Greenroofs.com Project of the Week: 12/12/11
Orchard Central Mall Greenwalls
Singapore
2,207 sf. of Greenwalls

Year: 2009
Owner: Far East Organization
Location: Singapore
Building Type: Commercial
Type: Green Façade
System: Single Source Provider
Size: 2,207 sq. ft.
Slope: 100%
Access: Accessible, Open to Public

Project Description & Details

Orchard Central Mall is Singapore’s tallest and first vertical pure-retail mall with 11 storeys above ground and two basement levels. Orchard Central boasts multiple outdoor viewing areas with a commanding view of Orchard Road, including three outdoor “green” balconies appealing to alfresco food & beverage outlets. The air-conditioned shopping street discovery walk and the rooftop garden are both accessible to the public 24 hours a day.

The Singapore Institute of Architects and National Parks Board award-winning project features three large living walls and balcony rail on the 11th floor and 2 lower green walls on the 12th floor roof terrace. Elmich Green Wall’s Vertical Greening Modules (VGM) provide the modular system comprising a geotextile bag filled with soil-less lightweight planting media, pre-planted in a nursery environment to allow for plant establishment. The VGMs are encased in metal support frames on-site and mounted onto anchoring pilasters; an automated drip irrigation and fertilization system was also installed. The planted walls complement and create the atmosphere for alfresco dining as well as serve to substantially cool the areas immediately adjacent to the walls.

Designers/Manufacturers of Record

Developer: Far East Organization

Additional Info

A city-state of high rise buildings, Singapore is becoming reknown for its ”skyrise greenery” and continuous efforts in making it a “City in a Garden.”

Here, and known throughout Southeast Asia, Orchard Road is the fashion, retail and entertainment hub with shopping centers (more than 40), dining and pubs galore.  Orchard Road got its name from the nutmeg, pepper and fruit orchards or the plantations that the road led to in the mid-1800s.  Commercial development of the area began in the twentieth century, with a surge in the 1970s (read more in Wikipedia).

Located at the heart of Orchard Road, the new high-end Orchard Central Mall replaced Specialists Shopping Centre and had a soft opening in July, 2009.  The mall boasts 160m frontage along this shopping belt of Singapore.

The 12-floor Orchard Central Mall features ‘cluster-concept’ shopping (8 clusters separated by categories) with a wide variety of specialty shops that are not available elsewhere.  Hard to imagine, but the mall is served by a total of 52 escalators (including 6 super escalators) and 12 glass elevators -6 express lifts move between 500 and 2,000 ft/min!  The super escalator at the front of the entrance, left below, enables shoppers to step off from the street and go straight up into the mall:

In the background of the photo above right you can see one of the flourishing greenwalls on the property.  Yet it also showcases a 24-hour public garden at the roof top, complete with tropical landscaping on the ground and various vertical greenery offerings.

In 2009, the Orchard Central Mall won 1st Prize in the Completed Projects category in the Skyrise Greenery Awards for outdoor green balconies and extensive greenery, inside and out.  The award aims to promote skyrise greenery in Singapore and to recognize the greening efforts in high rise developments by owners/developers, architects, landscape architects/designers, and landscape contract managers.

“As Orchard Road’s first new mall in four years Orchard Central brings a breath of fresh air with urban green verandas, a 140-metre Discovery Walk on the first storey, and the lusciously landscaped sky gardens on the 11th and 12th storeys.

An extensive green wall up to 13 metres high stretches from the 11th to 12th storeys to create a ‘green blanket’ that is highly visible from Orchard Road.

The biological pond on the 12th storey creates the atmosphere of a water garden and offers an unforgettable experience while dining in the sky gardens’ restaurants.” ~ Skyrise Greenery Awards 2009 Completed Projects 1st Prize

Adjacent to the restaurant, this sky garden is both beautiful and an inviting green space for patrons and visitors, although locals say there are not enough seats for relaxing.

“Amidst this blanketed green roof, art also thrives. At the foot of the vertical wall is Yayoi Kusama’s colourful Let’s Go to a Paradise of Glorious Tulips (2009), adorned with her trademark polka dots.  This sculpture acts as a stark contrast to the grey backdrop of the peaking buildings — a perspective that creates a heightened awareness of visitors’ location.” ~POSKOD.SG by Amanda Fay Tan

Elmich systems are found throughout the multiple levels – Elmich VGM units on the walls with VersiCell in planter boxes and Elmich Landscape Roof gor the greenroof system.

For irrigating the walls, an equal amount of water is injected to the root zone via a Netafim drip system and the greenroofs are irrigated using Netafim UniTechline AS.

