Each week you can expect to learn What’s New here on Greenroofs.com through our “This Week in Review” video.  Here’s the transcript from November 11th, 2011 from our daughter, Anjuli – click on the photo below to see the video, or here.  Enjoy!

- Hello, I’m Anjuli Velazquez and welcome to This Week in Review for November 11th on GreenroofsTV.

- Project of the Week

-  Our project of the week is the Master Builders Association Durban, Westville greenroof built in 2010 in Durban, South Africa. The Master Builders Centre was built in 1982 as a commercial building comprising about 3600 square meters of commercial space. Some of the finishes on the building were becoming old and unsightly, also the exhibition space had lost popularity, so it was time re-look at the utilization of this space and introduce new activities that would not only add beauty to the building, but also add energy savings. The greenroof is mainly comprised of indigenous plants, which require minimal water, are able to propagate themselves, and are less susceptible to pest outbreaks and harsh climates. Also, the green roof increases the vegetation on the property, promotes biodiversity and reduces the rate and volume of stormwater discharge. The roof podium area was planted with two separate systems designed by Green Roof Designs cc, one half using recyclable HDPE green roof modules and the other half using treated softwood timber boxes, which were constructed using both local timber source providers and workers from the area.

To learn more about the Master Builders Association Durban, Westville greenroof, click on our project of the week photo on our homepage.

“What’s New”

-  We’d like to welcome Kawasaki Greenhouses, a supplier of plants and pre-vegetated mats in East Moriches, New York as a new Greenroof Directory advertiser.

Advertiser Press Releases:

-  LiveRoof® Hybrid Green Roof System Takes Home a Readers’ Choice Award From Greenbuild.

-  American Hydrotech promotes Kevin Serena to Garden Roof Technical Sales Coordinator.

-  Over at Sky Gardens, check out Linda’s latest posts: “Greenroofs.com’s ‘This Week in Review’ on GreenroofsTV: November 4, 2011,” “This Week in Review” for October 28th, 2011 and our GPW.

- “Upcoming Events”

- We’d like to say Happy Veterans Day to those of you in the United States and Happy Remembrance Day to our Commonwealth and other friends from across the world!

-  This weekend, November 12th-13th: is Green Festival – A Joint project of Global exchange & Green America in San Francisco, CA.

- November 16th: is Vegetative Roofs – Making Buildings Come Alive Seminar, NCBE Construction Training Center, in Santa Rosa, CA. This educational seminar on vegetative building systems as an effective strategy towards meeting green building requirements is presented by Kevin S. Falkerson and Kerrie Lee Cole of SYMBIOS and our own Design Editor, Haven Kiers.

-  November 16th-18th: is Build Boston 2011, Seaport World Trade Center in Boston, MA.

-  And November 18th: is Green Roofs for Healthy Cities Integrated Water Management for Buildings and Sites in Toronto, Canada.

- “In the News”

-  Brian Cross of the Windsor Star, says “U of W building to impress.” The $112 million Centre for Engineering Innovation is pretty impressive already with its greenroof and living wall but Phase 2 will add 75 foot long wood beams in the ceiling of a four-story atrium. The first phase was completed in the summer and has faculty and students working in research labs. The second phase has three art lecture halls, innovative heating and cooling systems and a rooftop that will become “an academic oasis.” The 10,300 sq ft green roof will be used as a park where students and faculty could eat lunch or relax between classes, and also some students will be studying how much water the roof will divert from storm sewers. Mark Beaulieu, a principal from the architectural firm overseeing the project, says, “I think this will be the greatest learning tool on campus…the building itself is Construction 101, 102, and 103. Structural, mechanical, electrical, the pneumatics of a building, it’s all going to be there to see.”

-  Julia Flynn Siler of the Wall Street Journal, talks about “The Green Man Whose Gardens Defy Gravity.” Have you ever wanted to learn more about the personal side of Patrick Blanc, the Internationally-known French botanist and inventor of the vertical garden? Well, Siler has written an article all about him: from how he starts his day, “often with a glass of white wine or champagne,” to other daily activities like experimenting with plants and vertical systems in his home and drawing sketches about whatever project he is currently working on. Right now he is involved with a private San Francisco high school garden, which is his largest garden in the United States, using more than 4,500 plants. Drew School, in the lower Pacific Heights area, has only California native plants in its garden and small orange-red blossoms are starting to peep through the foliage. You can read more about this vertical garden, how “The Green Man” grew up with his love and inspiration of nature, and an exclusive Wall Street Video at the full article online.

