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.
- 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.
- 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.
-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.
- 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!
- 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!
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 for May 6, 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 May 6th, 2011, on GreenroofsTV.
- Our project of the week is the Growing Up – also known as 131 Queen Street – greenroof built in 2010 in Melbourne, Australia. Melbourne’s skyline is now a little greener with the completion of the world’s first fully-funded, competition-designed, retrofitted green roof. The Growing Up project was launched to retrofit a green roof on a Central Business District building and to demonstrate the environmental and social benefits of green roofs on city buildings. BENT Architecture won the design competition established for the project, and the 10-story office building at 131 Queen Street was chosen as the site. KHD Landscape Engineering Solutions and Green Roof Technologies were involved in creating the green space as part of the $300,000 project, working together to provide end-to-end design, construction and maintenance services for green roofs. The Growing Up project won the Melbourne Design Award for Commercial Architecture for 2010.
- To learn more about the Growing Up (131 Queen Street) greenroof, click on our project of the week photo on our homepage.
- The Winner of our 2011 “Love the Earth, Plant a Roof!” Earth Day Photo Contest is the Aqua in Chicago, Illinois! Congrats to Linda Smith from Barrett Company who submitted this lovely project which received the most votes from all the entries! You can learn all about the Aqua at the Sky Gardens Blog.
- Read Haven Kiers’ latest Sky Gardens post “American Institute of Architects Select their 2011 COTE (coat) Top Ten Green Projects.” Now in its 15th year, the AIA and its Committee on the Environment, or COTE, have once again selected their top ten examples of sustainable architecture and green design solutions that protect and enhance the environment. See the three great 2011 Top Ten Award Winners that have incorporated greenroofs into their design.
- Tafline Laylin of Inhabitat.com says “It’s Always Play Time at Henning Larsen’s Beautiful Green-Roofed Day Care Center in Denmark.” Its tall windows let in lots of light while a special climate zone allows the children to play without gloves despite the cruel winters. Wedged into a hillside, this building keeps energy consumption to a minimum and also features a small herb and vegetable garden for the kids. As usual, Inhabitat has more stunning photos, so go to the article and browse their gallery.
- Another article with beautiful pictures is “House Ocho with a Lively Green Roof.” Preston Koerner of Jetson Green talks about this project in Carmel, California designed by Feldman Architecture, whose most notable detail is its dynamic greenroof that blends in with the hillside of the Santa Lucia Mountains. House Ocho has additional green aspects which include the integrated photovoltaic skylights, custom windows to optimize passive solar heating, thermal mass in the form of concrete floors, radiant heat floors, recycled denim insulation, and sustainably harvested wood floors. You can read more about this project in our Greenroof & Greenwall Projects Database at the link below (http://www.greenroofs.com/projects/pview.php?id=1116) or just type in Project ID # 1116 on the Projects Database search screen under Keyword.
- To learn more about these stories and new ones posted daily, go to our In the News or newslinks section of our website.
- Have something you think we should know about and post on our website? You can send us your green articles, videos and images to editor@greenroofs.com.
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 for April 15, 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 April 15th, 2011 on GreenroofsTV.
- Our project of the week is the Longdrive house built in 2008 in Long Eddy, New York. This 4,000 square foot home by Alveary Architects was designed to be an extension of existing trails and paths that wind through this beautiful 63 acre property. A conversation pit with a large stone fireplace dominates and anchors the center of the house. Radiant-heated stone floors were used throughout the main level while the master bedroom suite and upper stories were floored with reclaimed wood, which was also used for all interior walls. Next to the master bedroom is a green house separated by pivoting wood doors providing a tropical retreat during New York’s long winters. The house is covered by a custom designed green roof complimenting the natural setting and the planted roof on three levels blends into the natural landscape and encourages the wildlife to creep in close to the house. Also, Longdrive was featured on the cover of our 2011 Greenroofs and Walls of the World™ 12 Month Wall Calendar!
- To learn more about Longdrive, click on our project of the week photo on our homepage.
- Our 2011 “Love the Earth, Plant a Roof!” Earth Day Photo Contest is going on right now, so participate in the fun by submitting a photo on our Facebook page and telling your friends to vote! You can submit your greenroof or wall photo by next Friday, Earth Day April 22nd, but keep voting until Friday, April 29th and the winner will be announced on Saturday, April 30th!
- We’d like to announce a new Contributing Editor here at Greenroofs.com: Welcome to John Shepley! John is co-owner of Emory Knoll Farms/Green Roof Plants based in Street, Maryland and look for his first column coming very soon!
- GLTi also announces that Certification Training is Available for Registration in Detroit, Michigan. The GLTi training is much more than a lecture series; it’s also a hands-on demonstration and application comparing apples to apples. You will learn to compare other technologies! Both class sizes are limited so register early!
- The NYC Strategic Alliance for Health honored Discovery High School as the first recipient of its Excellence in School Wellness Award at Bronx ceremony earlier this week, on Tuesday April 12th, 2011. The Excellence in School Wellness Award recognizes the strides that schools are making in creating healthy school environments as a means to prevent childhood obesity and improve academic achievement. So, congrats to them!
