Have you seen HGTV’s first season of “The Outdoor Room with Jamie Durie” yet? It’s really good! Now based in Los Angeles, Jamie’s an extremely talented, and well-travelled, landscape artist from Down Under and he brings his international wanderings as the basis for his popular, eclectic designs.
Lackluster outdoor spaces are transformed from dysfunctional and boring to flowing and fantastic. Homeowners share their woes and desires, and host Jamie draws upon a variety of elements for his metamorphoses – previous experiences with the rich and famous; visiting local designers, horticulturalists and gardeners; and referencing both native and exotic landscapes as well as architecturally designed sites. The result is always a unique outdoor room, or series of rooms, infused with Jamie’s world view on design aesthetics.
A few weeks ago I saw Episode #HORJD-107H called “The Edible Garden” about transforming a quirky, uneven family backyard into an eco-retreat full of ornamental vegetable gardening options plus a variety of adult and children spaces for play and rest. And what caught my eye was the top-to-bottom living gazebo!
Since the young eco-conscious family of four from Echo Park, CA, enjoys growing their own organic food and already had several productive but awkward raised beds of their own, Jamie wanted the same features, just with different sensibilities. After saving some of the existing plants, he visited John, a local “edible garden” designer who incorporates A-frames into his creations for his take on structural elements and planting beds. Jamie also interviewed Miguel Nelson of The SmogShoppe - a former Los Angeles gas emissions station/auto repair shop turned hip eco-event space with 2,000 sf of amazing green walls.
What a cool space! First of all it’s pending LEED Platinum certification, and the exterior and interior walls are completely covered in lush vegetation, grown in modular “Woolly Pockets.” I was unfamiliar with this particular system which is made from felt and recycled plastic bottles.
Not part of the show, but interesting on its own, I found out that in addition to his commercial enterprise, Miguel started “Woolly School Gardens.” Through the program, inexpensive gardens are planted at local schools to help teach nutrition and gardening to students K-12. They say they’re ideal for urban schools as the Woolly Pockets planting system allows them to be created anywhere – from a concrete wall to a chain link fence. There are numerous Woolly School Gardens in the Los Angeles area and the goal is to have 11,000 by 2011. For more information, visit www.woollyschoolgarden.org.
Back to the HGTV episode, with the SmogShoppe as his inspiration, Jamie and crew built the open-air structure leaving one expansive wall open. The living lounge area was easily blanketed on the remaining three sides with Woolly Pockets. Luscious, edible plants were inserted and it was done. By the way, these vegetated walls are called “Wallys,” seen below. Although Jamie doesn’t even mention the greenroof (time editing restrictions?), I checked with the company and half of the roof, indeed, is covered with their modular greenroof system called “Meadows.”
The outdoor structure performs beautifully with double duty as a cool relaxation get away and stunning, productive area for vertical “pocket” gardening. In the end, the family gets to enjoy their newly redesigned, sustainable back yard while setting a great example for ecologically sensitive living for their kids, who also get to learn about natural composting with an earthy gift from Jamie – a squiggly worm farm!
The full episode used to be online at HGTV, but now you can see the partial episode here, and below from YouTube (the HGTV embedded code isn’t working):
This Edible Garden is well worth watching if you have the chance to catch it with reruns. Each episode of “The Outdoor Room with Jamie Durie” is brimming with equal parts elegant innovation and international flair, and I’m sure this is just the beginning of educating homeowners and entertaining their audience with examples of these living, touchy, sometimes even woolly, vertical gardening techniques.
Green architecture is really hot right now and after about a decade and a half’s worth of exploring the ecology of organic greenroof architecture in North America, greenwalls are the newest darlings in the green building world here and abroad.
More than just “green bling,” as one proponent told me recently, greenwalls add many benefits on their own to a building envelope. While creating a lush and deliciously tactile tapestry of living plants, they offer a showy feast for the eyes that are much more visually accessible than many of their roofing counterparts.