Along with tons of other spots, I’m sorry we didn’t get to see the Orchard Central Mall greenroof and greenwalls when we visited Singapore in November, 2010 (when I spoke at the International Skyrise Greenery Conference) but it will be on our list the next time we do!

See the Orchard Central Mall Greenroofs project profile in the Greenroof & Greenwall Projects Database here.

Did we miss something?  We’d love to hear from you!  Click here to see more information about this project in The International Greenroof & Greenwall Projects Database.  See how you can submit yours here.

Love the Earth, Plant a Roof!

~ Linda V.

We received a lot of positive feedback from attendees participating in our inaugural Greenroofs & Walls of the World™ Virtual Summit 2011 this past September through October about the very high quality of the speakers we offered for such an affordable price…

…And conversely, a lot of speakers have asked us if their videos would be available afterwards for viewing by the general public – those who did not pay the $49 or $25 to attend.

We certainly do not want all of the Virtual Summit’s speakers’ efforts and great information to go to waste…and we feel that our readership would love to see the content!

So, Greenroofs.com’s plan is to show each of our 4 keynote speakers, 7 panel sessions, and 19 video presentations (plus my opening and closing remarks) in its entirety as we played it at the 2011 Virtual Summit – from everyone who grants us permission.

You can see my Opening Welcome and Overview now, along with the Virtual Summit Highlights Video and the Trailer on greenroofs.tv.  We’ll be showing our Opening Keynote Speaker Charlie Miller as the first featured video tomorrow, on Wednesday, December 7 followed by one or two videos a week thereafter which we’ll highlight on our Homepage.

Once played, each video will remain available to everyone on demand on the greenroofs.tv page and our GreenroofsTV channel on YouTube.  We hope to show everyone what they missed at our inaugural Virtual Summit and create buzz for the 2012 Virtual Summit!

If you didn’t join us for 2011 we hope you will in 2012 – then you won’t have to wait months to see all of the great new keynote, panel, and presentation videos!

We hope you enjoy each of the 32 videos and use them in the future for your reference – we’re very proud of the wonderful collaborations from around the world.  Please share with your greenroof and greenwall colleagues.

Happy greening ~

Linda V.

Each week you can expect to learn What’s New here on Greenroofs.com through our “This Week in Review” video.  Here’s the transcript from October 28th and 21st, 2011 from our daughter, Anjuli – click on the photo below to see the video, or here.  Enjoy!

- Hello, I’m Anjuli Velazquez and welcome to This Week in Review for October 28th, 2011 as well as last week, October 21st on GreenroofsTV.

- Projects of the Week

-  Our project of the week is the PECO Main Office Building built in 2008 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The rooftop garden, on the top of an eight-story section of the building, holds growing media up to 8 inches thick, and the vegetative covering will reduce rainwater runoff by up to 70 percent and provide better insulation. With an anticipated investment of $15.3 million, the initiative also includes the opening of PECO’s first green building in West Chester, replacement of the landmark Crown Lights messaging system atop the company’s Center City headquarters, energy efficiency upgrades at many of the company’s offices and service centers across the region to comply with LEED certification, as well as community and customer support for energy efficiency and environmental benefits. Mayor Michael Nutter has recognized the roof as a step forward in his quest to make Philadelphia the greenest city in America. In the effort to encourage a critical mass of enlightened Philadelphians to support the development of urban roof top landscapes, the PECO green roof is proving to be a key player. Roofmeadow and the Philadelphia Horticultural Society closely track the native plants to identify those that are best able to endure the harsh conditions of a windy, riverside rooftop.

- To learn more about the PECO Main Office Building greenroof, click on our project of the week photo on our homepage.

- Our project of the week last week was the Ngee Ann Polytechnic’s Vertical Extensive Green Wall Testing Facility built in 2009 in Singapore. The Landscape Design and Horticulture programme from the School of Life Sciences and Chemical Technology at the college embarked to develop simpler green walls for high rise buildings where 90% of residences are dwellers. Then they evaluated shallow rooted plant species for their growth habit, disease susceptibility, nutrient deficiencies and maintenance requirements. The 2-year research on sustainable plant species for the green wall involved 40 students from the Landscape Design and Horticulture programme and the outcome was a 12m x 2.5m vertical extensive green system uniquely designed for the climate in Singapore.

- And to learn more about the Ngee Ann Polytechnic’s Vertical Extensive Green Wall Testing Facility, search project id number “1330” in our Projects Database and/or check out Linda’s blog post about it at Sky Gardens.

“What’s New”

- Industry News Update

-The next round of ecoroof incentives is now open & the City of Portland is again offering FREE technical workshops.