Of course, if you attended our inaugural Greenroofs & Walls of the World™ Virtual Summit, you had the opportunity to see a rare 30 minute interview with Patrick by Linda Velazquez.

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

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

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

- This has been This Week in Review for November 11th, 2011 on GreenroofsTV.  I’m Anjuli Velazquez and I’ll see you next week!

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

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

~ Linda V.

Well, folks, it’s that time of year again – the end of 2011 – when we start looking ahead and planning for the next!

What better way to stay up to date with greenroof and greenwall happenings around the world than with our brand new 2012 Greenroofs & Walls of the World™ 12 Month Wall Calendar?  Now in our fifth year of publishing, the Calendar combines two of our most popular destinations on Greenroofs.com: The Greenroof & Greenwall Projects Database and Upcoming Events.

We’re very happy with the beautiful projects highlighted and hope you will be, too.  See the Press Release here.

The 2012 Calendar has 78 events posted from across the globe and the cover features the luscious, top to bottom plant-enveloped Private Brussels Residence Vertical Garden & Greenroof by Patrick Blanc and Philippe Samyn.  Inside you’ll find full color glossy photos of projects from Honolulu, Long Island City, Chicago, Culpeper, St. Louis, Indianapolis, Atlanta, San Francisco, Delft, New York City, Beachwood, and Baltimore.

Special thanks go to our participating Sponsors of the 2012 Greenroofs & Walls of the World™ Calendar:  Barrett Company, Green Living Technologies, Green Roof Blocks, GreenGrid, International Leak Detection, LiveRoof, rooflite®, Roofmeadow, Saul Nurseries, Tremco, Xero Flor America, and ZinCo-USA.

And thanks to these Greenroofs.com’s Sponsors who weren’t featured this year - American Hydrotech and Conservation Technology - but whose support also makes our website possible (along with all of you who are listed in The Greenroof Directory)!

By the way, if you’d like to see all the previous years’ calendar projects, click here.

The 2012 Greenroofs & Walls of the World™ Calendar will make a perfect holiday gift for you, your staff, and your green architecture like-minded friends and family, so order now in time for all the upcoming holidays and the new year.

Enjoy and happy greening!

~ Linda V.

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

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

- Projects of the Week

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

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

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

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

“What’s New”

- Industry News Update

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

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

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

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

- Guest Feature

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

-Contributing Editor

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

Advertiser Press Release:

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

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

- “Upcoming Events”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

-  Check out our homepage for more Upcoming Events!

- “In the News”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

~ Linda V.

Each week you can expect to learn What’s New here on Greenroofs.com through our “This Week in Review” video.  Here’s the transcript from October 7th, 2011 from our daughter, Anjuli – click on the photo below to see the video, or here.  Enjoy!

- Hello, I’m Anjuli Velazquez and welcome to This Week in Review for October 7th, 2011 on GreenroofsTV. We’ve been so extremely busy with our inaugural Greenroofs & Walls of the World™ Virtual Summit 2011, that we haven’t been able to have a This Week in Review for a few weeks, so allow me to catch you up with what’s been going on here at Greenroofs.com.

- Project of the Week

- Our project of the week is Harvard Graduate Student Housing at 29 Garden Street built in 2004 in Cambridge, Massachusetts.  The former police station from the 1920s was renovated in 2003 with the greenroof installed the following year.  The six-story complex has 75 apartments for the graduate students and “the garden courtyard provides a beautiful outdoor amenity space for residents and has made this housing building one of the most popular places to live on campus.”  The American Hydrotech project profile states, “The once unsightly rooftop is now a 10,000 square foot Garden Roof® providing pleasing views and helping to add a sense of place and community for the graduate student residents there.  The Garden Roof will significantly increase the life expectancy of the roof and is also helping to control stormwater runoff.”  The rooftop plantings include a mix of succulents, sedums and delosperma, drought tolerant varieties that are perfect for Boston temperatures.