- April 16th-17th: Join EPA for Earth Day on the National Mall at Washington, DC.
- April 19th-20th: is the Green California Summit and Exposition in Sacramento, CA.
- April 20th: there is a Garden Roof Course at GOCSI Green Product Show at the Central Florida Fairgrounds in Orlando, FL.
- And April 22nd: is Earth Day! Your support enables Earth Day Network to power the environmental movement and ensure a healthy and sustainable planet for all of us. Your contributions and purchases help mobilize communities, implement environmental education programs and support Earth Day events and actions around the world. From greening schools in post-Katrina New Orleans to improving water and sanitation services in a refugee community in Ghana, EDN supports and coordinates thousands of Earth Day events worldwide each year. Earth Day, April 22, is the largest secular holiday in the world, now celebrated by more than one billion people.
- Stay tuned for our latest Sky Gardens – Greenroofs of the World™: The Cook+Fox Architects Office episode in Manhattan, New York coming soon. In the summer of 2006, Cook+Fox Architects decided to set a greener, healthier example with a roof that absorbs stormwater, lowers surface temperature, and benefits both the local ecosystem and the human environment. Having grown rapidly, the firm had recently moved to a new office on Avenue of the Americas at West 20th Street. Located in the 8th floor penthouse of a former upscale department store, in the Ladies’ Mile Historic District, the new space looked onto a sizable terrace-level rooftop. Though coated in black tar and formally off-limits, the roof held great potential as a platform for promoting urban sustainability. For more information about this project profile you can search Cook+Fox in our projects database, or visit this link below: (http://www.greenroofs.com/projects/pview.php?id=670)
- Preston Moretz of the Temple University News talks about “Sustainability projects advance throughout Temple.” He says, “At Temple, environmental responsibility is continually being woven through the campus fabric; everywhere from academics, to research, to everyday business practices.” On the Main Campus, the redesign of Pearson and McGonigle Halls were to include a new upper level, which will feature the installation of approximately five 12-foot wind turbines on the roof. The turbines could generate between 16-18 kilowatts of power, which will be returned to the building’s power grid, reducing Temple’s energy costs. Temple’s Ambler Campus is home to the university’s first green roof, which was installed in 2005 through a grant from PECO Energy and occupies three-quarters of the 5,000-square-foot roof atop the Intercollegiate Athletics Field House.
- Tom Oswald of MSU News reports on “MSU students to present green-roof technology at EPA event in Washington.” A team of Michigan State University students travels to Washington, D.C. to take part in a competition that could get them a federal grant to continue research into technology that would allow green roofs to be used on sloped roofs. The students, who are in the MSU School of Planning, Design and Construction, are participating in the National Sustainable Design Expo, which is part of the Environmental Protection Agency’s celebration of Earth Day 2011. Jeremy Monsma, a graduate student in the SPDC who is heading up the project says, “The majority of residential roofs, especially here in the north, are sloped because of snow,” and “the goal of our work is to answer fundamental questions relating to the performance of extensive green roof systems when applied to more conventional pitched roof systems.” One of the goals of the team is to develop a construction manual which will assist with all future greenroof installation on steep slopes.
- Elisse Lorenc of Iowa State Daily announces, “Students Society of Landscape Architecture recruits by building green roof VEISHEA display.” Located in front of the College of Design, SSLA spent 6 months planning and constructing a display to demonstrate the uses of green roofs. The display has three miniature roofs or modules, each displaying a different type of green roof. The group hopes to grab students’ attention at VEISHEA, but also alumni to get the word out about green roofs, answering student questions and demonstrating the uses of a green roof.
- To learn more about these stories and new ones posted daily, go to our In the News or newslinks section of our website.
- Have something you think we should know about and post on our website? You can send us your green articles, videos and images to editor@greenroofs.com.
Jim Lapides, the Manager of Public Relations for the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) – of which I’m an associate member – shared some exciting news with me yesterday: The ASLA’s new Green Roof page is a Webby Award finalist under the “Society>Associations” category.
How fitting since April is National Landscape Architecture Month, when landscape architects plan special activities to be visible in their communities across the country, working with their chapters to introduce students and the public to the profession. The ASLA Green Roof page is pretty awesome, containing: Green Roof Central, Tour the Green Roof, Green Roof Data, Contributors and Benefactors, and a Student/Teacher Guide – plus some great photos, graphics, and videos.
Held on AOL.com, the 15th Annual Webby Awards say “Help create the Web by You” and be a part of the experience by voting for whom we think deserves to take home a People’s Voice Award.
“Unlike other award shows that crown just one winner chosen by the people, we think the public should have a say in who wins big. That’s why we give you the chance to crown a Webby winner in every category.
The Webby People’s Voice Awards honors the year’s best work in Websites, Interactive Advertising, Online Film & Video and Mobile. And while our esteemed judges have their own opinion, we want to hear from you. You can vote in every category, so go ahead. Step up on your soapbox and let the web know who rules your digital world.” ~ Webby Awards
The ASLA Green Roof page is honored for their excellence in informing the public about their own greenroof at the ASLA Headquarters plus educating about living roofs in general.