I was asked to present on the subject last November for a local Atlanta USGBC group by Julia Gray Hines, ASID, RID, LEED AP ID+C of Chartreuse Inc. Interior Design Studio, and of course I propsed our Green Wall Editor, George Irwin, too. Julia suggested Atlanta City Hall as a possible location, and I knew it was perfect because of their beautiful greenroof and the willingness of its resident (and entertaining) landscape architect and greenroof guru, Bill Brigham, ASLA, to share his experiences.
Learn about early influential designers such as the ground-breaking Austrian painter and architect Friedensreich Hundertwasser, and more recent innovator French botanist Patric Blanc and his Le Mur Vegetal, seen above left at the Musée du Quai Branly, and see how designers are pushing the limits in my compilation of the Top Hot Trends in International Greenroof and Greenwall Design. I’ll also provide a sneak preview of the Greenroofs.com Top 10 List for 2010 (which I’ll present along with our Design Editor, Haven Kiers, in Vancouver, B.C. at the upcoming 8th Annual CitiesAlive! Conference later this year).
Understand the differences between green façades and living walls from George Irwin, the many new systems available today - along with options for growing media (including none at all!) - as well as the new and exciting economic and social benefits and opportunities for urban vertical farming.
Presented on Thursday, July 22, 2010 by the USGBC Atlanta Events & Education Committee, you’ll receive 1.5 LEED Credential Maintenance Units offered, and the cost is an extremely affordable $10 for members and $20 for non-members!
Registration is open from 3:30-4:30 pm at Atlanta City Hall, 55 Trinity Avenue SW Atlanta, GA 30303, on the fifth floor Cafeteria where Bill will be on hand to show off the Atlanta City Hall Pilot Greenroof, the first public municipal non-irrigated vegetated roof, and then George and I will speak from 4:30 to 6:00 pm.
Come join us next week for the USGBC Georgia Chapter ”Green Walls, Red Tomatoes and Urban Farming,” a fun and informative afternoon on the surging proliferation of these architecturally important, and sexy, planted façades! For more info, download the PDF here.
Last week’s Greenwall Project of the Week (GPW) was the beautiful YVR Canada Line Station 4 Living Wall, located at the Vancouver International (YVR) Airport’s SkyTrain station. The first Canadian airport to install a greenwall, international visitors to this beautiful city are greeted by the living tapestry, just one of the sustainable initiatives and ecological solutions for the airport. Since YVR is situated within the estuary of the Fraser River on Sea Island, a large conservation project was created here to offset the environmental impact the airport causes, including a wildlife preserve and public beaches.
Inaugurated early in August 2009, months in advance of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Winter Paralympics, the $1.9 billion (CAD) Canada Line is a rail-based rapid transit line linking central Richmond, Canada, the Vancouver International Airport and downtown Vancouver, B.C. The Canada Line terminus at YVR-Airport Station is linked by a bridge to an award-winning $125-million (CAD), five-story steel and glass structure known as the Link. Connecting to both the international and domestic terminals, the Link’s signature oval structure provides a unique visual connection to the land, sea and sky that surround the airport.
Designed to eliminate visual interference, the YVR Canada Line Station 4 station sits 60 feet high straddling a road. Both the YVR Station and the Link were designed by Kasian Architecture with Read Jones Christoffersen as structural engineers, and Sharp Diamond Landscape Architecture was brought in to design the massive green wall and other features.
One of the largest living walls in North America (the largest at the time in 2009), it measures 17.0m high and 11.6m wide (about 55.8 feet x 38 feet), and houses a total of 27,391 individual plants! Landscape architect Randy Sharp used a modular system by G-Sky, a B.C. based company, for this living wall that encompasses 2,107 stainless steel panels. His design concept stresses the connection of the vegetated wall to the rapid transit station to the ground.
Randy was also involved with the Landscape Master Plan for the Vancouver International Airport and its unique ecological environment. He says his overall vision for the Grant McConachie Way corridor, which leads into YVR, was to serve as a natural gateway linking Vancouver to B.C., Canada, and the world beyond. Drawing upon the estuary thematics of Sea Island, he desired the landscape experience to feature a four-season effect in a bold design that would grow and evolve over time. Highlights include major tree and shrub planting to enhance view corridors, other landscape designs for various Canada Line Stations, the ongoing development of a multi-use trail system for Sea Island, and a gateway feature signage program.