- Green Roofs for Healthy Cities’ Awards of Excellence Winners Announced – congratulations to all the great projects and winners, in particular to one of our Contributing Editors, Patrick Carey of hadj Design as the Green Roof Designer, who won in the Green Roof Extensive Residential category for the Hood Canal Project, a private residence in Quilcene, WA.  The greenroof on this coastal residence is a perfect example of a small-scale project with an even smaller development impact.

- The EPA asked ASLA to collect case studies on projects that successfully and sustainably manage stormwater. ASLA members responded with 479 case studies from 43 states, the District of Columbia, and Canada – by the way, one of the projects where Linda was the greenroof design consultant is included – Rock Mill Park in Alpharetta, Georgia.

- The NY State Department of Environmental Conservation and the New York City Department of Environmental Protection reached a draft agreement to reduce combined sewer overflows into area water bodies. The agreement modifies New York City’s approach to improving harbor water quality, under which the city will invest an estimated $187 million in green infrastructure projects by 2015, part of a planned $2.4 billion public and private investment over the next 20 years.

- Guest Feature

Read “Welcome to the 9th Annual CitiesAlive Green Roof and Wall Conference: Restoring Urban Water: Philadelphia Takes the Lead” by Steven Peck.

-Contributing Editor

- Also, read Christine Thuring’s latest article “GREEN ROOFS ON THE CURVE Virtual Conferencing: WOW it’s NOW!”

Advertiser Press Release:

- LiveRoof® Hybrid Green Roof System Selected for Five New Green Roof Projects in North Carolina.

- Over at Sky Gardens, check out Linda’s latest posts: “Vote for Colombian Greenroofs in ‘Innovadores de America’ – Innovators of America by November 7!,” “GreenRoofs in Australasia’s Greening Cities Conference 2011 in Sydney,” “Are You Going to the International Green Technology Symposium in India?,” “Fall 2011 Portland Ecoroof Opportunities,” “GREEN ROOFS ON THE CURVE 2011,” “Watch the Highlights Video of the ,” “Greenroofs.com’s ‘This Week in Review’ on GreenroofsTV: October 14th, 2011,” and our GPWs for the PECO Main Office Building and Ngee Ann Polytechnic’s Vertical Extensive Green Wall Testing Facility.

- “Upcoming Events”

- Today is the last day to participate in our Archived Mode of the Greenroofs & Walls of the World™ Virtual Summit 2011, so be sure to watch whatever video you haven’t watched yet or you’d like to watch again as well as download info from our sponsors Tremco and American Hydrotech and all of the exhibitors and associates!

- October 26th-29th: is the Midwest Roofing Contractors Association Conference Rosemont, Illinois.

- October 28th-30th: is a Green Living Technologies – Green Roof/Green Wall Installer and Maintenance Technician Certification Training in Penfield, New York.

- October 29th-30th: is a Green Roofs Course, Brighton Permaculture Trust in Brighton, United Kingdom.

- October 30th-November 2nd: is the ASLA 2011 Annual Meeting & EXPO in San Diego, California.

- October 31st-November 2nd: is WGIN’s International Green Technology Symposium 2011 in Indore, India.

- November 3rd-6th: is a GRHC Green Roof Boot Camp in San Francisco, California and on the 4th, there’s a GRHC Advanced Green Roof Maintenance in Chicago, Illinois.

-  Check out our homepage for more Upcoming Events!

- “In the News”

- Mitsubishi Heavy Industries announces that the “Tamachi Building Co. Invites Kindergarten Children to Potato Dig At Company’s Rooftop Garden.” They are offering a fun learning opportunity about the environment as a corporate social responsibility activity. They say, “Within the rooftop garden, a 21.5 square meter vegetable garden has been used for potato cultivation. Sweet potato was selected for planting because during the summer season it offers a high green coverage ratio, thereby providing excellent heat insulation; also, sweet potatoes offer good opportunities for children to dig and taste. The remainder of the garden is being utilized primarily for planting grass, flowers and evergreens.”

-  AnnMarie Costella of the Queens Chronicle, reports on “Queens gets a bit cooler with another green roof.” She says the “Jamaica Wastewater Treatment Plant is [the] latest location [to] be outfitted.” A variety of large and small flowering plants have been planted on this 6,000 square foot building, which will be able to absorb up to 13,000 gallons of rainwater and lessen the amount that gets dumped into the sewer system that leads to the Jamaica Bay. This green roof is part of the NYC Green Infrastructure Plan, which calls for $2.4 billion worth of green projects over the next 20 years in order to reduce combined sewer overflows and increase buildings’ absorption of ultraviolet light. Green roofs also improve insulation, interior cooling and energy efficiency.

To learn more about these stories and new ones posted daily, go to our In the News or newslinks section of our website.

-  Send us your green articles, videos and images to editor@greenroofs.com and share your greenroof or green wall info with the world!