Voting for the 2011 Webbys is open from April 12th through to April 28th 2011. Jim says:
“I’m fairly certain that it’s the only nominee in the history of the Webbys that is focused on green roofs.” ~ Jim Lapides
So get going to have your say on who should win, including supporting the “ASLA Green Roof Experience” – vote for them at the 2011 Webby Awards! I just did.
You’ll need to create a quick profile and then you’re set. They’re in second place right now – let’s get them to #1, which would make for a truly celebratory Landscape Architecture Month as well as support our industry by highlighting greenroofs!
The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) Headquarters in Washington, D.C. was our Greenroof Project of the Week (GPW) from April 25 through last Sunday, May 2, 2010. When I asked ASLA for some updates on the roof, they explained they were in the midst of midyear meetings, so I knew I would be a bit late reporting on this beautiful rooftop space, but here we go! I chose this particular project to end April, aptly befitting since it was Landscape Architecture Month. Founded in 1899, ASLA chose April because it is the birth month of the “Father of Landscape Architecture,” Frederick Law Olmsted, and in any case it’s certainly a perfect example of thoughtful, sustainable design to end Earth Month on a positive note, too.
Being an associate member of ASLA (I’m not full ASLA because although I have a degree in landscape architecture, I’m not licensed as a landscape architect - aka LA), I was very proud that our professional organization became a greenroofing pioneer when they decided to retrofit their headquarters with a living roof back in 2004. Under the leadership of landscape arcitechture firm Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, Inc. (MVVA) and in typical LA fashion, a creative, design-focused team of practitioners was established to determine functionality and design intent with all the stakeholders. Multiple charrettes afforded an open invitation to collaborative feedback and re-design. One of the main priorities was for the roof to provide educational, viewing, and recreational opportunities to employees and visitors – in effect, a landmark demonstration project to showcase the many benefits of greenroofs and what landscape architects contribute to this project type.
Since weight was a potential issue on the older building as well as accessibility, the project began with a structural assessment to ensure that the roof could accommodate the additional load of a greenroof, around 40 lbs/sf for an extensive roof. Limitations became opportunities for creative design:
“The designers made maximum use of the structural capacity of the building, varying soil depths and plantings to take advantage of differing load capacities. For example, the elevator shaft has the greatest structural capacity and could accommodate 21 inches of soil; plantings on the elevator shaft include sumac trees, which may grow as tall as 30 feet at maturity.” ~ ASLA Green Roof Demonstration Project Fact Sheet
The ASLA greenroof is unique in so many ways! As stewards of the Earth, landscape architects promote native plants, which always positions a plantscape – whether on land or roof – to accurately portray its genius loci, or sense of place. And yet as we all know, greenroofs most certainly are not set in native environments – the “soil” is not native as it is a highly engineered growing medium designed to supply drainage and retain moisture, secure and anchor plant roots, and provide aeration and nutrients in a highly unnatural environment – a rooftop usually separated from the ground plane by many feet.
Balancing this responsibility, ASLA decided to inform the public regarding both options and the roof contains both native and introduced plant species – the more proven, non-native greenroof plant material, which for the most part has been the true survivors of the harsh effects of wind, frost, heat, and drought found on a roof, and various native selections researched to perform well under this stressful conditions. Here’s a look at the changing aesthetics of nature, even on designed spaces – the two photos above show the South Wave in bloom: the top photo is from early May, 2007, and the bottom from June, 2009, which sports its current look.
[The] “desire to make the green roof feel like a garden also guided MVVA’s approach to planting the space. The idea was to use the roof as a kind of laboratory for identifying species, beyond the typical green roof sedums, that could thrive in shallow soil, and under the harsh environmental conditions typical of many urban rooftops, without extensive maintenance or watering. We were particularly interested in plants that might offer increased environmental and experiential value.
“In addition to a variety of succulents, therefore, the plantings included flowering perennials like Goldenrod, Spiderwort, Black-eyed Susans, Artemesia, and Butterfly Milkweed, as well as a variety of grasses, including Blue Gamma Grass, and Virginia Wild Rye. For the first two years during the establishment of the plants, we had a member of our staff make periodic visits to evaluate the success of the planting, making adjustments to the plans based on our observations.” ~ Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, Inc.
So their design features two different but equally stunning elevated ”waves” featuring a 6″ deep semi-extensive system with both native (flowering herbaceous perennials and grasses) and non-native plants on the North Wave, 6′ high, and non-native plants (mostly sedums) on the 4.5″ deep extensive South Wave system, 5′ high. From the central viewing platform, plants are brought up to eye level and an aluminum grating was added so sedum is literally blooming at visitors’ feet from another extensive greenroof system underneath.
The waves also act as noise insulators from the a/c units and the roof provides an urban habitat for birds, pollinating insects and butterflies. Completed in 2006 and open to the public almost five years now, visitors have come from around the world to view the 3,000 sf greenroof, including past First Lady Laura Bush.
