Our Greenroof Project of the Week (GPW) is the rustic extensive 1,000 m²  “Asphof Hen Unit” greenroof in the beautiful countryside of Rothenfluh, Switzerland.  A conglomeration of seven medieval villages, Rothenfluh is a picturesque municipality in the district of Sissach in the canton of Basel-Country in northern Switzerland.

Aramis and I had the pleasure of visiting the lovely area in September, 2005 where I presented my paper “An International Call for The Greenroof Projects Database” at the first The World Green Roof Congress held at the University of Basel, Switzerland.  The Congress was co-organized by ZHAW – Zurich University of Applied Sciences Institute of Environment and Nature Resources, Centre Urban Greening, Competence Centre Green Roofs (Hochschule Wädenswil) – and the International Green Roof Association (IGRA), among others, and the tours were led by graduate students and volunteers from ZHAW/The World Green Roof Congress.

We jumped at the opportunity to join one of the local tours that encompassed “Green Roof Week” from September 12 -17.  Congress attendees had a choice of a wide-ranging excursion program ranging from one to three-day trips, “showing examples of good practice on famous green roofs in Switzerland and the surrounding area of Basel.”  We opted for a one-day tour and wonderful host and guide was Nathalie Baumann, MSc / Biogeograph, ZHAW Research Associate, who specializes in the ground-breeding Lapwing bird population nesting atop various brown and greenroofs in the area.

We visited six very different applications, from one of Nathalie’s research sites atop a huge pharmaceutical manufacturer to the largest solar roof installation with greenroofs in Switzerland, to a greenroofed cattle barn and this organic chicken farm with two greenroofed structures, where we enjoyed a fantastic Swiss lunch, too.

The owner, Matthias Eglin, really wanted to tread lightly upon the land in terms of blending the large chicken barn/coop into the landscape and providing a literally cooler environment for his 2,000 organically-raised chickens. 

He turned to renown biodiversity researcher Dr. Stephan Brenneisen of Hochschule Wädenswil (also the coordinator of the World Green Roof Congress and president of the Green Roof Competence Centre), who served as project consultant for the Canton Basle Rural’s Nature and Countryside Protection Commission – see the federal service project on ZHAW’s website.  Their intent was to establish an extremely low maintenance xeric landscape on top of an agricultural utility building and have it eventually naturalize to mimic the surrounding terrain.

So in 2002 they constructed the Asphof Hen Unit using inexpensive local materials – so local in fact that they harvested and shred Miscanthus sinensis (China grass/reed) from Mathias’ own property to serve as an inexpensive lower substrate and water retention layer.  They excavated 5 cm of loamy humus topsoil from their former orchard area and used it as a free growing medium.  The annual Phacelia tanacetifolia (Lacy Phacelia), used extensively in Europe both as a cover crop and as bee forage, was included in the grass seed to break up the soil mix and act as erosion control.  Other herbs were included in the roof as well.  Here’s the roof, below, in 2002:

And below, three years later, in 2005:

The natural temperature control reduces the heat by up to seven degrees in the summer (relative to outside temperatures), due to cooling effects of evaporation, resulting in more stress-free chickens!  When we were there it was fun to watch them roam freely about the property, hopping from one roof to the next.

Getting up to the roof took some care and trust that people were holding the ladder on both ends – and as usual I didn’t have the best shoes on..but it was fun!  And it was very grassy:

The second 1,200 sf greenroof is found on the Hay Shed Greenroof, constructed in 2005, which shelters hay rolls used on the farm property.

Christine Thuring served as a Congress team member and guide on one of the other tours during the Congress.  Co-founder of Green Roof Safari (and Chlorophyllocity and, of course, one of our contributing editors), along with Jörg Breuning (of Green Roof Service, LLC) she has lead tours here since, as well.  Green Roof Safari offers special access to the European greenroof industry with custom designed tours with multi-lingual guides specializing in highlighting current and historical trends in policy, research and design for the areas visited.

Christine shared these two photos with me and informed me that the roof continues to be monitored, especially the soil substrate and how it has developed with time – Dr. Brenneisen above with the group, and measuring the roof soil below:

Christine succinctly says of the project:

“The Asphof chicken shed demonstrates innovative, economic, simple success.” ~ Christine Thuring

So successful that they don’t even mow it – the roof meadow acts as a self-sustaining system, fully integrated into the landscape.

