Formerly the Gimbel’s Department store, the Heinz 57 Center in Pittsburgh, PA, is a wonderful example of urban renewal.  Closed and neglected for about 14 years starting in the late eighties, the now restored building has been put to reuse not only in a sustainable, but beautiful way.  In 1998 architects Burt Hill Kozar Rittlemann Associates (now Burt Hill) were brought on board to redesign the historical but ailing structure.

Along with McKnight Development Partners, the architects incorporated a dramatic 50′ diameter octagonal atrium which runs from the roof down through seven floors.  Suddenly flooded with natural light, the Heinz Corporation was enticed to occupy the top seven floors for their North American headquarters.  Yet curiously, environmental concerns were not driving factors for the greenroof then; aesthetics, however, definitely were.

Although the building itself was surrounded by a spectacular city panorama featuring a soaring cathedral amidst an eclectic mixture of towering skyscrapers, the views from the lovely floor-to-ceiling windows of the fourteenth-floor penthouse suite were less than exciting or acceptable: a hot black rubber roof under an equally unappealing nine-foot-high brick parapet wall greeted Heinz occupants.  So the architects decided a pleasing landscape atop the roof would do the trick.

Completed in the fall of 2001, the Heinz 57 Center was the first vegetated roof in downtown Pittsburgh, where executives enjoy sweeping meadow vistas wrapping their offices and blanketing the thirty-foot-wide terrace.  Four informal seating areas constructed with high-density recycled plastic lumber decking and concrete paving blocks provide informal gathering spots; by all accounts the colorful corporate roof garden is a hit!

Last year I was interviewed by Carmen J. Lee who was writing for h – The Magazine of the Heinz Endowments, reporting how “Pittsburgh roofs are the new fertile turf for environ-mentally sustainable construction projects that aim to dig in and blossom” in her article “Top Soil” (pages 24-31).  The Heinz 57 building was, of course, one of the sites featured and you’ll see I was quoted with more of an inspirational bent rather than specific to the project.  Carmen also profiled the local environmental group, 3 Rivers Wet Weather, which is responsible for utilizing $525,000 in federal funding plus a $125,000 Heinz Endowments grant to sponsor a 2005 project to create more greenroofs here.

In a city with an over-burdened sewer system with frequent overflows, Pittsburgh officials and researchers cite the greenroof project often as a fine example of sustainable redevelopment.  Situated within a pedestrian-friendly mixed-use business district with shops, restaurants and businesses, the Heinz 57 Center is worker friendly as well as eco-friendly, providing their 800+ employees with a variety of alternate forms of transportation.  Although Heinz executives may not have initially specified the extensive greenroof for ecological reasons, they certainly appreciate the many noticeable environmental benefits, such as the cooling respite from the city canyon and the reduction of stormwater runoff; it’s estimated that the roof retains 55% of yearly rainfall.

Charlie Miller, P.E., and his company Roofscapes, Inc. have been responsible for a large number of award-winning greenroof projects, including this one.  His private and public portfolio runs the gamut from municipal to corporate, institutional to retail, and even includes some single-family residences.  Charlie won the 2005 Green Roof Award of Excellence with the Heinz 57 Center/Gimbels Building Restoration in the Extensive Industrial/Commercial category, and we featured it in the 2009 Greenroofs of the World Calendar™ by Greenroofs.com for the month of March: 

Over 18,000 plants were selected by Roofscapes, who used their Type III: Savannah Roofmeadow® system.  Landscape architect Steven L. Cantor researched this project in depth, and you can read his extensive case study including complete plant lists on pages 139-142 in the excellent book “Green Roofs in Sustainable Landscape Design,” 2008, available for purchase on Amazon.com.

Steven relates how the Heinz 57 Center plant selection encompassed “32 xeric species from nineteen plant genera, including six North American natives; approximately one-third of the plants are sedums, and the balance is a range of herbs, meadow grasses, and meadow perennials that provide differences in plant height, texture, and bloom color.”