“Green facades and living walls provide an exciting fresh canvas for landscape architects and designers to be creative. These vertical landscapes provide as yet unexplored opportunities for biodiversity, greywater treatment, urban agriculture and energy performance, not to mention the creation of green collar jobs.” ~ Randy Sharp
But the stunning greenwall isn’t the only green element here – two greenroofs, one extensive and the second intensive – are also featured. First Nations art inside and outside the terminal grace the property, too, and enhance the sense of place.
Randy has designed and installed another of metro Vancouver’s most significant living walls, the Aquaquest, the Marilyn Blusson Learning Centre, Vancouver Aquarium - the first modular living wall in North America, as well as many greenroofs, too. In fact, he and his company have received multiple awards in design excellence for both greenroofs and walls.
There’s been a lot of public commentary (and pride) about the green design of YVR Canada Line Station 4’s living wall, particularly in the blogosphere. While not everyone appreciates the environmental benefits of greenwalls, everyone loves the aesthetics. Responding to a blog post last summer in Price Tags, John Wilson retorted:
“This specific green wall sends a message to everyone visiting Vancouver (and Canada). That message is that we’re a progressive cosmopolitan city that cares about the world and the environment, and we’re open to using new methods and technologies because we’re also big on innovation. We’re a player in the world. Interesting things are happening here.”
Vancouver, B.C., is indeed a progressive, green city that’s always included at the top of the world’s most livable cities. The Vancouver Airport Authority also maintains a Public Observation Area here where people of all ages can see take-offs and landings and learn about the area’s unique ecology and history, too, with all sorts of hands-on activities. See a video about it here.
Next time you’re at YVR, check out their new green wall at Canada Line Station 4. According to locals, the best views are from the parkade bridge connecting the International Terminal at Departures level 3, or from Chester Johnson Park, International Terminal Arrivals level 2.
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.
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 numerousworld 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.
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.
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.
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.
The World:Singapore is targeting 50 hectares of skyrise greenery by 2030 and its Urban Redevelopment Authority launched the LUSH Programme (Landscaping for Urban Spaces and High-Rises) in April of 2009. Offering financial and planning incentives to developers to provide greenery at the upper levels of high rise buildings, their goal is to make 80% of all buildings in Singapore green by 2030. Quezon City, Phillipines has a new law requiring private and government-owned buildings to green part of their rooftops. New commercial/residential buildings, under the Green Roof Ordinance (Ordinance 1940) signed into law by Mayor Feliciano R. Belmonte, Jr. last September, should allocate at least 30% of their roof area for plants and trees. In Australia, the Queensland Government signed a “Memorandum Of Understanding” with the Singapore National Parks Board late last year to trial vertical gardens and greenroofs in various cities in an effort to benefit from Singapore’s experience with skyrise greenery.
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.
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!
Did you see that the Auckland-based Natural Habitats Landscapes recently designed and installed NZ’s first commercial interior greenwall? Sexy, too, imagine getting your hair done with living, clinging, luscious plants breathing down your neck…
Very cool reality coming from the land of so many fantastical landscapes (sorry, I just couldn’t help the reference to Lord of the Rings, among so many other incredible, breathtaking vistas: natural, man-, Hobbit-made, or otherwise)!
Pip Patterson, of Natural Habitats Landscapes, tells us that Takapuna is now home to New Zealand’s newest and most innovative venture, The Department Store, providing a multi-dimensional fashion, art and beauty experience across three floors, now featuring a dramatic greenwall.
Completed in mid November, 2009, one of the greenest triumphs of the new store - which is also a New Zealand first – is the large, vertical, interior garden or ‘Green Wall’ in the Stephen Marr Salon on the top floor.
Spearheaded by Stephen Marr, Karen Walker and Dan Gosling from Black Box, the Green Wall was designed by Katie Lockhart and installed by Natural Habitats Landscapes. The Department Store showcases the very best of fresh, creative New Zealand brands, and has embraced an international level of retail thinking by designing this unique space with emphasis on our environment.
