Each week you can expect to learn What’s New here on Greenroofs.com through our “This Week in Review” video.  Here is the transcript from December 16th and 9th, 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 December 16th and 9th, 2011 on GreenroofsTV.

- Projects of the Week

-  Our project of the week is the Orchard Central Mall Greenwalls built in 2009 in Singapore. Orchard Central Mall is Singapore’s tallest and first vertical pure-retail mall, and has a 160m façade featuring a faceted membrane which functions as a massive media wall, adding visual vibrancy to Orchard Road. The rooftop gardens offer a great spot for dining alfresco, sipping coffee, or enjoying afternoon tea, and feature three large living walls, a balcony rail on the 11th floor, and two lower green walls on the 12th floor roof terrace.

Orchard Central Mall is a winner of the Singapore Institute of Architects and National Parks Board Skyrise Greenery Awards in 2009. The award aims to promote skyrise greenery in Singapore and to recognize the greening efforts in high rise developments by owners/developers, architects, landscape architects/designers, and landscape contract managers. VersiCell sub-soil drainage modules were used in the landscaped areas and planter boxes to facilitate efficient drainage of water and the Elmich Green Wall systems were installed on the 11th and 12th floors of the mall.

-  Our project of the week for last week was The Ramona Apartments, in Portland, OR.  The Ramona Apartments is a new mixed-use, midrise apartment building consisting of six stories of wood-framed construction over a concrete podium. In addition to the ecoroof, the building’s courtyard contains permeable surfaces, plants, gravel and sand that are designed to filter and retain stormwater. Together with the roof, these elements treat one hundred percent of the property’s stormwater. Additional benefits of the ecoroof are the mitigation of the urban heat island effect and providing an environment for native habitat.

-  To learn more about the Orchard Central Mall Greenwalls, click on our project of the week photo on our homepage and for The Ramona Apartments, type in Project ID #1384 in the Greenroof & Greenwall Projects Database.

“What’s New”

- Our 2012 Greenroofs & Walls of the World™ 12 Month Wall Calendar is now available for purchase! The Greenroofs & Walls of the World™ series combines two of our most popular destinations on Greenroofs.com: The Greenroof & Greenwall Projects Database and Upcoming Events. It’s a great way to highlight fabulous projects and our website Sponsors, our highest level of advertising. Kudos to all the sustainable designers out there as well as the companies and organizations who back us up with ecologically friendly products and services. You can get the perfect holiday gift for your family, friends, staff and clients for only $12.95 which includes shipping within the U.S, and Canada, or a special discount for orders of 10 or more!

- Every week we’ll be uploading a video from our Greenroofs & Walls of the World™ Virtual Summit 2011 to our greenroofsTV page and YouTube channel. Last week we featured our Opening Keynote Address by Charlie Miller, P.E. of Roofmeadow: “A New Place.” And this week we’re highlighting the “2011 Top 10 Hot Trends in Greenroof & Greenwall Design” by Linda Velazquez and Haven Kiers, so be sure to check them out and stay tuned for more!

Advertiser Press Releases:

-  New Green Building Product Announcement: Introducing LiveRoof® Maxx: the Eight-Inch Deep module for the LiveRoof® Hybrid Green Roof System.

-  Welcome to our new Greenroof Directory advertiser H. Keith Wagner Partnership out of Burlington VT!

Industry News Update

-  The City Planning Commission unveiled a proposal this week to amend New York City’s zoning code to make it easier for buildings to incorporate environmentally friendly additions such as solar panels, wind turbines and wall insulation. The package of rule changes, dubbed Zone Green, would permit solar panels, greenroofs, storm water detention systems, skylights and other green features on buildings, despite height restrictions, and would allow owners to install wind turbines up to 55 feet above rooftops on waterfront buildings and buildings taller than 100 feet.

-  Joblinks Update

Columbia-Green is looking for a Sales Manager based in the Midwest or East Coast, USA.

The Horticultural Society of New York (The Hort) is seeking a Greenroof Research Intern in New York, NY.