- To learn more about the Harvard Graduate Student Housing at 29 Garden Street, click on our project of the week photo on our homepage.  Also, to learn about our projects of the week for the past few weeks, you can go to the Sky Gardens Blog and read Linda’s posts about each one.  Or, go to our Projects Database and search project ID number “825” for the World Expo Zaragoza 2008/Zentro Expo Zaragoza greenroof from ZinCo, project ID number “553” for the Musée du quai Branly green wall by Patrick Blanc, and project ID number “996” for the Casa Feliz Studios greenroof from Tremco.

“What’s New”

Advertiser Press Releases:

- Industry News

- According to Green Roofs for Healthy Cities, the City of Toronto’s award winning Green Roof Bylaw has already resulted in more than 1.2 million square feet of new green space planned on new commercial, institutional, and multi-unit residential developments across the City.

- Smart Growth America – Through a grant from the U.S. EPA’s Office of Sustainable Communities’ Building Blocks for Sustainable Communities Program, Smart Growth America is pleased to offer free technical assistance to help communities implement smart growth strategies to build stronger economies while protecting human health and the environment.

- American Rivers – Want to create 1.9 million American jobs and add $265 billion to the economy? Upgrade our water infrastructure. That’s the message of Water Works: Rebuilding Infrastructure, Creating Jobs, Greening the Environment, a report by Green For All, in partnership with American Rivers, Pacific Institute, and the Economic Policy Institute. The report looks at an investment of $188.4 billion in water infrastructure—the amount the EPA indicates would be required to manage stormwater and preserve water quality. That investment would inject a quarter of a trillion dollars into the economy, create nearly 1.3 million direct and indirect jobs and result in 568,000 additional jobs from increased spending.

-  Joblinks: C. M. Hobbs has a job opening for a Grower/Plant Propagator on the west side of Indianapolis, IN, USA.

- Over at Sky Gardens, check out Linda’s latest posts: “Greenbuild and Greenroofs in Toronto!,” our GPWs for the last few weeks, “Thank You to Our Sponsors and the Winner of the 2nd iPad2 at the Greenroofs & Walls of the World™ Virtual Summit 2011 is…,” along with other Greenroofs & Walls of the World™ Virtual Summit 2011 related posts, “Notre Voyage Fantastique: Chicago & Patrick Blanc” by Linda and Caroline Menetre, “Remembering and Rebuilding: Ten Years After 9/11,” and “Greenroofs.com’s This Week in Review” on GreenroofsTV: September 9, 2011.”

- “Upcoming Events”

- Until October 28th: All of the content from our Greenroofs & Walls of the World™ Virtual Summit 2011 – Connecting the Planet + Living Architecture: People, Projects & Design is still very much live, so you can access it all on demand and tell your friends and colleagues to continue to register!  You can even continue to chat live while in the virtual environment via video, audio, or text through October 28!

- October 1st-23rd: Leverage – Strengthening Neighborhoods through Design Exhibition in Philadelphia, PA.

-  Check out our homepage for more Upcoming Events!

- “In the News”

- Roberta Cruger of Treehugger reports on “The 9/11 Memorial & Museum’s Focus on Sustainable Design.” She says “From a green roof to locally harvested trees, the National September 11 Memorial and Museum opens on the 10th anniversary of the attack on the World Trade Center with a dedication and much media coverage of every angle, including Steven Spielberg’s The Rising: Rebuilding Ground Zero.” A grove of more than 400 swamp white oak trees, all harvested from within a 500-mile radius of the World Trade Center, on the Plaza act as a beautiful green roof for the 9/11 Memorial museum, the train station and other facilities 70-feet below street level. These trees are meant to represent the renewal of life in their natural cycles. The irrigation system includes stormwater capture in underground storage tanks to save energy and resources and the site is seeking LEED gold certification.

- The San Francisco Chronicle announces that “Academy of Sciences [is] honored with another green building award.” The say “everyone’s favorite combination of aquarium, planetarium and natural history museum has received a second Platinum rating from the council’s LEED program.” And this one’s for operations and maintenance. The extensive vegetation on the living roof consists almost entirely of natural species and the glass walls allow views from 98% of occupied spaces. Also, they use 100% recycled paper in all its printers and they are all Energy Star-rated.