It’s hard to believe, but the roof is not irrigated and has flourished with minimal maintenance, which includes twice yearly weeding and an annual light application of fertilizer.

Pittsburgh has really come along way from its gritty industrial Steel Town roots, emerging as a leader in green building.  According to the Green Building Alliance, as of July, 2009 the City of Pittsburgh is home to 39 LEED-certified buildings, ranked eighth in the United States for overall number of projects. 

About two dozen more eco-friendly greenroofs are found within metro Pittsburgh; read the May 19, 2009 article ”More city buildings cultivate savings by covering roofs with plants” by Sally Kalson of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette to learn about additional living roofs in the area.

We only have a handful of those references listed, so remember to send us case studies of these other projects so we may share it with all of you in the greenroof community in The Greenroof & Greenwall Projects Database.

Kudos to the designers, corporate leaders and all the stakeholders of this inspiring city-core Heinz 57 Center renovation for their foresight - environmental, aesthetic, or otherwise - to successfully integrate a greenroof into the overall design for the benefit of the building’s occupants!

~ Linda V.

What’s GPW?  I’m starting a new blog feature here on Sky Gardens ~ where cool green meets lofty blue, to go along with Greenroofs.com’s “Greenroof/Greenwall Project of the Week” – or GPW.  I’ll note back stories for each selected project and include updates, new photos, etc., and share why I feel this is a noteworthy and interesting case study.

Also known as Millennium Water, the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Village at Southeast False Creek (SEFC) will eventually become home to 16,000 residents and commercial users after the Winter Games with 250 affordable housing units in its first phase, a 45,000 square foot community center, three child care centers, an elementary school, community garden, public plaza, and much more.  The 32 hectare (80 acres) SEFC community is a former industrial site on the shores of False Creek near downtown Vancouver, B.C.  More than half of the land is owned by the City, while the remainder is owned privately. 

Millennium Development Corporation developed the $1-billion-plus waterfront property, and the master plan for the sustainable community provided a unique opportunity to develop an urban center for residential, commercial and public use.  The City of Vancouver is to be recognized as a governmental trailblazer and recommended for dictating 50% greenroof coverage for the entire area!

Dubbed “The most sustainable neighbourhood on Earth,” on Tuesday the Olympic Village in Vancouver’s Southeast False Creek was awarded LEED® Platinum ND certification by the U.S. Green Building Council for a variety of factors, including its proximity to the downtown core, mix of uses, affordable housing, green buildings and habitat restoration.  And the Canadian Green Building Council announced the Gold certification of all residential buildings on the Millennium Water site.

 ”This should be a source of pride for residents and an example to the rest of the world.”  ~ Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson

Back in 2007 our Design Editor, Haven Kiers, and I included the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Village (Millennium Water) in our inaugural Top 10 List of Hot Trends in Greenroof Design, as a current example of trendsetting sustainability efforts on a city scale.  We showed it as an example of the #1 category on our 2007 list for ”Visionary Proposed Projects” - see the PowerPoint here.  NATIONAL, Millennium Development’s public relations firm, provided these images of the various models for our presentation and the profile in The Greenroof & Greenwall Projects Database.

Last October at the inaugural 2009 CitiesAlive! World Green Roof Infrastructure Congress in Toronto, I attended Dr. Karen Liu of Xero Flor Canada’s presentation, “Special Green Roof Projects in B.C.” where she shared the company’s design and engineering experiences for their part in the Olympic Village’s extensive greenroofs.  In the Master Planting Plan (see below) the landscape architect, Durante Kreuk, had created vegetated silhouettes of Olympic sports figures atop the buildings, so to achieve this, a combination of various planted Sedum plugs, annuals and lightweight red lava rock were used.  Shallow aluminum edging helps define the different color and plant zones:

