Today we have the pleasure to air the panel presentation “The Portland Ecoroof Program: A Cross-section of the Green Roof Movement in Portland, Oregon” from our Greenroofs & Walls of the World™ Virtual Summit with Tom Liptan, Matt Burlin, Amy Chomowicz, Casey Cunningham, and Alice Meyers on greenroofs.tv and our GreenroofsTV channel on YouTube.


All of you should know who Tom Liptan is, as he is one of the earliest champions of greenroofing here in the United States, in particular the Portland, Oregon area, where greenroofs are more commonly referred to as ecoroofs. Tom is a landscape architect and the Ecoroof Technical Manager in the Sustainable Stormwater Division with the City of Portland, and his early experimentations with his own garage ecoroof (1996) spawned the greenroof movement in Portland.

Along with Charlie Miller and Katrin Scholz-Barth, I always credit Tom Liptan for my early encouragement and further study into greenroofs in the late 1990’s – the three of them were extremely gracious with their time and expertise with me when I was at UGA.
Matt, Amy, Casey, and Alice are wonderful people, too, all very dedicated and extremely enthusiastic about their work. Everyone at the City of Portland, OR, Bureau of Environmental Services and the leadership of the City of Portland is to be commended for being such forward-thinking promoters of greenroof construction and incentives in the U.S. Read more about this city program and the wonderful group of individuals below:

The Portland Ecoroof Program started in 1996 when a city employee constructed an experimental ecoroof on his garage. From this small start, the program has grown and as of July 2011 there are over 420 green roofs of varying sizes, on all types of buildings, from multi-story apartment complexes and commercial buildings to humble sheds, kiosks, and garages. These green roofs cover nearly 30 acres of Portland rooftops (extensive and intensive roofs).
The Portland Ecoroof Program consists of technical support, incentives, education, policies, and research. The program is incentive-based rather than regulatory, and the city’s policies reflect this approach. This presentation provides an overview of how these program elements work with the private sector and general public to sustain the green roof movement in Portland.
Tom Liptan is a registered landscape architect (Oregon) and works as an environmental specialist with the City of Portland, OR, Bureau of Environmental Services. He has researched and developed numerous vegetated approaches for rain/stormwater management and has designed, monitored and maintained many projects, including several ecoroofs. His work has been recognized internationally and he has presented papers at conferences and Universities in the USA, Canada, England, New Zealand, Denmark and Sweden. A book titled Rain Gardens by Dunnett and Clayton, 2007, has a dedication to his efforts. He is co-author of the chapter “Stormwater Gardens” in Handbook of Water Sensitive Planning and Design, 2002, and a section in Green Roofs, Ecological Design and Construction, 2005. His garage ecoroof, the first specifically built (1996) to test rain management in the USA, is included in the new book Small Green Roofs: Low-Tech Options for Greener Living, 2011.
Matt Burlin is the Outreach Coordinator for the Sustainable Stormwater Division and Portland Ecoroof Program with the City of Portland.
Amy Chomowicz is the Program Administrator for the Sustainable Stormwater Division and Portland Ecoroof Program with the City of Portland. Amy has worked in the water quality and watershed restoration fields for 19 years and worked on her first ecoroof project in 1997. Prior to that, Amy worked in energy conservation and renewable energy.

Casey Cunningham is a landscape architect with the City of Portland’s Sustainable Stormwater Division. He designs green streets and other low-impact, vegetated systems that manage stormwater and improve urban wildlife habitat. Casey monitors ecoroofs for their value to birds and insects, and enjoys sagebrush, communicating through music and blueberries on summer days.

Alice Meyers is an Environmental Specialist with the Sustainable Stormwater Division and coordinates the Incentive in the Portland Ecoroof Program with the City of Portland.
Enjoy! Visit greenroofs.tv to see “The Portland Ecoroof Program: A Cross-section of the Green Roof Movement in Portland, Oregon” or click below:
Watch earlier videos on our exclusive Virtual Summit greenroofs.tv play list, or see the following Virtual Summit videos now available on our GreenroofsTV channel on YouTube:
Episode #7: ”Constructing Gardens in the Sky“ by Terry McGlade
Episode #6: “Sky Meadows – Integrating People and Nature: Sustainable Green Roofs and Roof Gardens” by Dr. Nigel Dunnett
Episode #5: “Greenroofs & Walls for Educational & Social Equity in the Bronx” Panel Session with New York State Senator Gustavo Rivera, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., Robert Bieder, Jon Beuttler, Jess Dannhauser, Javier Lopez and Steve Ritz
Episode #4: Keynote Address “CSR, Corporate Social Responsibility – The Who, What, Where, When and How” by Ralph Velasquez
Episode #3: “CDA Leads the Way for Incorporating Green Roof Space in an Airport Environment” by Rosemarie Andolino
Episode #2: “2011 Top 10 List of Hot Trends in Greenroof & Greenwall Design” by Haven Kiers and me
Episode #1: Opening Keynote Address “A New Place” by Charlie Miller
Check back next week on GreenroofsTV for our 9th installment from the Greenroofs & Walls of the World™ Virtual Summit 2011!
~ Linda V.



Terry McGlade is one of Canada’s best known greenroof experts. Terry is a creative, dynamic forward thinking horticulturalist and landscape designer with 30 years of experience and has been designing and building gardens in the Toronto area since 1982. He created his first roof garden in 1985, and installed his first green roof in 1999. Terry is the founder and President of Gardens in the Sky which has built over 50 greenroofs and numerous roof gardens and received many awards. Now part of 




























Ralph Velasquez has been in the roofing business since 1978, with a focus on vegetative (green) roofs and sustainable focused building technologies over the last decade. In 2006, Ralph established the Sustainable Technologies Group for the Tremco Roofing and Building Maintenance Division, part of the RPM Building Solutions Group in Beachwood, OH. This group is focused on sustainable, water, energy and carbon solutions in the built environment. In 2010, Ralph was promoted to the newly created corporate position: Executive Director for Sustainability. In this role he is responsible for implementing the corporate-wide vision and policies related to sustainability. He is author of the article “Sustainable Roof Options and Guidelines for Existing Buildings” in the Urban Land Institute book 



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