- Caroline McMillan of the Charlotte Observer talks about “Green roof sprouts up in the suburbs.” LEED-accredited architect, Rebecca Fant and her mechanical engineer husband, John Alday, have recently installed their very own greenroof. Their porch roof was in need of restoration, so they decided to go green with the help of LiveRoof® vegetation. They aren’t reaping the full benefits of greenroofs like managing stormwater runoff, keeping their house warm in the winter and cool in the summer yet because their greenroof is just over their porch but Fant says, “it’s a little teaser for what we’re trying to do inside the house, as we renovate and improve the energy efficiency and other environmental features.”

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

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

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

- This has been This Week in Review for October 7th, 2011 on GreenroofsTV.  I’m Anjuli Velazquez and I’ll see you next week!

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

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

~ Linda V.

Greenroofs.com Project of the Week: 10/3/11
Harvard Graduate Student Housing at 29 Garden Street
Cambridge, MA, USA
10,000 sf. Greenroof

Year: 2004
Owner: The President and Fellows of Harvard College
Location: Cambridge, MA, USA
Building Type: Educational
Type: Extensive
System: Single Source Provider
Size: 10,000 sq. ft.
Slope: 1.5%
Access: Accessible, Private

Project Description & Details

The Harvard Graduate Student Housing at 29 Garden Street is a great example of adaptive reuse – the former police station was transformed into a new six-story residence hall containing 75 apartments. Because all of the building’s units looked out onto this roof, Jonathan Levi Architects proposed to capture this space aesthetically and identified the unattractive blacktopped roof over the existing one-story parking garage for change.

Landscape architects Richard Burck Associates introduced shade tree plantings and new sidewalks within the mix of succulents, sedums and delospermas found in the Garden Roof Assembly from American Hydrotech. Now, the award-winning second-floor garden courtyard provides a beautiful outdoor amenity space for residents and has made this housing building one of the most popular places to live on campus.

Designers/Manufacturers of Record

Greenroofing System: American Hydrotech
Plant Supplier: Green Roof Plants/Emory Knoll Farms
Plant Installation: Valley Crest
Architect: Jonathan Levi Architects
Associate Architect: Bergmeyer Associates
Landscape Architect: Richard Burck Associates
General Contractor: Bond Brothers
Hydrotech Applicators: Chapman Waterproofing and Foye & Letendre Landscaping
Environmental Engineer: Pine and Swallow Associates, Inc.
Structural Engineer: Weidlinger Associates Inc.

Google maps link

Additional Info

Motivating factors for the refurbishment of the Harvard Graduate neo-Georgian residences were both economic and political, according to Susan Keller, vice president of residential real estate at Harvard.

“Because of the tight and expensive housing market, and because of municipal pressure on the university to house more students, the number of affordable apartments close to campus.” ~ Architectural Record, December 2004

In a concerted effort to ameliorate unattractive views and create a usable greenspace for the student housing residents, Jonathan Levi Architects and landscape architects Richard Burck Associates decided upon a greenroof as their answer to cover an unused and decidedly ugly garage roof in close proximity and full view of the common areas.

Jonathan Levi also happens to be Adjunct Professor, Department of Architecture at Harvard and his company designed the 29 Garden St. Graduate Housing Complex to provide 143 beds for students from a wide array of graduate programs.  The project’s 75 residential units include studio, double-studio, two bedroom and faculty three bedroom unit types.

Other components of the community complex include a residential food servery/ convenience store, a dining commons/multi-function room seating 45-80, an informal lounge, a garage with parking for 62 cars, a laundry facility, a campus police substation, double-height communal spaces, and their new 10,000 square foot rooftop garden terrace.

“We became interested in the idea of a ‘graduate house’—something akin to the undergraduate houses, a place that would spur a sense of community. Residents would be drawn from different schools and programs, we saw it also as fitting in with the academic trend toward greater mixing of disciplines,” said Jonathan Levi in Architectural Record, December 2004.

Entrances to faculty apartments are joined by a balcony that extends the entire length of the building and each of the three bedroom, third-floor faculty apartments is accessed via stairs leading from the courtyard garden.

The newly created exterior passageway and grand stair lead from Garden Street to the courtyard garden one level above.