If you’re interested in seeing this project, you’re in luck.  Now in its sixth year Livingroofs.org Ltd will be again partnering with Hochschule Wädenswil for their famous “Swiss Green Roof Tour 2010” which will be held on May 6-7, 2010.  You’ll not only get Dr. Stephan Brenneisen, but also the indomitable Dusty Gedge, Director of Livingroofs.org, both of whom are internationally recognized for their work on greenroofs and biodiversity.  Much of the focus of the tour is how research in Switzerland has developed an approach to green roofing that has biodiversity at the heart of their design.

From roofs designed for lizards, to those that have been designed for rare bees, beetles and spiders, this year the tour includes visits to roofs where Swiss researchers are studying ground nesting birds – and to where chickens are happy, too, on the ground and on the roofs.

~ Linda V.

Gavin Walsh

Japanese designer Kazuyuki Ishihara had a unique idea for a green roof that was displayed in the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in 2008.  The Royal Horticultural Society flower show had two categories: Courtyard and Urban Gardens.  Urban was open to a bunch of smaller categories including rooftop gardens.  Kazuyuki’s idea was that you should be able to step out into this ’secret garden’ and not be able to believe you’re on a roof.

It’s an interesting twist for the green roof industry as it’s not about just coating a roof with sedums, but transforming the green roof into a peaceful garden by enclosing your surroundings with living walls, creating a green cocoon.

Kazuyuki was inspired by his memories as a child of hiding out on the rooftop of his house, and wanted his roof garden designs to give that same secure, relaxing feeling.

The garden was designed to do well in a space that gets a lot of sun and strong winds so it could thrive on a rooftop.  Key plants on the Midori no Tobira greenroof are Equisetum hyemale, Hosta ‘Blue Wedgewood,’ Iris sibirica ‘Tropic Night,’ Acer palmatum, and Aster x frikartii ‘Monch.’  The garden’s green roof structure is embedded inside and out with moss on the walls and doors.  See a short 31-second video on YouTube.  Kazuyuki won a Gold Medal at the Chelsea Flower Show in 2008 for the design ‘Midori no Tobira’ or ‘Green Door.’

“I wanted to make this kind of green space where people would ask: “Is this really a roof top?” ~ Kazuyuki Ishihara

Kazuyuki Ishihara’s work inspired me to start a blog in 2009 to provide useful and interesting information about living walls and vertical gardens, see: http://www.livingwallart.com.

~ Gavin Walsh

Aramis sent me this interesting greenroof photo yesterday from ”Pictures of the Day“ (August 13, 2009) in the Wall Street Journal Blogs:

“A worker mowed the grass roof of a government building near Torshavn, the capital of the Faroe Islands, Thursday. (Bob Strong/Reuters)”

Very cool photo!  I don’t know if I’d like to be the maintenance guy, though.

Torshavn Harbor, by Erik Christensen, Faroeislands.dk

Situated in the North Atlantic halfway between Scotland and Iceland, the Faroe Islands are composed of 18 hilly islands covering about 1400 sq. km and remain relatively unknown.  The Vikings founded the first parliament on the Tinganes peninsiula in Tórshavn in 825 AD, and the name of the city means Thor’s Harbour, named after the god of thunder and lightning in Norse mythology.  The Faroese usually refer to their capital simply as Havn – harbour, and with a population of about 19,000 (2008) the city is carpeted with many traditional sod covered roofs. 

Skansin in Tórshavn, Faroe Islands, June 25, 2004, by Erik Christensen, Wikipedia

Tinganes is the old part of town, and small wooden houses covered with turf roofs are a common sight.  The oldest one dates back 500 years.

Turf Roofs Everywhere in Torshaven, photo by Jon Fossa, faroeislands.dk

I’ve only enjoyed seeing photos of this rugged, picturesque archipelago nation, but have never visited (not yet, at least).   Have any of you?  Tórshavn appears to be a charming medieval city and we’d love to have someone knowledgeable write a Guest Feature on it for Greenroofs.com, especially about their extensive use of turf roofs and how (if at all) their methodology has changed throughout the years.

Please let me know if anyone is interested!

~ Linda V.