- Make sure to keep up with everything Greenroofs.com by following us on Twitter, liking us on Facebook, being a member of our network on LinkedIn, and subscribing to our greenroofsTV channel on YouTube!

- This has been This Week in Review for October 28th and 21st, 2011 on GreenroofsTV.  I’m Anjuli Velazquez and I’ll see you next week!

*This week’s episode is sponsored by The Greenroof Directory, brought to you by Greenroofs.com.*

Did we miss something?  We’d love to hear from you!

~ Linda V.

Published bi-annually by Singapore’s Centre for Urban Greenery & Ecology, or CUGE, the beautifully designed and illustrated CITYGREEN aims to discuss and highlight issues relating to urban greening and ecology.

In CITYGREEN’s latest issue, Parks – Enhancing Liveability in Cities, articles range from feature projects, best practices on planning, lighting, design and safety to commentaries on the role and evolution of urban parks.

Contributors for the current issue include organizations like Projects for Public Spaces and renowned individuals including Peter Harnik and Martha Schwartz.  The full listing of exciting articles for Issue 3 – ISBN: 978-981-08-9764-2 is shown below with selected photos:

“Planning Green Open Spaces for South East Asian Capital Cities”- left
Strategies to green up urban open spaces in our region
Author: David E. Aldous

“Learning From The Success of The World’s Great Parks”
Key lessons from Central Park New York, Luxembourg Gardens Paris and Hong Kong Park, among others
Authors: Fred Kent, Kathy Madden and Dana Kitzes

“Encouraging Green Open Spaces: Parks in Shanghai”- left
A look at sustainability-driven parks and initiatives in Shanghai
Author: Geoff Ng

“An Excerpt: Urban Parks in the 21st Century United States”
A Peek at Harnik’s Urban Green: Innovative Parks for Resurgent Cities
Author: Peter Harnik

“The Importance of Planning: A City in a Garden”- left
Planning, designing and programming attractive parks in land-scarce Singapore
Author: Lim You Ling

“A Place for Leisure, Culture and Entertainment: Cairns Esplanade”
The redevelopment of Cairns Esplanade into an icon of the place
Author: Stephen White

“Past, Present, Future: The Singapore Botanic Gardens”- left
The evolution and lasting relevance of our Singapore Botanic Gardens
Author: Peter How

“A Walk Through the Years in Singapore’s Parks: Interview With Kong Yit San”
Insights into the transformation of Singapore’s parks since the 1980’s
Author: Ho Rui An

“The Need to Improve Our Oversight of These Spaces: Playground Area Standards Update”- left
Why it is important and how to make public spaces safer for our children and elderly
Author: Kenneth S. Kutsa

“Encouraging Public Appreciation: Interpretation and Education in Parks”
Methods to help parks reach out to the public and students
Author: Janice C. K. Yau

“Adding Value to Parks Through Understanding User Needs”- left
Methods of evaluating and improving parks for their users
Author: Victor Tan

“Benchmarking Sustainable landscapes: Green Mark For Parks”
Using a triple-bottom line approach to assess and benchmark parks on sustainability
Authors: Neil Power and Kannagi Sekar

“Small Details, Big Results: Landscape Lighting” – left
See several considerations behind light and good lighting design
Author: Fernando Rojo

“A Focus on Planning and Design: Facilitating Safety”
Thinking about safety and risk issues in good design
Author: Michael Behm

“Community Engagement and Health Promotion in Parks and Gardens: Population Health and Nature in the Urban Environment”- left
Taking a leaf from initiatives by the South Australian government
Authors: Adam Dwyer, Graeme Hopkins and Christine Goodwin

“Ecological efforts in Karori Wildlife Santuary, Kaikatiki Project and Waiwhakareke Natural Heritage Park”
Author: James Wang

“Revisit and Discover: Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve”- left
A place to learn about Singapore’s mangrove history and Wetlands biodiversity
Authors: Sharon Chan and Edwin Lee

“A Landscape Architect’s Vision for Singapore’s City Centre: Orchard Central Park”
Imagining green possibilities for the dynamic Orchard Road shopping belt
Author: Joerg Rekittke

“The Role of the Public Realm Landscape: The Softer Side of Sustainability and the Hard Working Urban Landscape”- left
The challenge to integrate hard and soft systems to design and create meaningful public spaces
Author: Martha Schwartz

Online subscription is now available at www.citygreen.sg.

Last autumn, I was honored to have been asked to write an article about Greenroofs.com entitled “The International Greenroof Industry’s Online Information Portal: Greenroofs.com” for their second issue.  The full-color 104-page magazine was included in all the registrants’ bags for the  inaugural International Skyrise Greenery Conference 2010.

View contents of Issue 2 here and Issue 1 here.