To update the profile, I relied on the excellent case study by The Challenge Series entitled “Millennium Water: The Southeast False Creek Olympic Village - Vancouver, Canada.”  The story of the development is told in a seven-chapter book that documents the decisions and challenges involved in creating such a showcase and world-class example of green development strategies.  You can access the entire book online above, order printed copies, or subscribe to their newsletter.  Referring to the recent LEED awards, Roger Bayley of The Challenge Series stated:

“This esteemed certification reflects the dedication to sustainable community development that is found throughout the Millennium Water: SEFC community, and is a truly commendable achievement for all those who were a part of the planning, design and construction process.” ~ Roger Bayley

Of course Vanouver has many beautiful greenroofs and greenwalls, and just one of numerous other great buildings with a spectacular greenroof not to be missed is the Vancouver Convention Centre Expansion Project, which we’ve previously highlighted as our “Greenroof Project of the Week.”

Completed just last November, 2009, it will be interesting to see how the Olympic Village rooftop vegetation fills in and greens up after a few seasons, and we certainly look forward to visiting this beautiful city with many eco-friendly projects in November, 2010.

Kudos to the people of Vancouver, B.C. and all involved in the many years of making the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Village at Southeast False Creek a wonderful, welcoming place for the athletes, officials, and visitors, and for designing Millennium Water as a future sustainable home to Vancouverites!

~ Linda V.

Last month’s Cities Alive! Congress offered many opportunities to tour many examples of Toronto’s various green infrastructure practices, including greenroofs, green walls, and green streets.  Christine and I both shared our experiences on two different “sustainable tours,” and now we invite you on a visual photo tour of six locales visited from a German colleague of ours.  Roland Appl, International Green Roof Association (IGRA) President  & ZinCo’s Technical Director,  joined the guided walking Tour A: “Spectacular Green Roofs in Downtown Toronto” and shares these photos with us from October 21, 2009:

University of Toronto – Trinity College – St. Hilda’s College Residence:

The Metro Toronto YMCA:

The Drs. Paul and John Rekai Centre:

Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC):

401 Richmond:

The Robertson Building, 215 Spadina:

Thanks, Roland!  I’ve created some initial profiles of each of these projects for The Greenroof Projects Database, and we’d appreciate if you have additional information and you’d like to share with us and the international greenroof community!  Please send additional text, designers/manufacturers of record, greenroof area, and photos to: projects@greenroofs.com.

~ Linda V.

After Linda’s great coverage of the CitiesAlive! Congress, I’m hard pressed to find anything more to say! However, since I was living in Toronto around the time that green roofs were first launched there, and went on a different Congress tour, I’m glad for the chance to reflect.

The opening ceremony on Monday evening was classy, with a unique green roof touch to it. Once you’d had enough drinks and hors d’oevres in the City Hall foyer, you could go to the roof to see the project. It was fun to stroll through the disorderly chaos of a modular installation, frozen in time until the workers would return next morning.

In fact, the original green roof on Toronto City Hall was my very first introduction to green roofs, as I happened to be there the day of its official launch (Nov. 20, 2000). Funny story, that… I’d just moved to Toronto, fresh out of University and looking for work in the environmental field. On my 2nd day in town, I rang up all the companies I’d (blindly) submitted my resume to, and soon had Steven Peck on the phone. I imagine the City Hall event was a perfect diversion for him to get this young keener off his case. Nine years later…hah!

In any case, it’s impressive to consider that this huge renovation replaces the original modular demonstration boxes. If anything, this suggests that the demonstration was successful and convincing! It certainly also helps that Toronto’s mayor since 2003, David Miller, has introduced an impressive range of environmental policies in his time, including the Toronto green roof strategy of 2008. A lot can happen when open-minded and forward-thinking people step into positions of authority!

The Congress

Tuesday was the only day of talks, which I found a bit hectic. With 4 concurrent tracks going on, and no papers to take home, it was hard to decide which track to go to. Even at the trade show over lunch and coffee, I found this limited time frame really challenged the fine balance between catching up with good colleagues/ friends and meeting new ones.