MMVA provided the axonometric drawing (thumbnail) at left of the various layers of the greenroof which shows how the design uses typical green roof materials, but in a way that is layered and exaggerated to create a space that is visually engaging and multi-functional (originally posted in the April, 2006 USATODAY.com article “Green roofs swing temperatures in urban jungles” by April Holladay under “Anatomy of a Green Roof“). Rachel Gleeson, Senior Associate with MVVA, explains that the spatial innovation of the design is an extreme vertical exaggeration of the roof insulation (Styrofoam) to create the two large sloping landforms that are the “waves,” rising to heights up to six feet. Covered with only a thin soil profile, they create a rare kind of rooftop topography that has a profound influence on the space.
Yet the waves posed technical challenges. After the application of the Styrofoam, a perforated soil retention membrane was added to allow water to stream through but still hold the plants in place. A cable was then run through the system to prevent it from becoming airborne. Rachel continues: “Strong winds on the small roof threatened to shear the lightweight foam from its anchors, and the shape and angle of the landforms’ walls compounded this threat. Robert Sillman Associates, the structural engineer on the project, devised an ingenious solution that used the arcing steel frames of the landforms as armature. [The cable] elegantly secures the two foam objects to the roof trusses below, preventing the foam from blowing off the building.”
“One of the things that MVVA felt was important with the ASLA Green Roof was to establish a precedent for a hybrid green roof garden that celebrated the unique pleasure of an urban rooftop garden without sacrificing the utility and low weight of a typical green roof. Some of the most exciting aspects of the ASLA Green Roof are the ones that demonstrate ways that the human uses and the green roof functions could really support each other – most notably the “waves” of raised planting and also the grating that allowed for open walking surfaces above planted areas.” ~ MVVA
Each wave is distinct and beautiful at different times of the year and serves double-duty by not only offering all of the ecological, environmental, aesthetic and psychological benefits pertaining to greenroofing, but showing the public options for creating a living roof of their own. And the innovative metal grating walkway system over the middle greenroof plantings allowed ASLA to utilize 90% of the greenroof by planting sedum and other succulents below the grates!
“For the most part, sedum and green roof plants cannot be walked on, which often times creates a trade-off between having a green roof and creating an occupiable space for people. The experimental system used in the ASLA Green Roof floats a super lightweight aluminum grating, low in heat conductivity, 3” over a thin green roof system of sedum. The sedum selected usually reaches about 6” in height, so the plants are not hidden, but can poke up through the aluminum grating a bit. In the areas of high traffic the plants that emerge through the grate get trampled a little, but this results in regeneration, rather than destruction.” (MVVA)
One more unique feature of the project is the buy-in received from not only members of ASLA who contributed money, but also the greenroof industry - the majority of the products and services were donated. Major donors include: American Hydrotech and their Garden Roof Assembly; Emory Knoll Farms/Green Roof Plants for vegetation; and St. Louis Metal Works for edging and drains, to name a few (see the complete list here).
ASLA also received a $25,000 Chesapeake Bay Small Watershed Grant from the Chesapeake Bay Program, a partnership between Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, the District of Columbia, the Chesapeake Bay Commission, and the federal government.
Keith Swann, Special Assistant to the Exec. VP, American Society of Landscape Architects, shares the following info with us:
The American Society of Landscape Architects Green Roof Five Years Later
The ASLA green roof still continues to amaze all who visit it. And those visitors have come from as far as the Middle East, Far East and Australia to witness its beauty. With its wide variety of soil depths and diverse plant selection, this green roof offers many microclimates for the plants to thrive. From the terrace level with three inches of growing medium, the sedums have thrived under the innovative grating system as well as the in the other areas. This grating, aluminum, light-weight and recyclable, allowed a maximum planting area and walkable space on the roof. The bonus is the sedums bloom at your feet in addition to on the “waves” bringing a wide abundance of plants and color to eye level for everyone to enjoy.
In addition to the terrace level and waves, the newly added staircase, which makes this a popular public project, has 12 inches of growing medium and flourishing shrubs of fragrant sumacs, Pasture rose, and New Jersey tea. The elevator shaft has 21 inches of growing medium and houses the Flame sumac and the trumpet vine that is covering the trellis for additional shade as you enter the green roof.
By using the Hobo temperature monitoring system, the green roof has shown a maximum temperature difference of 43.5 degrees lower than from a nearby tar roof. As the plants have matured, this temperature has risen from the initial reading of 39.5 degrees lower. The expectation is that as the plants mature even more over the years, the temperature difference between the two roofs would continue to increase. As a demonstration project, this type is data is very useful in determining the just one more attribute of how green roofs are healthier for the environment than conventional roofs.
The roof has been monitored for stormwater runoff, water quality (to determine the concentrations of contaminants of concern leaving the greenroof), and air temperature and is compared with data from the conventional roof on the building next door. See a synopsis of comprehensive water monitoring data from the first year of the ASLA Headquarters’ greenroof here or the full briefing report (both .doc files).