I have to say that CITYGREEN is a first rate, very high quality publication and worth the cost!  I can’t wait to receive my copy.

I hope you, too, enjoy this very informative, glossy publication from CUGE on parks worldwide worthy of your greenroof and greenwall library and coffee table!

~ Linda V.

Last November Aramis and I met Colombian architect Andres Ibañez of Biotectonica S.A.S. and PhD candidate at the University of Hong Kong – among other things - at the WGIN Mexico City World Green Roof Congress (El Congreso Mundial de Azoteas Verdes México 2010) – where he also presented.  What an interesting guy!  He has a large body of research and completed works in both Hong Kong, his present city of residence, and Bogotá, his hometown.

Next month we will be highlighting both in our Guest Feature Article entitled “Pioneering Vegetated Architecture in  Colombia: From Research to Regulations,” which is very impressive, indeed.

Abstract:

“The practice of vegetated architecture in Colombia is in the process of being consolidated as a feasible technological choice. This paper explains the local process of green roofs dissemination initiated with a research project at National University of Colombia and accounts for the state-of the-art both in public and private sectors. Six topics are addressed:

1) The stage of transferring scientific knowledge from a research-based approach to the practice;
2) determination of key urban problems and technical parameters for experimentation regarding substrate, draining systems, vegetation and whole systems is explained;
3) mechanisms of university-market government engagement to overcome cultural and disciplinary barriers;
4) criteria for future Bogotá green roof guidelines under development;
5) appropriate technological strategies for green roofs in response to local conditions.

Issues of creativity, integration and quality are addressed in order to encourage a democratic practice of green applicable to low-cost projects. Some local strategies are described in which an integrative approach was followed to provide solutions to multiple design problems.  Finally, at this point in time, Colombia is facing new challenges for the promotion of a high-quality and responsible long-term application of green roofs in the future. These challenges are described.” ~ ”Pioneering Vegetated Architecture in  Colombia: From Research to Regulations,” 2011

Andres has also just finished writing the official Green Roof Guidelines of the City of Bogotá which will be soon incorporated into their sustainable building standards.  For this he reviewed the most advanced guidelines and standards worldwide, including FLL and ASTM, and came up with a unique approach for Bogotá.  Once he has the green light from the Secretary of Environment, we’ll be able to share more with you.

Yet, now we are asking for your votes from all around the world before November 7th in support of Andres and greenroofs as being a finalist in the “Innovadores de America“ – Innovators of America – contest under the Sustainability and Ecology category which:

“Includes innovative projects that contribute and provide solutions to problems related to the preservation of the environment.  Projects that contribute and in some way complement and increase sustainable development and adequate exploitation of resources, facilitating responsible and beneficial use of natural resources.” ~ Innovators 2011

Andres Ibañez is a finalist under Innovation: Biotectonica – Constructing life: local systems of vegetalization of infrastructure as a synergistic solution to urban environmental problems. Although the general site is in Spanish, the write up is in English as follows:

“Research, development, implementation, validation and dissemination of: local light and self-regulated systems of vegetalization of infrastructure (bio walls and bio roofs) using local waste materials and special vegetable species to improve the technical performance of buildings and create positive impact in urban areas environmentally deteriorated.

Biotectonica is the practice of building spaces with live vegetable materials instead of using conventional inert materials. The pioneer study in Colombia avoided inert materials and conventional practices in building construction and focused on the technological challenge of managing sustainable interfaces among infrastructure works and use special vegetable covers adapted to Bogota´s climate, using local resources, recyclable, and reutilization of materials and innovative design of specialized components. We had three main objectives:

1) Achieve viability of implementation at low cost, 2) special technical applications for the buildings, and 3) produce positive impacts in deteriorated urban sites due to environmental problems.

The vegetalization systems of infrastructure developed and manufactured by Biotectonica are economical and light weight, make use of underutilized roofs and facades of buildings and offer a synergistic and economical solution to the most critical urban environmental problems: air pollution, excess water runoff, deficit of green areas, effect of heat islands, and destruction of biodiversity habitat. As of June 2011, Biotectonica had installed 5,374 square meters of its vegetalization systems in 13 buildings and had designed the adaptation of 28,387 square meters in 20 buildings. The systems are manufactured in Bogota with recycled plastic, waste bricks, compost of organic waste, industrial waste and other waste materials that comply with specific requirements of lightness, drainage capabilities, thermal insulation, acoustic insulation, and water retention. Over 20 vegetable native and adapted species have been studied and used which can be self sustainable in the developed areas, with the rain and environmental conditions of Bogota.