Happily, the congress provided social/ networking opportunities on all three evenings. On Tuesday the Steamwhistle Brewery hosted a BBQ with delicious local brews, as a backdrop to the results of the CitiesAlive! International Student Design Challenge (Transforming the Face of Buildings). Congratulations to all the faculty-led student teams for their leafy designs! The images below show the first- and second-place winners. First place went to Cliffside Village, and second place to Compods, both designed by students from Ryerson University Architectural Science. To see the full results of the competition, click here.

The Tours: GTAA Partners in Project Green

Wednesday was tour day, and I chose to learn more about GTAA Partners in Project Green. The Greater Toronto Airport Authority covers 12,000 ha of industrial and commercial land, including more than 12,500 businesses, and falls under the jurisdiction of 3 municipalities (Mississauga, Toronto and Brampton). Partners in Project Green was founded by Toronto and Region Conservation Authority and GTAA.

I was particularly keen on this tour because the Toronto airport, with its recent mega-redevelopment of Terminal 1, seemed the antithesis of anything “green.” How could such a major development resulting in more air travel be described as a solution for “reducing carbon emissions?” Let’s return to this point later on. The image below shows Toronto Pearson International Airport in the centre, with some features marked to provide some orientation (i.e. Terminal 1, Highway 427 and Etobicoke Creek Stormwater Management Facility). The lands surrounding the airport are part of the GTAA, and therefore also of Partners in Project Green.

The tour started in FESTI (Fire and Emergency Services Training Institute), a LEED silver-certified building which came into operation in 2007. A state-of-the-art facility, FESTI features many technologies to minimize its environmental footprint, such as a solar wall, green roof, recycled building materials and water-saving systems. This building has a small Sedum mat green roof, around 1,000 sf in size. At the time of planning, the authority lacked references for green roofs and airports, and was therefore conservative due to its uncertainties about animal and bird use. Pity they missed Linda’s paper about Green Roofs and Airports.

After an extensive tour of FESTI, we went to check out the Etobicoke Creek stormwater management facility. Located under the apron adjacent to Terminal 1, this subterranean facility receives stormwater from an expansive catchment area. It is located underground because surface land is a premium. In order to remain structurally sound underneath taxiing planes, millions of tonnes of concrete were used. Our tour guide, the Head of Environment for GTAA, told us that this project won an award for “the most concrete used in an environmental project.” He wryly added that you can win an award for almost anything these days.

The image above shows a model of the Etobicoke Creek stormwater management facility. Note the walkway in the top-right of the image. To give you a sense of how deep and huge this facility is, our guide was monitoring oxygen (and other gases) while we were underground, informing us that “evacuation could not be ruled out.” The model shows how the system works. Stormwater enters the first cell (top of image), then overflows consecutively until the last cell. From the last cell, stormwater passes through two oil separators (the white shapes), which are filled with coalescing plates to trap oil particles, and then released into Etobicoke Creek.

Welcome to what I affectionately recall to as “the caverns.” The image above shows one cell; and the sub-cells within each cell direct water flow. The image below shows the walkway, along with a series of tipping buckets (to the left). When the cells need to be flushed of physical debris, these buckets are rotated to release a deluge of water into each cell.  In this image, note also the trough (almost central in the image) which serves to transfer overflow water from one cell to the next. Many thanks to our tour guides from GTAA for this tour!

From the airport, our tour continued to the Bayer Headquarters in another corner of the GTAA area. The two Bayer representatives who toured us around the facility showed us everything that made corporate Bayer a great place to work, including an “Outback” walking trail, deluxe fitness facilities, and an 8,500 sf green roof.