The ASLA is very committed to promoting the work of landscape architects and greenroofs, so much that they have a section of their website devoted to the subject – Green Roof Central, where you can learn all about greenroofs in general as well as their own. There’s a webcam showing the HQ greenroof and a page for educators and students – the ASLA Green Roof Education Program, The Roof is Growing! The program provides print and web-based educational materials geared to a middle-school age audience (grades 6 - 8) and their teachers. Key goals of the program are to raise awareness of environmental issues and the role green roofs can play in reducing storm water runoff, mitigating the urban heat island effect, improving air quality, and providing important biohabitat for birds and insects. (In 2007 I was one of the expert reviewers of the four segments of the “The Roof Is Growing!” web component.)
Advocacy is a also a big item for the ASLA – they focus on state and federal issues that impact the profession of landscape architecture. Advocacy efforts are organized around these key issues: economic recovery, transportation, sustainable design, livable communities, water & stormwater, and historic landscapes.
Greenroofs.com highlighted the ASLA HQ greenroof in our 2009 Greenroofs of the World™ Calendar for the month of August with the photo above (but we Photoshopped out the ad on the brick wall per their request), and as familiar as I am with this roof, I haven’t yet visited this lovely, warm green space created with humans and nature in mind – but I promise, I will! See a one and a half minute video of the ASLA Green Roof from the organization below for a quick visual of this beautifully designed, ecologically inspired, showcase of responsible architecture:
The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) Headquarters is located at 636 Eye Street NW, Washington D.C. 20001. Tours of the ASLA greenroof are available for groups or individuals on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays between 10:00 am and 2:00 pm by calling ASLA at 202.898.2444 or filling out a form.
As we continue to ring in 2010 we hope you enjoyed warm holidays with family and friends and celebrated the New Year with renewed hope for the future. Can you believe we’ve entered a new decade? Shall we call it 2K10, Twenty Ten, or just good old fashioned 2,010? In any case, we’re finally out of the 0’s, now we’re into the 10’s.
Our world economy has been through a lot in the past few years, yet with a promising light hovering just over the horizon. Although development overall has declined, there is continued desire for green buildings from both the public and private sector, and in general our greenroof & greenwall industry has weathered quite nicely. Many of us are taking time to reflect on this passage of time and make New Year’s resolutions (another topic altogether!), and I was thinking of how far we have come since the German experience entered our architectural radar and into our collective consciousness in the 1990’s. Literally thousands of vegetated roofs and walls have been constructed since then in every continent except for Antarctica, with ever growing support from forward thinking multidisciplinary professionals: designers, government officials, organizations, companies, universities, students and other advocates looking to make Earth a little more sustainable.
Sadly, one of those special, innovative people passed away last November 27, the indomitable architect Malcolm Wells. Regarded as “the father of modern earth-sheltered architecture,” he was a staunch advocate of living architecture, known for his way ahead-of-the-times underground earth designs with living roofs starting in the 1960’s, see just one example below. He leaves a legacy of what he referred to as gentle architecture, design that would, in his own words, “leave the land no worse than you found it.”
The visionary Malcolm Wells' design for an eco-gas station, from MalcolmWells.com.
Many inspirational people and organizations have contributed to our current market, and I want to highlight just a few success stories from the past year, personal and global. So in my review, here are my favorite 2009 Top 10 Milestones and Accomplishments for both Greenroofs.com as a company and our international community as a whole:
10) In 2009 Greenroofs.com celebrated 10 years of being in business! We’ve seen a lot of progress and change for the good here as well as across the greenroof world. The fledgling Greenroofs.com – “exploring the ecology of organic greenroof architecture” started out as 60+ pages in 1999 as the result of an independent research study I did at the University of Georgia.
By 2003 we changed our format and grew into Greenroofs.com – “the international greenroof industry’s resource and online information portal,” and contained 600+ pages at the end of 2009 (not counting the hundreds of .php pages from The Greenroof Directory or The Greenroof Projects Database). At present, each month Greenroofs.com receives more than 160,000 unique visits and about 400,000 page views, and we’ve also expanded our presence in social marketing, too, so now you can stay connected with us on: Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, eNewsletter (our monthly eNewsletter consists of 10,000 opt-in subscribers) & YouTube, as well as our Blog.
9) The proliferation of living architecture is greatly spreading and permeating into the areas of design, policy, research and education through numerousworld conferences, congresses, expos, trainings, tours, and other events. For example, the World Green Infrastructure Network (WGIN) – formerly the World Green Roof Infrastructure Network (WGRIN) - held its first CitiesAlive! World Green Roof Congress in Toronto, Canada, with the second scheduled for Mexico City this October, 2010. The International Green Roof Association (IGRA) hosted the 2nd International Green Roof Congress 2009 in Nürtingen, Germany and the 3rd annual Green Roofs Australia Conference 2009 was held at the University of Melbourne. Longevity was evident with the 7th National FBB Green Roof Conference in Ditzingen, Germany and the 7th annual Green Roofs for Healthy Cities (GRHC) Greening Rooftops for Sustainable Communities Conference, Awards, and Trade Show in Atlanta, Georgia. By the way, look for the 8th annual GRHC conference to occur in Vancouver, B.C. on November 30 – December 2, 2010, rebranded as ”Cities Alive.” Look for many new 2010 events throughout the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Germany, China, Singapore, India and more under Upcoming Events, where you can also access Past Events.