The Harvard Graduate Student Housing at 29 Garden Street is the recipient of the ASLA 2007 Professional Awards General Design Honor Award for the landscape architecture firm of Richard Burck Associates, Inc.

“The adaptive reuse of a former police station and parking garage transformed 29 Garden Street into a new residence hall for Harvard University graduate students, faculty, and employees. At the street level, we were charged with improving a 5,000 square foot pedestrian environment with shade tree plantings and renovated sidewalks. The program also called for the creation of a second floor level 10,600 sf garden courtyard on the unadorned roof of the existing parking garage. This space would not only be an outdoor amenity for the residents, but also provide access to Garden Street, the parking garage below and a row of third-floor units above. Programmatically, it needed to accommodate sitting, studying, and socializing for individuals or small groups.” ~ Project Narrative from Richard Burck Associates, Inc.

This site plan of 29 Garden Street residence hall above shows the spatial relationship of the garden courtyard to the architecture.  The drawing is cut through the third-story level apartments to emphasize the connections between the second-story garden courtyard and Garden Street, the hallways and specific units.

“Our intention was to create a garden with a varied and changing two-dimensional composition given the considerable constraint of a limited soil loading capacity. We created a patterned ground plane comprised of two cohorts of extensive vegetation, alternating in bands of greens and reds for most of the growing season. A wide variety of sedum species were carefully chosen for their hardiness in extensive planting systems as well as their ability to create year round interest. Paths of wood decking and concrete unit pavers cut through the vegetation beds and allow for areas of strolling and seating along the way. Intensive planters support Arnold Promise Witch hazels and Junipers for screening purposes where the garage structure can accommodate the added load needed for the three-foot soil depth.” ~ Project Narrative from Richard Burck Associates, Inc.

The landscape architects said that their main challenge was not to exceed the 65 lbs/cf dead load throughout the majority of the space.  As a result, the depth of the extensive planter beds could not exceed 6-8” and accommodate the layers of waterproofing and drainage as well as the proper cultural requirements of the sedums.

“What a great way to expose students to contemporary issues and solutions. It’s so simple, yet nicely detailed, and shows a lot of restraint.” ~ ASLA 2007 Professional Awards Jury Comments

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

Love the Earth, Plant a Roof!

~ Linda V.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Love the Earth, Plant a Roof!

~ Linda V.

The U.S. Green Building Council’s annual conference and expo, Greenbuild, is the world’s largest conference and expo dedicated to green building.  And now the USGBC is hosting its first Greenbuild outside the United States.

Greenbuild 2011 is being held in Toronto, Canada from October 4-7 and is celebrating what’s NEXT for green building!  What innovative ideas will you bring?  Learning, Networking and Celebrating – Greenbuild is a perfect opportunity to meet with green building colleagues, network with leading industry professionals and learn from international representatives from around the world.

Greenroof and Greenwall Exhibitors:

As usual, Greenbuild will showcase the latest in innovative products and services, exemplifying the idea of utilizing green to grow business to attendees from around the world.  The Expo Hall will be open October 4-6, 2011.

Don’t miss exhibits from American Hydrotech – Booth#2024N, Bison Innovative Products – Booth#244N, CETCO – Booth#339N, Conservation Technology – Booth#218N, Flynn Canada – Booth#6328S, Green Living Technologies International – Booth#6653S, GreenGrid/Weston Solutions – Booth#6514S, ILD (International Leak Detection) – Booth#7140S, KISSS America – Booth#6250S, LiveRoof – Booth#125N, MGV GroRoof/Metro Green Visions – Booth#340N, Rooflite – Booth#642N, Sedum Master – Booth#6450S, Sempergreen – Booth#3542S, Sika Sarnafil – Booth#4942S,  - Booth#6135S, VAST Enterprises – Booth#6940S, XeroFlor America – Booth#241N and ZinCo USA – Booth#3651S.

Did you know that Greenbuild 2011 is streaming live, and you can watch from home? Live streaming sessions include the opening plenary with Thomas Freidman, Cokie Roberts, Rt. Hon. Kim Campbell and Paul Farmer; the closing plenary; Master Speakers Neri Oxman, Frans Johannson and Amory Lovins; and LEED Master Series sessions.  Very cool!