Installed in October 2007, this Sedum-Allium roof serves purely for ‘green’ image. Inasmuch, the company is not interested in the benefits that green roofs provide and is not doing any performance monitoring. Concurrent with our visit, a 6,500 sf cool roof was being installed on a neighbouring roof. I was actually a bit taken aback at how confidently our tour guides revealed their limited understanding about green roofs, especially considering our group comprised experts in this field. Where my tireless advocate/ educator side would’ve normally been happy to step up and clarify certain details, the corporate confidence encouraged me rather to let it slide. Let the plants “hibernate.”

Concluding thoughts

As far as the overall congress goes, Toronto certainly deserves applause for hosting Canada’s biggest ever green roof gathering. I was very happy to be there! For me personally, it was a wonderful excuse to travel home from Europe. However, if I were an international delegate without the added perk of catching up with family and friends on either side of the congress dates, I would not have been pleased with the structure of the congress. Considering that delegates came from as far away as Japan, Australia, and Ecuador, I imagine that many of the congress participants were jet lagged. And all for one single day of information sharing (for which no materials were provided to take home), one day of tours and a couple social events..?

Regarding the tour that I went on, I was unequivocally glad for the opportunity to learn more about how the international airport functions; visiting the stormwater ‘caverns’ was a highlight of my life. Seriously.

Overall, and whether or not this was intentional, for me the tour provided a straightforward understanding of how corporate North America uses the word “green.” I learned that “corporate responsibility” looks as good as its intent, which is a bit weak and not fully informed. In both cases the green roofs may as well have been ordered out of a catalogue. They were so small and plain that it was hard to find anything interesting to discuss (which was perfect since nobody knew much about them anyway, neither performance nor function). These green roofs were simply novel additions to the corporate environmental portfolio, in which appearance has more value over performance.

Recalling my original curiosity, this may also explain how the new Terminal 1 is attributed to reducing emissions and stormwater runoff. Our guide from GTAA explained that the larger apron at Terminal 1 means that planes now queue and taxi less, thereby reducing the projected emissions compared to when it was smaller.

This logic is reminiscent of the typical emissions reduction reasonings associated with Kyoto, isn’t it, namely comparative extrapolation rather than baseline reduction strategies. With regards to stormwater, while we were impressed to see how this issue is managed I didn’t really get a clear answer of stormwater is reduced (and “reduced” is the term used, several times). Further to emissions, stormwater and the LEED-certified building, additional green initiatives include the Airport’s cogeneration facility, xeriscaping, and reuse of 99% recycled material from the old terminal (by weight). Considering the scale of the Airport lands, such commitments play a big role to its ecological impacts (however misleading the corporate statements are).

The Mexican Fiesta which closed the Congress at the Toronto Botanical Gardens was fun, with a live mariachi band and free Coronas for all. Terry McGlade did a great job of showing people the green roofs, and it was a great way to close off the Congress. Linda did a great job of summarizing the Fiesta, with wonderful photos, so if you haven’t read her blog post please do check it out!

~ Christine

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Happy Greening!

~ Linda V.

Aramis and I had a great time in Toronto last week for the inaugural 2009 CitiesAlive! World Green Roof Infrastructure Congress ~ what a wonderful city!  It’s clean, green, and at the moment has the most progressive greenroof policy in North America.  From the airport we rode along the waterfront and were impressed on how green the city really is – we enjoyed the many beautifully landscaped parks with an abundance of trees in full autumn color, swaying grasses and flowering perennials.  Tons of people were out enjoying the cool, crisp fall day with strollers, jogging, or just relaxing and taking in the views of Lake Ontario.  The prominent Toronto Hydro/WindShare wind turbine, ”North America’s first urban wind turbine,” was truly an impressive sight to see at Toronto’s Exhibition Place, a showcase for sustainability.  And the many architectural styles and hustle and bustle of downtown Toronto were a pleasure.

At the Congress we encountered many of the “usual greenroof suspects” we know from Canada, Germany, the U.K., and the U.S. and met some very interesting new people, too, from South Korea and Spain (to name a couple) in the various speaker sessions, on the Toronto Sustainable Bus Tour sponsored by Tremco and Bioroof, and at the CitiesAlive! Closing Gala at the Toronto Botanical Garden where we all enjoyed a lively and tasty Mexican Fiesta celebration.