Tinganes in Torshavn, photo by Erik Christensen from Faroeislands.dk

Faroeislands.dk
Wikipedia

After a flurry of showers, tornadoes, and even a sprinkling of late snow here in the Atlanta area, leaves are boldly unfurling, flowers are sprouting, and the pollen is flowing.  If you’re also in the northern hemisphere, you’re probably experiencing much of the same.  Spring is in full bloom and Spring greenroof conferences are gearing up across the U.S. and the world!  What better time than the season of rebirth to enjoy visiting new or favorite cities and, of course, taking in the greenroof scenery?

We’ve been busy planning for and helping to promote our two favorite conferences devoted exclusively to the organic architecture of greenroof technology: the 2nd International Green Roof Congress in Stuttgart-Nürtingen, Germany on May 25-27 and the 7th Annual Greening Rooftops for Sustainable Communities Conference, Awards & Trade Show here in Atlanta, GA on June 3-5.  Each is an awesome opportunity to meet and greet with industry experts and greenroof colleagues, old and new.   I’ll be talking about both, starting with the German event.

But first, some quick thoughts on traveling during our trying economic times – people ask me how fiscally responsible is it to spend money now on an international conference – or any conference for that matter, factoring in the expenses plus the cost of missed billing of clients or other income producing work…  Great points, but I see it also as a working vacation, continuing education, an investment in our future.  Referring to traveling, a recent professional acquaintance of mine commented, “Our interest lies in seeing what else is out there, what experiences (the good, the bad and the ugly) other professionals have had, and provide an opportunity to exchange ideas.”  But, she added, it has to make economic sense, and be perceived as a “good value for our money.”  Meaning, I believe, the educational component must be strong and varied.  And I know that both of these conferences offer incredible opportunities through the lectures, workshops, tours, and just plain networking.  The experiential benefits of participating in these interactive events present invaluable hands-on learning through engagement with the actual designers and planners.   If you can swing it, you simply cannot replicate the knowledge obtained and lessons learned in-situ.

This will be our second participation in the International Green Roof Congress, after attending in September, 2004.   Along with many international colleagues we heard from a wide variety of green roof experts, including the late Dr. Dave Beattie,  Prof. Dr. Manfred Köhler, Dr. Nigel Dunnett, Susan K. Weiler, Dr. Franz Alt, and Ho Wan Weng, just to mention a few.

After the success of the first one four years ago, the second Congress is once again organized by the International Green Roof Association (IGRA) under the patronage of the German Federal Minister of Transport, Building and Urban Affairs, Wolfgang Tiefensee, and co-hosted by the German Roof Gardener Association (DDV).  They have numerous national and international supporters, including the Title Sponsor, ZinCo, Premium Sponsor Dow Hyperlast, and Greenroofs.com as the Media Sponsor.  International supporters include ciria, the construction industry research and information association/UK; European Landscape Contractors Association; International Federation of Landscape Architects; and the Internationale Föderation des Dachdeckerhandwerks e.V.  German national supporters include the FLL, among others (see all).

Wolfgang Ansel, the Coordinator, met up with us at last September’s World Green Roof Congress in London, and brought us up to speed with the upcoming Congress and their amazing line-up of world renown experts and practitioners – see his January Guest Feature INTERNATIONAL GREEN ROOF CONGRESS 2009: “Bringing Nature Back to Town.”  They are concentrating on case studies of truly extraordinary global projects, from Copenhagen to London, Zaragoza, Nijmegen, Warsaw, Singapore and Fukuoka, Japan where the ACROS – Asian Cross Roads Over the Sea - designed by Emilio Ambasz, will be highlighted as an example of his philosophy and presentation “The Green over the Grey” – Landscape-cum-Building Designs.

Learning that famed Argentine-born, New York-based Ambasz himself would be presenting on this amazing 100,000 sf green oasis in the middle of the city sealed the deal for me – I’ve been a fan of his since I went back to school at UGA in the late 1990’s, and even selected him once to study as our architect of choice for a group project on green architecture.  And in 2008 when we inaugurated our Greenroofs of the World Calendar series, we selected the ACROS Fukuoka Prefectural International Hall for the month of December – the very project I reported on!