7)Green walls are firmly becoming entrenched in sustainable design,evidenced by high media attention, as much for their green properties as for their edible gardening possibilities. We’ve had tons of news articles posted in NewsLinks, our huge database of global articles, concerning living walls and green façades! In fact, they were listed as #31 in TIME’s 50 Best Inventions of 2009 and Triple Pundit recently proposed: ”Gardens Grow Up: Are Vertical Landscapes the New Green Roofs?“ - both featuring the works of Patrick Blanc. In our business you’d have to be living under a rock not to know who the renowned French botanist is; his often fantastical “murs végétalisés” designs stretch the limits of horticulture and design. Since 1994, he has created over 140 public vertical gardens as well as many private installations, including his most famous, the Quai Branly Museum in Paris, shown below. Read more about green walls from Treehugger, Daily Telegraph, Daily Commercial News, The New York Times, Times Online and CNN.com, just to name a few.
In 2009 Green Roofs for Healthy Cities, the North American professional association, established greenwall research projects at the British Columbia Institute of Technology and the University of Maryland, and GRHC has included an award category for Green Wall Excellence in Design for a couple of years now. In 2008 Greenroofs.com added our 8th Contributing Editor, George Irwin - aptly titled The Green Wall Editor - to cover this growing vertical gardening field, and new for 2010 we have altered the title of our Greenroof Projects Database to reflect the inclusion of these: The Greenroof & Greenwall Projects Database.
6)Investing in green building and infrastructure makes good economic sense by integrating green building policies into wider economic development goals, and creates a new job market. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) has prompted a gigantic increase in federal green spending, providing new money to all levels of government, aimed at stimulating the economy, promoting job growth, and lowering energy costs, providing an unprecedented opportunity for advancing green building and sustainability efforts in the U.S. And last December, the American Institute of Architects (AIA) reported at least 138 U.S. cities with populations over 50,000 people have green building programs in place (compared to only 92 in 2007). Referring to the economic recession, the AIA said “The downturn has had a devastating effect on construction generally, but sustainable building design continues to maintain and improve its market share.” Read their 2009 in depth study “Green Building Policy in a Changing Economic Environment” to learn more.
American Institute of Architects 2009 Study of Green Building Programs by Cities
U.S. economic stimulus efforts encompass green energy and construction, including greenroofs along with other forms of green building, and just one such example of Recovery Act funds benefit Washington D.C., where the Washington Business Journal says “Nearly $4 million would go toward building more than 100,000 sf of green roofs on city buildings, including libraries, firehouses and a demonstration project atop the parking garage deck at University of the District of Columbia. The stimulus funds would also expand the city’s green roof rebate program to allow residents and small businesses to afford another 20,000 sf of private green roof space.”
And importantly, many green building programs are also creating “green collar” jobs. In late 2009, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and Booz Allen Hamilton conducted a study and stated “Green building will support 7.9 million U.S. jobs and pump $554 billion into the American economy – including $396 billion in wages – over the next four years (2009-2013). The study also determined that green construction spending currently supports more than 2 million American jobs and generates more than $100 billion in gross domestic product and wages…The full report can be downloaded at www.usgbc.org/greeneconomy, where one can also find other research, resources, tools and information about green building and its role in the economic recoveries of professionals, businesses and the nation.” According to an analysis by American Rivers and the Alliance for Water Efficiency, the Natural Resources Defense Council reports that a $10 billion nationwide initiative to install greenroofs alone would result in almost 200,000 jobs – the Senate is expected to consider its own version of the bill in early 2010.
5)Green Roofs for Healthy Cities launched the Green Roof Professional (GRP) accreditation for North America. The GRP is a measure of knowledge of established best practices and although a voluntary program, with the designation professionals can distinguish themselves in the marketplace. This association milestone was at least four years in the making! Currently with more than 250 GRP’s in 2009, GRHC hopes to add more professionals in 2010. Check their website for future testing dates, and consider attending one of their Green Roof Boot Camps to refresh and get you ready. See my interview with Jeff Bruce, president of Jeffrey L. Bruce & Company, Chair of GRHC and the GRHC Training and Accreditation Committee, which developed the Green Roof Professional program, to learn why the organization felt this accreditation was needed, how it evolved, and where it’s heading. For more info on the GRP, see “A Video Introduction to the GRP Program” from Green Roofs for Healthy Cities.
4)Within the U.S. industry, major contributions were made in the area to develop best practice wind and fire standards for greenroof design. Since 2007, leaders from various organizations have been working hard on prescriptive standards, and in 2009 standards were inserted into the International Building Code from members of GRHC and Single Ply Roofing Industry (SPRI). Read “Green Roof Wind & Fire Design Guidelines: After Three Years, Half the Battle is Won,” written by one of our Contributing Editors, Kelly Luckett, The Green Roof Guy, to learn about this winding road’s development of RP-14 and VF-1. And stay tuned for updates with his column here on Greenroofs.com.
