this?  Is it environmentally interesting, important, funny, or thought provoking?  Good examples are projects with greenroofs or green walls you visited or articles/videos you came across, people and organizations who are working in the sustainable design field, commentary on green case studies, examples of best practices, links to industry news, or media happenings in general.  No press releases, infomercials or advertorials, please!  If you want to advertise your product or service, great – we keep that separate, just visit Advertise with Us.  Also see our Submissions page for more.  If accepted, the author’s name will be followed by a comma and Guest Post, as in Jane Doe, Guest Post to differentiate you from the Team at Greenroofs.com.

Guidelines are simple, please:

Informal and opinionated is fine, but no nastiness or preaching will be tolerated.  Be clear and concise, edit and spellcheck your work – don’t make us ask for clarifications!  If English is not your native tongue, that’s different and we’ll be more tolerant, so please state that.   But we will still not publish poorly written work.

Include relevant references and websites; if you are lifting someone else’s work, put it in quotes and give the source.  When referencing an article or other post, it’s not considered polite to paste the entire story (not to mention legal in terms of copyright issues).  Most blogs post a summary or the first paragraph (40 words), then include a link to the rest of the story.  But I really don’t want copied articles that are just being regurgitated over the Internet – be creative and summarize in your own words!

Length:  About 150 words would be max.  Sometimes less is more.

Send great and awesome photos, graphics and images, people!  How many?  At least two, more is fine.  No one wants to read a bunch of words going on and on about some vague architectural philosophy pertaining to culture and the evolution/decline of man without some interesting photos to break it up.  Again, state the source and if the photo is copyrighted, include the name of the photographer.

Send your posts to:  submissions@greenroofs.com

Format:  Word, TXT, or RTF; Photos:  JPG or GIF, no larger than 490 x 342 pixels

Here’s a new opportunity for Greenroofs.com to continue our onward and upward expansion into the greenroof world, as well as your opportunity to share your views with our readership.  So for those of you who want to be bloggers, here’s your chance!

As always, we welcome your ideas and comments ~ Linda V.

Did you know that you could actually promote the greenroof effort and have a great time golfing with buddies while you’re here in Atlanta next week for the 7th Annual Greening Rooftops for Sustainable Communities Conference, Awards & Trade Show on June 3-5?  Well, yes, you can!

All you golfers (and wannabe’s) should mark your calendars now for next Tuesday, June 2!  Participate in the first annual Green Roofs for Healthy Cities Golf Tournament at the lovely Bobby Jones Golf Course.  This is a charitable event with all proceeds going to support the newly formed Green Infrastructure Foundation (GIF) that is open to all GRHC members, their employees, guests, spouses and prospective members.  Create your own foursome or let GRHC assign you to one.  This is a great networking event and an excuse to have some good fun in the sun (hopefully).

Now, I’m not a golfer myself, and in any case I’ll be leading my own tour that day, but I am happy to say we will have a foursome there and that Greenroofs.com will be represented by my husband, Aramis; our son-in-law, Joe; The Green Roof Guy, Kelly Luckett of Green Roof Blocks; and the G.R.E.E.N. Editor, Dr. Bill Retzlaff, of SIUe. 

I think it’s a great cause and if you like to golf and are going to be here anyway, I’d encourage you to sign up here, and learn more about the whole experience on the Green Roofs for Healthy Cites Conference page.  Some specifics:

Date: Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Tee Time:  1:00 pm (shotgun start)
Cost:  $140 per person, and Fee Includes:         
     Green fees
     Cart fees
     Six pack of beer
     Logo t-shirt
     Barbecue dinner

The write up says, “The Bobby Jones Golf Course was recently renovated with new Champion Bermuda greens and is an 18 hole public golf course that rests in the heart of Buckhead and just ten minutes from downtown Atlanta.  Built in 1932, this John Van Kleek design has a rich history dating back to the Civil War.  The Battle of Peachtree Creek, one of the most pivotal battles of the Civil War, took place in the valley of the golf course surrounding the clubhouse.  Today, Peachtree Battle Creek meanders through this tree-lined par 71 championship golf course and comes into play on five of the eighteen holes.  Elevated tees on many of our holes offer scenic views of the midtown Atlanta skyline.  The tightly placed greens offer a challenging round for the skilled golfer, while the open fairways create a pleasant round for golfers of all skill levels.”

And, I believe there may be some Sponsorship opportunities still available where you can profile your company and support the work of the Green Infrastructure Foundation:

Sponsor A Hole … Sponsor Longest Drive … Sponsor A Hole in One …

Sponsors will be recognized with signage on-site.  Golden Intensive, Intensive and Semi-Intensive will all be offered four complimentary golf tournament passes for distribution to clients and colleagues.  For more information, please contact Jennifer Sprout at jsprout@greenroofs.org or Tim Barrett, Barrett Roofing at timbarrett@prodigy.net.

Next up is the Tours!

~ Linda V.