Other not-to-be missed speakers include Bernd W. Krupka, famed German landscape architect, “certified expert” and author of technical books on greenroofs – I’m not sure how you get that designation, but I’ll find out!  He’ll talk about “Basic Green Roof Planning – Vegetation Technology;” with his many years of experience in the field, Bernd was very helpful to me a few years ago when I was writing my paper “European Airport Greenroofs – A Potential Model for North America,” (2005).  The always popular British plant expert, Dr. Nigel Dunnett- soft-spoken but with a bite, will present “Plant Selection Criteria for Green Roofs – The Question of Biodiversity,” American restoration ecologist Paul Kephart of Rana Creek fame will lecture on “Ecological Designs with Green Roofs,” and our knowledgeable and charming Brit colleague Dusty Gedge of Livingroofs.org will discuss “Promoting Green Roofs in the UK – The Greater London Authority Campaign.”

And we’ll hear from these distinguished German professionals as well: our colleague Roland Appl, green roof engineer, President of the International Green Roof Association: “Green Roof Technology – Yesterday – Today – Tomorrow;” Rolf Disch, architect known for integrating solar into green building design: “Sustainable Architecture in the 21st century,” another esteemed colleague of ours, Prof. Dr. Manfred Köhler, landscape architect, professor at the University of Applied Science Neubrandenburg, and President of WGRIN: “Energy Savings with Green Roofs,” and Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Gilbert Lösken of Leibniz University of Hanover and Head of the FLL Green Roof Workgroup: “Key Criteria for Creating Green Roof Guidelines.”  Click here to see the complete list of speakers.

The excursions will be the real highlight for Aramis and me – last time we went on the all day ZinCo Green Roof Tour which took us to the Stuttgart region including “Hundertwasserhaus Plochingen” – the Hundertwasser Multi-Family Development, “MAG-Galerien” in Geislingen, Schule Unterensingen, ZinCo International’s Headquarters, and “Römerpark-Museum” in Köngen.   So this time I think we’ll try something different – I think a jaunt to the German solar capital, Freiburg, would be highly informative, or maybe you’ll catch us cruising on the Zeppelin NT over beautiful Lake Constance in Southern Germany on the lookout for greenroofs…

So, will you be going?  Finalize your plans now and hopefully we’ll see you there!

~ Linda V.

Like the majority of our readers/ visitors, I am constantly on the look-out for green roofs. Extensive, intensive, moss-covered, or grass-filled eaves… Every green roof is, for me, a signal of Mother Nature’s pulse. A sign that she hasn’t abandoned us entirely, and will slowly, subtly, reclame our denuded constructions with autotrophic (i.e. self-feeding, from the sun’s energy…) Life.

I recently moved back to Austria, one of the several German-speaking lands of milk and honey. Further to my beloved cheese- and chocolate-dominated diet, this analogy also extends to the fact that I’m now living in the Motherland of extensive green roof technology. Whether driving along the Autobahn, hiking at 2500 m above sea level, or going to work, my hungry eyes are constantly satiated with the sight of green roofs.

Here’s the funny thing, though. When I lived in Reutte in the autumn/ winter of 2005, virtually all the conversations I had with locals about green roofs were met with confusion, curiosity and disbelief:

“Why would you put plants on the roof?” “Never heard of such a thing..” “They may be big in Germany, but green roofs don’t exist around here..” “Green roofs wouldn’t work here, we get too much snow.” It reminded me presenting the concept of vegetated roofs to someone who’d never heard of it before in North America.. except I’m in Austria, a progressive member of the EU.

Granted, I’m not in Linz, which has been implementing green roof policy and incentives since 1989. I’m 600 km west, in a Tyrolean Alpine village that is covered by snow for 6 months of the year. Deep and persistent snow cover plays an important role to the cultural psyche of this region. World-class skiers grow up here. As far as the locals with which I’ve spoken are concerned, green roofs may exist in Linz or Munich, but they don’t fit in here.

What’s so funny, then? Well, when I returned to the area this past July, my eyes were repeatedly surprised by green roof after green roof. They are, in fact, EVERYWHERE here! Just as I have been pleasantly surprised, many of the locals (who had no idea about green roofs before) now report that they’re seeing green roofs everywhere too.. they’d just never noticed them before.