Several innovations to vegetalization systems and their components were applied:

1.     Light system of drainage optimization in PEAD covered for industrial productions and mass commercialization. Already in use.
2.     Adaptation of conventional construction components for implementation of low cost vegetalized infrastructure systems for low income sectors.
3.     Green wall cell system (Bio roof)
4.     Six measurements of light substratum of local granular components for various infrastructure vegetalization systems.
5.     Matrix and design and adaptation methodology for specific buildings.

The following positive impacts were achieved:

1.     Creation of a means rain water retention which guarantees reduction of at least 37% of the volume and rate of runoff water to help solve the problems of floods in the city. 
2.     Installation of a means to hold rain water which reduces the amount of rainwater in Bogota´s sewage system by 2,953 million per year and helps with the hot weather.
3.     Creation of 5,374 square meters of green areas.
4.     Reuse of 130m of brick solid waste and industrial waste.
5.     Creation of 86.5m of compost from organic waste.
6.     Recycling of 9.3 tons of plastic.
7.     Creation of a natural means that captures approximately 1,082 tons of PM10 a year from polluted air in Bogota and other cities in Colombia
8.     Natural production of oxygen required by approximately 5,000 persons per year
9.     Implementation of an efficient means for acoustic and thermal insulation to improve conditions of more than 50,000 m of interior spaces.” ~ Andres Ibañez, Innovadores de America 2011

Awesome work!  Here are just a few representative projects which you’ll learn more about in November:

Andres describes his company as follows:

“Biotectonics is the practice of building spaces with living material instead of using conventional inert materials.  BIOTECTONIC is a technology-based company founded in 2009 after a pioneer research of the Master of Building at the National University of Colombia.  This research was the first in the country and one of the former in Latin America to study and validate living roof technologies.  BIOTECTONICA develops and implements greening infrastructure technologies addressing the local economic, cultural and environmental challenges and taking into account the particular conditions of every single project and client.” ~ Andres Ibañez Gutierrez

Andres created a short animation last week that he translated into English, now on YouTube:

The bottom line is that we should support each other within our industry, don’t you agree?  So, please join me in voting (I already did) for Andres – only one vote each.

Let’s advance green infrastructure in Colombia and beyond…support this project with your vote now!

~ Linda V.

We first reported on it last March, and now the International Green Technology Symposium (Green Roof, Green City, Rain Harvesting) is around the corner.

Held next week in Indore, India on October 31 through November 2, 2011, the Symposium is organized by Professor Suresh Billore, PhD, DSc of GREEN TAKNIKI – Restoring Nature – the International Symposium on Green Technology and held under the auspices of the World Green Infrastructure Network (WGIN) and is co-hosted by the Mayor of Indore.

This prestigious greenroof symposium is the first of its kind in India!

“Green Technology is the foremost tool to repair urbanization damage in bringing back shift in cliumate change, cool building, biodiversity, energy conservation, flood management, noise-dust-toxic gas reduction, food and water production and creation of new markets for green goods and services.” ~ International Green Technology Symposium

Twenty international and national speakers will be presenting on a variety of subjects.  WGIN President Professor Manfred Köhler of Germany will be in attendance, along with Hitesh Doshi of Canada, and Paul Kephart, Dhiru Thadani, and Dr. Karen Weber of Earth Our Only Home, Foundation for a Green Future, and Boston GreenFest of the U.S, among other notables – see the Speakers page here.

Details on the Symposium and participation can be found at their website: www.greenindia2011.org, and in the attached updated International Green Technology Symposium 2011 flyer.

Aramis and I would have loved to have participated, but there’s just too much going on here now.  The day tour on November 2 and 4-day post-conference tour option are going to be awesome, and we will sorely miss it!  If you are going, please take lots of photos and keep us posted!

Happy Greening in India and beyond,

Linda V.

Have you seen our Greenroofs & Walls of the World™ Virtual Summit 2011 Highlights Video yet?  It’s fast paced and fun, see:

We put together snippets of 10-15 seconds of all of our speakers – well almost all.  We didn’t include the ones we had previously included in our Trailer Video -namely Xianmin Wang, Lluis Recasens Pahí, and João Manuel Linck Feijó - for time reasons.  But you can still see them in the Greenroofs & Walls of the World™ Virtual Summit 2011Trailer Video below:

So, watch the video and get a glimpse of what you would see in our virtual environment.  You still have about a week to register, all the way up until October 28th.  You’ll have access to the expo pavilions and can visit all the exhibitor and associate booths plus see our amazing speakers!

You’ll find the speaker presentations in two places:  The Rare Earth Auditorium, sponsored by Tremco, and the On Demand Auditorium.