The theme of the Congress was “Green Roof Infrastructure: A Global Solution to Climate Change” and began on Monday, October 19 with a selection of tours and training sessions and the Canadian launch of the GRP exam, followed by the CitiesAlive! Opening Reception at Toronto City Hall, which we unfortunately missed due to a late flight.  Sponsored by The City of Toronto, attendees gathered on the City Hall Rotunda and were treated to a ’sneak peek preview tour’ of the new Toronto City Hall Green Roof, and heard from Mayor of Toronto David Miller, Manfred Köhler, President of the co-host World Green Roof Infrastructure Network (WGRIN), and Steven Peck, Executive Director of co-host Green Roofs for Healthy Cities (GRHC).  The new greenroof is more expansive than the previous incarnation of  the 3,200 sf Toronto City Hall Green Roof Demonstration Project, which was dismantled and replaced with this larger living roof.  I’ll update the profile on The Greenroof Projects Database as soon as I get more info.

Tuesday morning, October 20 started bright and early with the CitiesAlive! Opening Plenary, where Steven welcomed everyone and stressed the importance of the bigger picture and how green infrastructure options can secure a more sustainable and prosperous future for us all.  He talked about two main themes: Cities can and are leading on major environmental issues such as global warming and how the best solutions are those that are good for the environment and good for the economy.  The City of Toronto is leading by example in many areas; for example, it now has a 40% reduction of greenhouse emissions based on 1990 levels and the #1 hybrid electric bus fleet in Canada, which is #2 in North America behind New York City, saving significant operations costs.  And through partnering with local businesses and residents, Live Green Toronto has issued grants in excess of $10 million to Torontonians.

Mayor Miller presented the Opening Address “Towards a Green Toronto” spoke about Living Green here with projects such as their ”Transit City” program, whose transit expansion into underserved, poorer areas really equals social justice as light rail encouragesbetter development and will better the lives of many.  New programs like Live Green Toronto and city-wide initiatives like Mayor’s Tower Renewal will revitalize communities.  For example, plans to add thermal over cladding and insulation (plus greenroofs and other eco- friendly building features) to the numerous city concrete slab highrises will not only reduce energy but will cut citywide gas emissions by 3-5%. These efforts will help create local employment and result in an environmental success story for Toronto. The City’s overall goal is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050.

Deputy Mayor Joe Pantalone spoke about the evolution of the Toronto’s Eco-Roof Incentive Program (formerly the Green Roof Pilot Program).  For example, in 2006, 16 projects were funded, 30 in 2007, and 34 projects have been approved in 2009.  Approved by City Council in November 2008, the Eco-Roof Incentive Program is based on the successful Green Roof Pilot Program of 2006 and 2007 and includes both cool and eco-roofs.  In May, 2009 Toronto became the first City in North America to adopt a bylaw to require and govern the construction of greenroofs on new development.  The bylaw will apply to all new building permit applications made after January 31, 2010 (residential, commercial and institutional) and January 31, 2011 for all new industrial development, with a few exceptions. 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%.  (See more details at the City of Toronto website.)

Then the first round of speakers started from each of the four concurrent tracks, which I felt was rather ambitious all in just one day - I think we missed out on a lot of really pertinent info, and there was no conference CD like usual for later reference.  I remained for Track 2: Innovative Projects and Design from Around the World, and Aramis headed over to Track 3: Policies and Programmes Supporting Green Infrastructure Development with our Student Editor, Christine Thüring (who should be adding some commentary of her own soon).