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUe) Wind Tunnel Testing in June, 2009.
3) The global Greenroof & Greenwall Projects Database surpassed the 1,000 mark in December! So where are all these greenroofs and greenwalls anyway? Let’s continue to work together to grow, update, and share valuable case studies for our communal benefit, for free. Even in today’s openly transparent society (think Google Earth), some people worry about confidentiality issues, and we only post information that is submitted to us by owners/project principals or that which is openly available through various media channels, and we always list owners as “private” when requested. The Greenroof & Greenwall Projects Database is now searchable by 24 fields, including specifically for green walls. After our Home Page, the Projects Database is the next visited page on Greenroofs.com – make sure your projects and valuable experiences are included here.
2) My albeitly biased personal favorite, Greenroofs.com inaugurated our first episode of the Sky Gardens ~ Greenroofs of the World™ WebTV series. Premiering at Boston GreenFest in September, our new venture followed on the GreenroofsTV channel on YouTube, and next on our own greenroofs.tv, where you can now see it in its entirety at just under 37 minutes. By the way, you can also view our video offshoot, ”Greenroofs 101 from Greenroofs.com” (4:50) in Greenroofs 101 or directly below, which is a great way to introduce the concept to newcomers. Coming soon is episode 2, highlighting the gorgeous Cook+Fox Architects corporate offices in Manhattan, NY. Our third episode is in the works, and more are being scheduled, so stay tuned!
1) 2009 saw some serious support for greenroofs, championed by professional organizations and governmental bodies alike. Global industry support has grown over the years, and many advocates continue to actively promote them worldwide. For example, the City of Chicago, certainly the U.S. leader in greenroofs, now has over 7 million square feet of vegetated roofs completed or under development. New support in 2009 includes:
North America: In addition to offering eco-incentives for greenroofs, currently Toronto has the most progressive policy in North America – last May Toronto became the first city here to adopt a bylaw to require and govern the construction of greenroofs. The new bylaw will be required on all new development above 2,000 m² (about 21,530 sf) of gross floor area and have a graduated coverage requirement ranging from 20-60%. Working with a program budget of $800,000/year, owners of industrial and commercial buildings can apply for grants worth up to $100,000 (Canadian) to build a greenroof. Mayor David Miller predicts the rules and incentives will create 50 to 60 green-roofed buildings per year, in addition to their current 135 vegetated roofs. Green Roofs for Healthy Cities supported the by-law against pressure from developers opposed to the policy. See more details under Industry Support and at the City of Toronto website.
Here in the U.S., in late 2009 ASLA, the American Society of Landscape Architects, worked with Congress to include the Green Act into the House-passed climate change legislation. The Act would require the Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to employ greenroofs, tree canopy coverage, and other site planning techniques to help reduce heating and cooling costs in certain HUD facilities. Still pending before the Senate Finance Committee, last January Senator Maria Cantwell (WA) introduced the Clean Energy Stimulus and Investment Assurance Act of 2009 (S.320), legislation geared toward creating high-wage green-collar jobs and revitalizing the economy through clean energy investments. ASLA worked with Senator Cantwell’s office to ensure that a section of the bill was dedicated to green roof tax incentives, and GRHC provided technical support. Under section 506 of the bill, residential and commercial property owners will receive a 30% tax credit for qualified greenroof expenditures.
As you may recall, Congress enacted Section 438 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA) to require federal agencies to reduce stormwater runoff from federal development projects to protect water resources and in October of 2009, President Obama signed Executive Order 13514 on “Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance” calling upon all federal agencies to lead by example and address a wide range of environmental issues, including stormwater runoff. Federal agencies can comply with Section 438 by using a variety of green infrastructure / low impact development techniques including living roofs. Prepared by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in coordination with other federal agencies, the “Technical Guidance on Implementing the Stormwater Runoff Requirements for Federal Projects under Section 438 of the Energy Independence and Security Act” PDF is highly detailed and instructive.
State and municipal governments also provided policy support: Former Virginia Governor Timothy M. Kaine signed three bills promoting incentives in 2009: HB 1975 and SB 1058 authorize localities to grant regulatory flexibility and incentives to promote the construction of vegetative roofs on private homes and businesses. The incentives or regulatory flexibility could include a reduction in permit fees, a streamlined process for the approval of building permits, or a reduction in any gross receipts tax on greenroof contractors as defined by the local ordinance. The third bill, HB 1828, allows water authorities to offer rate incentives for vegetative roof construction, based on the percentage of stormwater runoff reduction. In late fall, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA), Metropolitan Sewer District of Greater Cincinnati (MSDGC), and the Office of Environmental Quality created a Green Roof Loan Program utilizing money from the Water Pollution Control Loan Fund. OEPA has made $5,000,000 available for linked deposit, below market rate loans to install green vegetative roofs within the service area of MSDGC on residential, commercial and/or industrial buildings.