The experience has been not unlike that familiar experience from back home, of witnessing the lightbulb going on above a newly introduced’s head. The only difference is that here, the green roofs are HERE yet few people notice them (or thought much about them if they had). In some of the cases (see photos), it is hard to imagine how someone could miss them!

Catholic church in Reutte with green roof walkway

So much for blogging while on the road! Two weeks have passed since Green Roof Safari ended, and I’m only getting caught up now. That said, after the Safari ended, I got swept up by the World Green Roof Congress, and then by a week in a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, Grosses Walsertal. Apologies, as I digress (but must admit they are nice memories!!).

This blog posting is meant to share some reflections of the Safari. Since I’m only skimming the 6 day study tour, please don’t hesitate to send me your questions, either as a comment (at the bottom of this posting), or via email.

For its first run, Green Roof Safari visited between 4 and 6 sites a day, with a range of project designs which included Hundertwasser, intensive public spaces, extensive Sedum ‘deserts’ and ecologically designed roof habitats. For integrative, holistic projects, we visited two sustainable communities -Scharnhauser Park (near Stuttgart) and the Vauban District of Freiburg. Both are former military barracks remodeled for efficiency and mixed-use.

The tour met with a number of local experts representing policy and municipal campaigning, green roof design, research, and installation. The tour is indebted to the generosity of Stephan Brenneisen (Zurich University of Applied Sciences), John Doeveling (City Stuttgart), Christian Lang (Top Gruen), Christian Mathys (City of Basel), as well as our colleagues at Gemperle AG. Thanks also to Hotel Contel and Hotel Abalon for entertaining our curiosties.

We had great weather the whole trip, right up until the last day. And then, my, did the weather turn BAD! The downpour was torrential, and relentless. Nonetheless, we visited some unbelievable living facade projects in Zurich-Oerlikon. Doesn’t Brent’s red umbrella add a nice touch to MFO Park?

The night spent in the Alps, on the Rigi at 1,500 m above sea level, was literally in the clouds, so we didn’t get much of a view. Not of the Alps across Lake Lucerne, and hardly even of the little green roof bar on the terrace. Still, we knew that through the haze was the representing ‘green roof above 1000 m’. The photo below was taken in early August.

There is not a date for Green Roof Safari 2009 yet, but stay tuned to the website. Please don’t hesitate with questions or inquiries, and I’d love to hear any comments below.

Truly,

~ Christine

My husband (and business partner) Aramis and I were lucky to sidestep our film scheduling issue and we are very pleased to be able to go to The World Green Roof Congress in stately London this upcoming Wednesday and Thursday, September 17-18!  Presented by CIRIA in partnership with Livingroofs.org, this Congress promises to offer us greenroof aficionados an interesting mix of the latest in innovation and research progress in the UK and around the world in addition to a great working vacation. 

In 2005 we attended the Congress in Basel, Switzerland, where I presented my paper “An International Call for The Greenroof Projects Database.”  We enjoyed a wonderful conference spending time with many old colleagues and friends; from the jokes of the late Dr. Dave Beattie and Dr. Rob Berghage to the wonderful hospitality of Dr. Stephan Brenneisen and staff to Trish and Kelly Luckett (our travel buddies from all the Greening Rooftops for Sustainable Communities conferences and the International Green Roof Congress in Nuertingen, Germany back in 2004), we learned a lot and had a grand time.  And we fully expect the same with hosts the likes of Dusty Gedge, co founder of Livingroofs.org, and company.

I’ve known Dusty now for six years, and for those of you unfortunate ones not to have met him (yet – he’s always making new friends), he’s quite a character – in a good way, of course!  I know everything is relative, but he has quite a thick accent, and when he gets really excited he speeds up, making it a real challenge to catch everything he’s saying.  In fact, Dusty recently told Aramis, “I am practising talking slowly!”

We first started corresponding in 2002, when he was the lead for the Black Redstart Action Plan for the London Biodiversity Partnership, and this was the topic of his first 2003 Guest Feature article for Greenroofs.com.  In October, 2003 Dusty took me on a personal greenroof tour of projects in Deptford Creek in the Thames corridor within inner London, and across several roofs within Canary Wharf, a huge and hugely successful urban regeneration development, and his enthusiasm and knowledge - not to mention his energy, was intensive!  In November, 2004 he contributed “Livingroofs.org ~ A New Independent Green Roof Organisation for the UK” and through all his hard work he has become one of the leading campaigners in the UK on greenroofs.  His commitment to promoting living roofs is genuine and wholehearted and is only comparable to his passion for sustaining and mitigating biodiversity in the built environment by incorporating living architecture.