Track 2: Don Delaney from Flynn Canada started with details of the “Vancouver Convention Centre: 7 Acres of Green Roof in Downtown Vancouver” and went into detail about the trials and tribulations of Canada’s largest greenroof to date, including solutions to stabilize the growing media on slopes up to 40° and planting the 400,000 indigenous plants and grasses.  Innovative features include decorative runnels with perforations on the high side to retain water and runoff collection used for irrigation and in a blackwater system.  International Leak Detention was brought on board to test the integrity of the waterproofing membrane before and after the installation of the overburden with their Electric Field Vector Mapping (EFVM®) system.  We were all very happy to have Andrea from N.A.T.S. Nursery in the audience to answer a lot of growing media and plant questions!  This project will be a highlight to our trip to Vancouver, B.C. next year for the 8th installement of the Greening Rooftops for Sustainable Communities Conference.  The Vancouver Convention Centre will be home of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games media and broadcast centre.

Prof. Dr. Eun-Heui Lee from Women’s University in Seoul, South Korea impressed us with ”Green Roof Policy and Projects to Expand Green Space in Seoul” with some key figures: From 2002 through 2008, 218 greenroofs equalling 104,403 m² were constructed and in 2009 so far, 104 greenroofs totalling 41,000 m² have been built or on the boards!  And perhaps more importantly, the Seoul Metro Government plans 600 new roofs to be greened by 2012.
 

Francois LaSalle of ADIVET in France addressed “Development of Green Roofs and Green Facades in France, and presented a history of greenroofs and walls in France.  Starting in the 1970’s, about 1 m² of roofs have been greened here, mostly intensive roof gardens, through the 1980’s.  By the end of the 1990’s, about 10 greenroof companies had emerged from the extensive market, and in 1994 Patrick Blanc unveiled his first green wall (Mur Vegetal) at the Garden Festival in Chaumont Sur Loire (although probably most famous for his Musée du quai Branly vegetated wall in Paris, 2006).  Francois concluded with various French policies, subsidies, and bills to promote, and believe it not, prohibit opposition to planted roofs.  Currently, vegetated façades are in their infancy, but greenroofs have a firm hold in the marketplace.

Ignacio Espoz Babul from LatinGreen in Santiago, Chile, presented “Living Walls for Better Indoor Climate in Subways,” an experimental green wall research program currently being implemented at two underground Metro stations in Santiago.  Ignacio believes that indoor air pollutant abatement with an improvement in air quality due to reductions of metals and volatile chemicals is possible along with noise reduction due to plant foliage and the associated natural processes – as long as there is sufficient light, air, and water.

The sessions ran a bit late, and the Networking Break on the Trade Show was only supposed to last 30 minutes, but we stayed through lunch because we kept running into people we just had to talk to!  So we skipped the next round of speakers in between (sorry I missed Paul Kephart, Andrew Bowerbank, Dr. Nigel Dunnett, Jeff Bruce, and James Sable!).  The Networking Break on the Trade Show was very lively, and packed with people – I hope not too many missed those speakers, either.  Lunch was held on the Trade Show Floor, which is always a good thing for the exhibitors, who help foot the bill and provide us with so many varieties of products and services.  Here are a few:

Bill Corrigan from Tremco Canada told us about some of their company’s 1 million sf of greenroofs in Canada.

International Leak Detection performs non-destructive integrity tests of waterproofing membranes utilizing their patented Electric Field Vector Mapping technology. Membrane defects are located with pin point accuracy. 

Diane DiGregorio of GLT shows off the Green Living Technologies living wall.

Lots of people visited the LiveRoof booth to learn about the modular manufacturer’s Soil Elevator™ and Moisture Portal™ technology. 

Marie-Anne Boivin and fellow Soprema colleague told us about their many years of greenroof experience in the harsh Canadian climates.

The Trade Show was a good size and was heavily trafficked by all, especially since the refreshment break and newtworking lunch and cocktail were set here.  Other Greenroofs.com exhibitor friends included Xero Flor America and Xero Flor Canada, Motherplants, Hydrotech, Sika Sarnafil, and Nilex, where Janet Faust of JDR Enterprises was present.