Greenroofs at Greenbuild:

Thursday, October 6: OF05 – Enacting a Green Roof by Law - Nathan Phillips Square Toronto City Hall Podium Green Roof

Don’t miss out on the opportunity to Tour the award-winning 37,000 sf LiveRoof Green Roof Installation at Toronto City Hall.  Featured in an off-site educational session at Greenbuild, the guided tour is part of “OF05 – Enacting a Green Roof by Law” and will be held on Thursday, October 6, 2011, 3:00-5:30 p.m.

“The 37,000-square-foot podium green roof at Toronto City Hall is the largest publically accessible extensive green roof in all of Canada.  This LiveRoof project stands out as a prominent element in the revitalization of Nathan Phillips Square. It has won several awards, including a 2011 Regional Honour Award from the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects.” ~ Dave MacKenzie, horticulturalist and president, LiveRoof, LLC.

And, Terry McGlade, environmental business development representative at Flynn Canada Ltd, the company that installed and project managed the overall green roof contract for Toronto City Hall says:

“Toronto is the first North American city to require new developments to include green roofs. Greenbuild will offer an educational session devoted to the development, implementation, results, and future of Toronto’s pioneering initiative. The guided tour of the City Hall green roof is sure to be a highlight of this off-site session.”

Friday, October 7: HD13 Green Roofs for Healthy Cities – Greenroof and Wall Tour

“The green roofs and walls on this tour provide excellent examples of integrated design that improve the quality of life for inhabitants of the building and for the surrounding community. One of the more important features of a green roof or wall is its ability to enhance other sustainable features. From providing food and biodiversity in an urban setting, to enhancing a building’s air quality and improving on-site sustainable energy production, green roofs and walls provide dynamic and aesthetically pleasing components to green buildings. These projects are all uniquely Canadian through their location (both interior and exterior) and a hardy plant selection, as well as their functions and required maintenance through the various seasons of Toronto.” ~ Greenbuild

Visit the Greenbuild website to learn more.

Happy Greening!

~ Linda V.

Greenroofs.com’s inaugural Greenroofs & Walls of the World™ Virtual Summit 2011 was simply awesome!

Thank you to our Rare Earth Sponsor, TREMCO, for making it a reality, especially Ralph Velasquez!  Ralph, Executive Director of Sustainability with Tremco, was one of our Keynote Speakers and created a wonderful video presentation about CSR – Corporate Social Responsibility.

Also, we are very grateful to the support of our Emerald Sponsor, American Hydrotech.  Richard C. Hayden, RLA, ASLA, CLARB, is the Garden Roof Department Manager at American Hydrotech and shared some amazing projects and experience with “Sloped and Complex Green Roofs.”

As you already know the winner of our first iPad2 given away for early bird registrants was James Neville of Neville Environmental Services from Vancouver, B.C., Canada…

Without further ado, the winner of the second Apple iPad2 is…

Kira Udo, Student at Georgia Perimeter College!

Kira lives in Roswell, Georgia, just a stone’s throw from us here in Alpharetta. She is studying French with a concentration in Business Administration.  She’s interested in greenwalls and loves the work of Patrick Blanc.  Congratulations!

All of the content of the Greenroofs & Walls of the World™ Virtual Summit 2011 is available online through October 28, 2011. That includes the:

Tremco Meeting Room;
Tremco Booth in the International Pavilion;
American Hydrotech Booth in the North American Pavilion;
All of our other Exhibitor Booths in The Expo Pavilions including Grant Associates, Green Living Technologies, Green Roof Blocks, GreenGrid Roofs, Green Roof Plants, ILD, J-DRain, and Roofmeadow;
The Associates Booths at the Associate Pavilion;
The featured presentations and expert panel discussions with live Q & A records in the Rare Earth Auditorium;
and the rest of our stellar cast of international luminaries in the On Demand Auditorium.

It’s certainly not too late to register and see all of these amazing speakers and their interaction with our audience!  Registration will be open through October 28, 2011.

Here’s what one attendee had to say afterwards:

“Thank you for hosting the Virtual Summit 2011.  The event was extremely useful to me.  I’ve been working with green roofs here in Florida since 1995 and feel I learned more in two days than in most years since the time I first started growing plants way back, on a tin roof.

Most importantly though, the enthusiasm and success of others was so very important.