The Green Wall is a natural extension to Stephen Marr’s environmental commitment and is unique in that it is double-sided and measures 10 metres long by 2 metres high, boasting well over 1,000 individual plants.
The Green Wall divides the upper level, promoting unique spaces that can be used for presentations such as fashion shows. The building has had skylights installed to ensure the wall is given as much natural light as possible and the use of supplementary man-made lighting is kept at a minimum. Although already stunning, the green wall is initially sparse as the plants adjust and dig in to their newly created habitat, full coverage is expected within six months or so.
Note: We get a lot of press releases claiming to be “firsts” in many respective fields – and we rely upon readers like you to set the record straight if this is not the case. Do you know of another green wall in New Zealand that came before this beautiful one? Let us know!
In any case, visit Natural Habitats Landscapes to learn more. See the greenwall profile in The Greenroof Projects Databasehere - and after many green wall entries to date, do you think it’s time to adjust the name of this database to perhaps “The Greenroof & Greenwall Projects Database”? Stay tuned in the New Year!
In all the hustle and bustle of editing feature articles, posting news stories, upcoming events, industry news and project profiles, amid other publisher duties, I sometimes forget to acknowledge the outside accomplishments (from Greenroofs.com) of our contributing editors… This oversight will be addressed as one of my upcoming New Year’s resolutions, but for now let’s start with George Irwin, our Green Wall Editor:
George Irwin, C.E.O. of Green Living Technologies, discusses the design of an A-frame planter his company makes.
George was recently interviewed for the “Business of Green” article by Ken Belson titled “The Rooftop Garden Climbs Down a Wall” that appeared in the Energy & Environment section on nytimes.com of November 18 and the New York Times print version on November 19, 2009. One of his Green Living Technologies‘ living wall products was featured when NYC architect Brad Zizmor had an edible wall installed on the backyard deck of his first-floor Manhattan apartment.
The article really delves into the “Business of Green” – costs are included and Barthelmes Manufacturing Company, the sheet metal fabricator, was also highlighted as well as Kari Elwell Katzander, a landscape designer who designed the 3-panel green wall. Although the author points out that these small greening solutions can be costly, he refers to another of George’s collaborations, the Urban Farming Food Chain green wall project in Los Angeles, and says:
“Mr. Irwin has shown that edible walls can work on a larger scale. At four locations in the Skid Row area of Los Angeles, there are walls with more than 4,000 plants growing: tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, spinach, leeks, even baby watermelon. At one location, a homeless shelter, residents tend to a six-foot-high, 30-foot-long wall, eating some food they harvest and selling the rest.
The project, urban farming advocates say, is just the start of something larger.”
Make sure to also click on the slide show “Edible Walls of Green” – there are 12 awesome photos of the Zizmor wall, a living wall at the College of Applied Sciences and Technology at Rochester Institute of Technology, and cool manufacturing shots, with just a few below:
Oh yeah, while I’m am it, I should tell you that George Irwin won the Green Roofs for Healthy Cities Award of Excellence in the Green Walls category this year. Presented on June 5, 2009 at the 7th Annual Greening Rooftops for Sustainable Communities Conference, Awards, and Trade Show at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta hotel in Atlanta, Georgia, he won for his involvement and contribution to the Urban Farming Food Chain green walls, truly a dedicated community affair of residents, manufacturers, students, professors, activists, and designers. We were very proud of him, of course, and I should have blogged about this very prestigious accomplishment after the conference, but somehow didn’t.
I should also probably mention that because of his work with this project, George has also been on Good Morning America and invited to the White House, too. I am a forgetful editor, indeed! George writes about this exciting, worthy, and humbling experience in his upcoming Green Walls column, which should be up very soon. Kudos, George!
Japanese designer 
Completed in mid November, 2009, one of the greenest triumphs of the new store - which is also a New Zealand first – is the large, vertical, interior garden or ‘Green Wall’ in the Stephen Marr Salon on the top floor. 