After lunch, the next round of speakers in Track 2 included Peter Lowitt from Devens Enterprise Commission who spoke about “Green Infrastructure & Eco-Industrial Parks: Lessons Learned From Devens, Massachusetts,” a former military barracks now a 40-acre eco- industrial park with an International Audubon Certified Sustainable Golf Course.  He spoke how green infrastructure must take a holistic approach and asked how can we make these projects sustainable?  By promoting social and environmental equity.

João Manuel Linck Feijó of the Associação de Telhados Verdes do Brazil presented “Innovative Projects & Green Roof Progress in Brazil” - introducing us to the relatively new greenroof market in Brazil and explaining a potential tax break for large cities and various state proposals for living roofs.  He showed some beautiful greenroof projects throughout Brazil using a modular greenroof system from Ecotelhado.

Dr. Karen Liu of Xero Flor Canada addressed “Special Green Roof Projects in B.C.”  Dr. Liu highlighted a couple of projects which presented opportunities for greenroof design and engineering creativity.  The Butchart Gardens Carousel Pavilion in Victoria, B.C. has slopes ranging from 14-44% and utilized a 2-ply modified bitumen, standing seam copper roof and the architects needed to capture 36 liters of rainwater.  Dr. Liu explained the steel grid system to retain the growing media and cautionary items to consider as well.  The second project focused on Canada’s first LEED Gold Community, the 2010 Olympic Village where all of the roofs will be either extensive or intensive greenroofs!  The extensive greenroofs will feature Xero Flor roofs with vegetated sports figures.  These athletic figures will be planted with red flowering annuals and set in red lava rock.

Michael Krause of Kandiyohi Development talked about “Urban Forests and Energy in Minnesota,” a different and very interesting topic.  Biomass energy is included in current U.S. energy legislation, and a biomass fuel energy strategy can be used as a small, community-based local climate change solution.  Fallen trees are viewed as a carbon sink and vast supplies of excess biomass are available – Michael believes that biomass can be used as an interim strategy for the next 30 years orso, and sees this as a way to democratize energy and bring energy to the community level, since there would be no importing fossil fuels from afar.

Toby Lennox from the Greater Toronto Airports Authority finished with “Industrial Ecology: Partners in Project Green,” Canada’s largest eco-business zone at 4,000 acres.  Toronto Pearson Airport manages one half of Canada’s commercial air traffic and 65,000 trips are made to the airport each day.  Project Green is bringing together common strategies in a new eco-model of development in a growing community of businesses working together to green facilities and the bottom line.

Afterwards we all convened for the Cocktail Reception, once again on the Trade Show Floor, with spirits and snacks and an opportunity to unwind a bit, followed by the “Transforming the Face of Buildings” Student Design Challenge Awards, Poster Presentations and Networking Event at the Steam Whistle Brewing Roundhouse, a very funky locale and local brewery.  The quality of the student entries was superb and I’m sure that the judges had a hard time selecting the winners.  Congratulations to everyone who participated, and especially the First Place winner, “Cliffside Village” from students Dov Feinmesser, Yekaterina Mityuryayeva, Tommy Tso, and Aaron Hendershott form Ryerson University, Architectural Science!

We ended the evening with a spirited dinner compliments of George Irwin, our Green Wall Editor, and Diane DiGregorio of Green Living Technologies.  Christine took us to an artsy part of town that’s being refurbished where we had awesome appetizers and organic pizza, incredible wine, and great conversation.

I believe that the 2009 CitiesAlive! has indeed sown future seeds of success as WGRIN continues to bring together the international greenroof community of non-profit organizations to highlight current and planned green infrastructure research, policy and projects.  Their first congress had some growing pains but I believe that overall it was important, fruitful, and promising with quite an international flair – set in a perfect international city with a very promising future of its own.

Next up I’ll wrap up our time in Toronto with some photos of our day on the Toronto Sustainable Bus Tour and evening at the lovely Toronto Botanical Garden.

~ Linda V.