Here in Florida we lag behind the rest of the nation and the world.  But that is changing.  I know green roofs here will evolve just as beautifully and successfully as elsewhere.

Just seeing the inspirational work of others gave me the boost I needed.  Thank you and Aramis and the staff and speakers.  The Greenroofs.com Virtual Summit 2011 showed the world the importance of your outreach and informational organization.” ~ Kevin Songer

Thanks, Kevin!  If you weren’t able to join us live, we hope you will still sign up and enjoy the 32 presentations at your leisure through October 28!

See you at a physical conference somewhere in the world soon, and remember,

Love the Earth, Plant a Roof!

~ Linda V.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

See you online on September 27 & 28, 2011!

~ Linda V.

The ever growing demand for sustainable design continues to grow across the world – especially with living architecture, and Greenroofs.com’s inaugural Greenroofs & Walls of the World™ Virtual Summit held online on September 27 and 28, 2011 is truly a groundbreaking event you can’t miss!

Join us as we inform, share, and create a global social media experience for learning and networking via the power of the Internet.   It’s a community destination that will allow you to connect with everyone in our growing community!

Over 50 speakers from around the world are joining us in the Virtual Summit including architects, ecologists, landscape architects, engineers, educators, industry CEOs, product manufacturers and suppliers, botanists, non-profit directors, government officials and representatives from the state of New York, cities of Portland, OR; Chicago, IL; and the Bronx.

We’ve just released our very impressive international speaker line-up for the Virtual Summit 2011 – you can now see the Speakers page and Agenda to learn all about each presenter and their presentations or panel sessions.

Our Keynote Speakers are thinkers, designers, trend setters, eco-luminaries:

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

• Andrew Grant, Landscape Architect, Principal, Grant Associates, presenting: “Gardens by the Bay, Singapore“
  Charlie Miller, P.E., Principal, Roofmeadow, presenting “A New Place“
  Ed Snodgrass, Farmer, Author, Co-owner, Emory Knoll Farms/Green Roof Plants, presenting “Right Plant, Right Place“
  Ralph Velasquez, Executive Director of Sustainability, Tremco, presenting “CSR, Corporate Social Responsibility – The Who, What, Where, When and How“

Here are just a few more of the illustrious speakers we have in store for you:

Rosemarie S. Andolino, USA: The Chicago Department of Aviation (CDA) Commissioner will present “CDA Leads the Way for Incorporating Green Roof Space in an Airport Environment.”

Dr. Patrick Blanc, France: The renown botanist and creator of Le Mur Végétal will present “The Vertical Garden – from Nature to Cities” with an exclusive interview by Linda Velazquez.

Dr. Nigel Dunnett, UK: The Director of the Green Roof Centre and University of Sheffield Professor will present “Sky Meadows: The Ethics and Aesthetics of Diverse Green Roof Plantings.”

Paul Kephart, USA: The President of Rana Creek and ecological designer will present “Large-Scale Applications of Living Architecture.”

Xianmin Wang, China: The Deputy Chief of the Vertical Greening Academic Group of China Green Building Council; Vice Chairman of the International Rooftop Landscaping Association will present “The Current Situation and Future of Green Roofs in China.”

We’re treating our Greenroofs & Walls of the World™ Virtual Summit 2011 as a production, and now you can see the trailer – it’s fast, fun, and informative and gives you a glimpse of presentations to come.  Watch just a few highlights from our stellar cast of greenroof and greenwall professionals below:

Don’t forget to pre-register by September 9 for the discounted Early Bird rate of only $49 ($25 for students/faculty and government professionals) for access on both September 27 and 28 and 30 days archived on demand through October 28!  Plus, you’ll be automatically entered for the chance to win the first of two Apple iPad2s that we’re giving away.

One random winner will be chosen from the Early Bird Pre-Registrations and one from attendees who have been the most active using the Social Collaboration Network, including all your online chatting and visiting our very important sponsor and exhibitor booths at the Expo Pavilions!

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

Brought to you by Greenroofs.com, we’d like to thank to our Virtual Summit Sponsors TREMCO and American Hydrotech and our Exhibitors and Media Partners:

See our Press Release here.  Join us for the sharing, networking and fun event of the year!

~ Linda V.