The Rare Earth Auditorium is where you’ll find all the presentations that were scheduled live, including our four illustrious Keynote Speakers – Andrew Grant, Charlie Miller, Ed Snodgrass, and Ralph Velasquez – most with the live Q & A Sessions that followed the original playing.  You can still read all the commentary, too.  Here you’ll find:

The On Demand Auditorium hold the presentations for the speakers who were not scheduled live – although in effect, once a presentation played once, they were all on demand.

These include:

We’re very proud of our inaugural Virtual Summit and know you’ll be very pleased, too.  See the Speakers page and Agenda to learn all about each presenter and their presentation or panel session descriptions.

You still can’t beat the price for over 30 individual and panel sessions - only $49 or $25 for students & faculty and government professionals!

Happy Greening,

Linda V.

Our vision of producing and sharing the virtual experience to our industry with our inaugural Greenroofs & Walls of the World™ Virtual Summit 2011 was successful, and we couldn’t have done it without the great support of many people, in particular our main patron, Rare Earth Sponsor TREMCO, along with Emerald Sponsor American Hydrotech.

Thanks again also to our Exhibitors Grant Associates, Green Living Technologies, Green Roof Blocks, GreenGrid Roofs, Green Roof Plants, ILD, J-DRain, and Roofmeadow – although the lifeblood of any conference is its speakers, the sponsors and exhibitors make it happen – none of this would have been possible without their financial support!

We are so proud to have put together the most amazing community of talented international speakers that you could have asked for – all leaders in their fields.  See the Speakers page and read all about them and their presentations.

Speaking of our Sponsors, Exhibitors, and Speakers, I’d like to stress that although the 2 live days have passed, the end of the Virtual Summit is on October 28 – if you missed out on September 27 & 28, you can still register until October 28!

You can’t beat the price of only $49 – or $25 for students/faculty/government professionals - to access all 32 of our great panel sessions, interviews, presentations, and live Q & A commentary plus see the latest from manufacturer/supplier and organization/government exhibitors.

Visit all of our truly unique and innovative areas within the virtual environment: the Rare Earth and On Demand Auditoriums, the Tremco Meeting Room, the Sky Terrace Networking Lounge, the Media Lounge, and the International, North American & Associates Pavilions at the Expo – did you know you can still chat with your fellow online attendees either in a public or private via video, audio, or text while logged in?

We’re putting together an awesome Highlights Video of our wonderful participants to give you a taste of what you are missing – look for it soon!  We hope to see you still in Greenroofs & Walls of the World™ Virtual Summit 2011!  Register here.

Love the Earth, Plant a Roof!

~ Linda V.

Greenroofs.com’s Greenroofs & Walls of the World™ Virtual Summit 2011 is less than a week away!  We’re coming into the homestretch with our Virtual Summit and we certainly hope you will join us!

Watch our short, fun, trailer here (under 3 minutes):

Last week I highlighted international professionals from Germany, Mexico, Canada, Chile, and the U.S., and here is the remaining line-up of wonderful, talented speakers at our inaugural online event, also from countries around the world:

Wolfgang Ansel, Germany: The Director of the International Green Roof Association (IGRA) will present  ”Green Roof Policies – An International Review of Current Practices and Future Trends.”

Caroline Menetre, USA:  The landscape designer, graphic designer, environmental horticulturist, and contributing editor on Greenroofs.com will introduce the “The Vertical Garden – from Nature to Cities – An Interview” with Patrick Blanc.

Matthew Dillon, Australia: The Vice President of GreenRoofs Australasia and member of World Green Infrastructure Network (WGIN) will present “GreenRoofs in Australasia.”

João Manuel Linck Feijó, Brazil: The principal of Ecotelhado, Director of ATVBrasil, and World Green Infrastructure Network (WGIN) board member will present  ”The Work of ATVBrasil.”

Lluis Recasens Pahí, Spain: The Professor of Horticulture at the Institut d´Horticultura i Jardineria de Reus will present “Sustainability in Plant Production.”

Dr. Clayton Rugh, USA: The botanist and biologist and Manager & Technical Director of Xero Flor America will present “One Decade of Ultralight Green Roof Proof-of-Concept on Ford’s Dearborn Truck Plant.”

John Shepley, USA: The engineer, co-founder of Emory Knoll Farms, founding board member of the Baltimore Biodiesel Cooperative, chairman of the Chesapeake Sustainable Business Alliance and contributing editor on Greenroofs.com will present “Sustainability at a Small Business: Emory Knoll Farms.“

Linda Velazquez, ASLA Associate, LEED AP, GRP, USA: The founder, publisher & editor of Greenroofs.com and principal of Sky Gardens Design will co-present the “2011 Top 10 List of Hot Trends in Greenroof & Greenwall Design” with Haven Kiers.

Remember, Government professionals and faculty/students have the special discounted rate of only $25 – that’s for both days plus the 30 days archived on-demand through October 28, 2011.  Other professionals are offered the $49 registration rate.