Already a city offering several greenroof incentives, in October Portland’s city commission approved a Climate Action Plan which calls for a 40% reduction in carbon emissions by 2030 and an 80% reduction by 2050. According to the Portland Business Journal, “The Plan calls for the city and county to take 93 actions over the next three years. City bureaus must immediately begin implementing 15 of the new climate-related initiatives, such as establishing a tax credit for businesses that install ecoroofs and solar panels together.” And last month, the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District invited governments, organizations, school districts, and businesses within the 28 communities it serves to participate in their 2010 Regional Green Roof Initiative Program. Among other prerequisites, proposed projects must minimize impervious roof area and maximize the reduction in the rate and/or volume of stormwater runoff.
The World:Singapore is targeting 50 hectares of skyrise greenery by 2030 and its Urban Redevelopment Authority launched the LUSH Programme (Landscaping for Urban Spaces and High-Rises) in April of 2009. Offering financial and planning incentives to developers to provide greenery at the upper levels of high rise buildings, their goal is to make 80% of all buildings in Singapore green by 2030. Quezon City, Phillipines has a new law requiring private and government-owned buildings to green part of their rooftops. New commercial/residential buildings, under the Green Roof Ordinance (Ordinance 1940) signed into law by Mayor Feliciano R. Belmonte, Jr. last September, should allocate at least 30% of their roof area for plants and trees. In Australia, the Queensland Government signed a “Memorandum Of Understanding” with the Singapore National Parks Board late last year to trial vertical gardens and greenroofs in various cities in an effort to benefit from Singapore’s experience with skyrise greenery.
Dubai Municipality launched a greenroof initiative in line with a Dubai law on green building specifications. The Municipality’s strategic goal is to raise per capita green area to 23.4 square meters by the end of 2011, with the green building project coming under the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, United Arab Emirate Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai. A public awareness campaign for greenroofs was announced last month, committed to the “development of laws and regulations to keep pace with international standards in the field of sustainable development by planting green roofs and facades in the Emirate of Dubai.” Traveling display models and educational publications will circulate residential neighborhoods and shopping centers and markets for a 12-month period. Read more on the Dubai Municipality Portal. One spectacular greening project currently on the boards in Dubai is the self-sustained system “Food City” below, designed by Green Concepts Landscape Architects (GCLA):
The proposed Dubai Food City, conceptualized by landscape architecture firm GCLA.
So here we are at the start of a whole new year – we hope you’re excited and optimistic about it, just as we are! Whatever 2009 offered you, we hope you embraced new friends and opportunities and experienced great personal and professional growth, and we thank you for your readership. What’s in store for our new decade? We’ll see, but as the green building industry continues with positive signs of sustained growth, let’s also continue to collaborate and create a more sustainable world with eco-architecture embracing greenroofs and greenwalls as part of the overall green living architecture strategy.
“I woke up one day to the fact that the earth’s surface was made for living plants, not industrial plants.” ~ Malcolm Wells
Here’s a gentle toast to continued health, love, and prosperity for you, your families, and all of our greenroof associates in 2010!
- Preston Moretz of the Temple University News talks about “Sustainability projects advance throughout Temple.” He says, “At Temple, environmental responsibility is continually being woven through the campus fabric; everywhere from academics, to research, to everyday business practices.” On the Main Campus, the redesign of Pearson and McGonigle Halls were to include a new upper level, which will feature the installation of approximately five 12-foot wind turbines on the roof. The turbines could generate between 16-18 kilowatts of power, which will be returned to the building’s power grid, reducing Temple’s energy costs. Temple’s Ambler Campus is home to the university’s first green roof, which was installed in 2005 through a grant from PECO Energy and occupies three-quarters of the 5,000-square-foot roof atop the Intercollegiate Athletics Field House.
- Tom Oswald of MSU News reports on “MSU students to present green-roof technology at EPA event in Washington.” A team of Michigan State University students travels to Washington, D.C. to take part in a competition that could get them a federal grant to continue research into technology that would allow green roofs to be used on sloped roofs. The students, who are in the MSU School of Planning, Design and Construction, are participating in the National Sustainable Design Expo, which is part of the Environmental Protection Agency’s celebration of Earth Day 2011. Jeremy Monsma, a graduate student in the SPDC who is heading up the project says, “The majority of residential roofs, especially here in the north, are sloped because of snow,” and “the goal of our work is to answer fundamental questions relating to the performance of extensive green roof systems when applied to more conventional pitched roof systems.” One of the goals of the team is to develop a construction manual which will assist with all future greenroof installation on steep slopes.
- Elisse Lorenc of Iowa State Daily announces, “Students Society of Landscape Architecture recruits by building green roof VEISHEA display.” Located in front of the College of Design, SSLA spent 6 months planning and constructing a display to demonstrate the uses of green roofs. The display has three miniature roofs or modules, each displaying a different type of green roof. The group hopes to grab students’ attention at VEISHEA, but also alumni to get the word out about green roofs, answering student questions and demonstrating the uses of a green roof.