Back to the Congress – the Keynote address will be given by Richard Blakeway, adviser to the Mayor of London on environment issues; who else will be in attendance?  Many local UK and international professionals will be speaking, and including Dusty, to name but a few are: Dr. Nigel Dunnett, University of Sheffield, UK;  Dr. Ken Yeang, Llewelyn Davies Yeang, UK; Paul Collins, Nottingham Trent University, UK; Dr. Manfred Kohler, University of Applied Sciences, Neubrandenburg, Germany and WGRIN, President; Wolfgang Ansel, International Green Roof Association (IGRA), Germany; Dr. Stephan Brenneisen, Life Sciences and Facility Management, University of Applied Sciences, Switzerland; Kristin Getter & Dr. Brad Rowe, Michigan State University; Peter Lowitt, Green Roofs for Healthy Cities, North America; Dr. Elizabeth Fassman, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Auckland, New Zealand; and Dr. Sam Hui, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Hong Kong, as well as couple of our own Greenroofs.com Contributing Editors:  Ed Snodgrass of Emory Knoll Farms/Green Roof Plants is presenting “Green roof plant selection and landscapes” and Christine Thuring of Green Roof Safari is just ”going for fun” – after six days from guiding her first Green Roof Safari tour.

I’m planning on blogging while in jolly old England, taking lots of photos and film of presenters, attendees, exhibitors, and local greenroof projects.  So if you can’t go, check back here for some casual interviews and discussions with friends and associates, old and new.   You know it won’t be all work – we fully expect to enjoy a few relaxed, informal evenings with a pint or two in some lovely English pubs with lots of local character(s), too!

Learn more about The World Green Roof Congress 2008.

After months’ worth of planning and organization, this Sunday night I find myself in a green roofed hotel in Darmstadt, Germany. Tomorrow Green Roof Safari will run its first day, and I’m hoping everything unfolds as it ought. As does our small group of jet lagged participants, I’m sure!

Tomorrow, we’ll launch the itinerary with a colourful bang – Hundertwasser ‘Waldspirale’.

The Waldspirale (“Forest Spiral”) in Darmstadt is a remarkable achievement of an original Hundertwasser concept, truly representing the Austrian artist-architect-ecologist’s goal of “harmony with nature”.

A flowering meadow, interspersed with trees and shrubs, carries the visitor from ground-level slowly upwards in a horseshoe shape, eventually reaching a tower 40 m above ground.

From Darmstadt, we’ll proceed south to Pforzheim, where we’ll visit the FBB-green roof of the year (2006). The Schloessle Galerie Pforzheim is an intensive green roof atop a shopping centre, and is an island of green surrounded by densely packed houses. At 7,000 m2, the green roof includes lawn, a bamboo ring, plant caverns, a playground, an Amelanchier grove, and walkways.

From Pforzheim we’ll continue to Stuttgart – the first city in the world to  promote green roofs with financial incentives (since 1986).  We’ll spend 2 nights here.

My Green Roof Safari partner, Joerg Breuning, is originally from Stuttgart.  Joerg has been working with green roofs from apprenticeship through his own business for over 25 years. And I lived in Stuttgart for a year, on a year abroad at Uni Hohenheim. At the time (1997), I didn’t even know what green roofs were, quite happy with a summer job working in the botanical garden.

On Tuesday morning we’ll meet John Doeveling, Garden Architect for Stuttgart’s Office of Gardens, Cemetaries and Forests.  One of Doeveling’s jobs in Stuttgart is to coordinate, care and control Stuttgart’s incentive program for privately-owned green roofs.  We’ll spend the rest of the day packing in as many green roofs and views as possible!

From Stuttgart we’ll head to Freiburg and visit with Christian Lang, who was my internship supervisor back in 2002. It will be great to meet with Christian again, and check out some of the projects in the area.

I’ll try to write more when we get to Basel.. some reflections on Germany before the Swiss goodness kicks in!

Stay tuned,

Christine