If you haven’t yet, register today!  Please help us spread the world – tell your colleagues, Twitter followers, Facebook fans, newsletter subscribers, and LinkedIn connections to register here.

I think there’s plenty of room in our relatively close-knit greenroof and wall community to explore new information technologies together and not feel threatened by competition – don’t you?  In fact, don’t you agree we should celebrate each other’s innovations?

This is the social media event of the year!  We need to support each other and continue to find ways to collaborate and share information.  We’re thrilled with the many features we have up our sleeves, and we hope you will be, too.

See you next week!

~ Linda V.

Our Greenroofs & Walls of the World™ Virtual Summit 2011 is less than two weeks away!

Last week I told you about our seven fantastic panel sessions who you’ll be watching followed by a live Question and Answer session, including:  ”Biodiversity and Green Roofs,” Greenroofs & Walls for Educational & Social Equity in the Bronx,” “The Portland Ecoroof Program: A Cross-section of the Green Roof Movement in Portland, Oregon,” “Vertical Agriculture: A Global Movement Starts Locally, from Walls & Roofs to Table,” “Wind. Water. Heat. Grow. Greenroofs.,” “Greenroofs: Wind & Fire,” and “Green Roofs Without the Hype.”

In addition to our four awesome Keynote Speakers whom we’ve already profiled - Andrew Grant, Charlie Miller, Ed Snodgrass and Ralph Velasquez – and other luminaries previously highlighted, here are more brilliant speakers you will enjoy hearing:

Roland Appl, Germany:  The Technical Director of ZinCo and President of the International Green Roof Association (IGRA) will present “Combining Green Roofs with Photovoltaics.”

Jörg Breuning, USA and Germany:  The principal of Green Roof Technology (Previously Green Roof Service) and co-founder of Green Roof Safari will present “Green Roof Technology Sails Around the World.”

Ignacio Espoz, Chile:  The founder of LatinGreen, Director of the World Green Roof infrastructure Network (WGIN), and Director of the Chilean Association of Green Infrastructure will present “Green Infrastructure in Chile and Innovative Living Walls for Environmental Restoration in Mining of the Atacama Desert.”

Tanya Müller Garcia, Mexico:  The founder of AMENA – Asociación Mexicana para la Naturación de Azoteas – (National Mexican Greenroof Association), Vice-President of WGIN, and Director of Urban Reforestation and Bikeways for the City of Mexico will present “Development of Greenroofs and Walls in Mexico and Latin America.”

Richard Hayden, RLA, ASLA, CLARB, USA:  The landscape architect and Garden Roof Department Manager at American Hydrotech, Inc. will present “Sloped and Complex Green Roofs.”

Haven Kiers, LEED AP, GRP, USA:  The founding partner of GreenSwell Design and Planning, trainer with Green Roofs for Healthy Cities, and contributing editor on Greenroofs.com will co-present the “2011 Top 10 List of Hot Trends in Greenroof & Greenwall Design” with Linda Velazquez.

Terry McGlade, Canada:  The horticulturalist, landscape designer, and founder and President of Gardens in the Sky will present “Constructing Gardens in the Sky.”

Chris Wark, MSME, LEED AP, USA:  The engineer, Senior Energy Analyst for Viridian Energy & Environmental, and contributing editor on Greenroofs.com will present “E = MC2 of Green Roofs: Ranking Energy Benefits by Mission, Climate and Construction.”

Imagine a world of green:
What are we doing to create organic architecture?

Next week I’ll highlight the rest of our stellar cast of greenroof and greenwall professionals and enthusiasts!

See the GGW Virtual Summit Speakers page and Agenda to learn all about each presenter and their presentations or the panel sessions.

You’ve got to admit that you can’t beat the super low registration fee of $99 for September 27 and 28 plus the 30 days archived on demand through October 28 to hear from all of these excellent speakers…

… but we want everyone to qualify for the even lower Associate Rate of only $49 (just type in the name of the non-profit/organization/constituency that you belong when prompted) or the Students/Faculty/Government Professionals Rate of only $25 (state the school/university or government).

And, you’ll be automatically entered for the chance at winning our second Apple iPad2 drawing, announced on September 30, 2011.

Pre-register or learn more by visiting:  virtual.greenroofs.com.

We hope you join us for this very interactive virtual experience – think film festival meets 2-day webinar and online expo extravaganza!

Brought to you by Greenroofs.com, we’d like to thank to our Virtual Summit Sponsors TREMCO (Rare Earth) and American Hydrotech (Emerald) and our Exhibitors, Associates, and Media Partners – make sure to visit them at the Expo Pavilions.

See you online on September 27 & 28, 2011!

~ Linda V.