-  Over at Sky Gardens, check out Linda’s latest posts: “Greenroofs & Walls of the World™ Virtual Summit 2011 Episode 2: The Hot Top 10 List by Linda Velazquez and Haven Kiers,” “Order Your 2012 Greenroofs & Walls of the World™ Calendar Now!,” “Greenroofs & Walls of the World™ Virtual Summit 2011 Episode 1: Charlie Miller,” and “See all the Greenroofs & Walls of the World™ Virtual Summit 2011 Videos on greenroofs.tv!”

- “Upcoming Events”

-  The Water-Harvesting Certification Training program in Phoenix takes place from February 24th to March 4th, 2012 and applications are due December 30th, 2011.

- “In the News”

-  Matt Hickman of Mother Nature Network blogs about “Evergreen homes: Green Roof House.” In his monthly series of spotlighting green residential building projects from his home state of Washington, Hickman talks about the Green Roof House and says, “When building up to accommodate a growing family, the owners of the Green Roof House not only added a second floor to their Seattle bungalow but neighbor-pleasing elements like a green roof and living wall.”

This House was showcased as part of the 2011 Seattle Green Home Tour and includes numerous green amenities like a solar PV system, a living wall, a rainwater catchment system and a greenroof. Working with a growing family who could only build up and not out, the design-build firm Batt + Lear, went up to the roof to see exactly how a 2nd story would impact the neighbors’ view. Not wanting to make any additional living space unfortunate for the neighbors or clash with the existing architecture, they decided to build the 2nd floor addition on the front half of the home and install the beautiful greenroof on the back half. Now when the neighbors look out their windows, instead of black asphalt to look at, they’ll have a lush colorful landscape.

-  Robin L. Eschler of WomensRadio.com, talks about “Green Roofs and a 300 Year Old Business: An interview with Ed Snodgrass.” Traditional farming, raising corn, cattle, llamas, Christmas trees and now greenroof plants, Emory Knoll Farms has been around for over 300 years. Ed Snodgrass, current Emory Knolls Farm co-owner, international horticulturalist, author and avid conservationist, and contributing editor here at Greenroofs.com, is carrying on the success of the six-generations-family-owned business in northern Maryland.

Today the majority of Emory Knolls Farm is supporting indigenous trees, native meadow plants, native fauna and over ninety species of birds and the nursery is the only one in North America that is dedicated just to greenroof plants. Emory Knoll Farms is currently involved in over 800 projects and has incorporated as a B-Corporation, or Benefit Corporation, and actively uses the principles of the Natural Step process, a set of four principles developed in Sweden for sustainable manufacturing. You can learn more about Ed and Emory Knoll Farms at GreenRoofPlants.com.

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 December 16th and 9th, 2011 on GreenroofsTV.  I’m Anjuli Velazquez and I’ll see you in a couple weeks with our This Year in Review!

- Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from all of us here at Greenroofs.com!

*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’s Greenroofs & Walls of the World™ Virtual Summit 2011 is less than a week away!  We’re coming into the homestretch with our Virtual Summit and we certainly hope you will join us!

Watch our short, fun, trailer here (under 3 minutes):

Last week I highlighted international professionals from Germany, Mexico, Canada, Chile, and the U.S., and here is the remaining line-up of wonderful, talented speakers at our inaugural online event, also from countries around the world:

Wolfgang Ansel, Germany: The Director of the International Green Roof Association (IGRA) will present  ”Green Roof Policies – An International Review of Current Practices and Future Trends.”

Caroline Menetre, USA:  The landscape designer, graphic designer, environmental horticulturist, and contributing editor on Greenroofs.com will introduce the “The Vertical Garden – from Nature to Cities – An Interview” with Patrick Blanc.

Matthew Dillon, Australia: The Vice President of GreenRoofs Australasia and member of World Green Infrastructure Network (WGIN) will present “GreenRoofs in Australasia.”

João Manuel Linck Feijó, Brazil: The principal of Ecotelhado, Director of ATVBrasil, and World Green Infrastructure Network (WGIN) board member will present  ”The Work of ATVBrasil.”

Lluis Recasens Pahí, Spain: The Professor of Horticulture at the Institut d´Horticultura i Jardineria de Reus will present “Sustainability in Plant Production.”

Dr. Clayton Rugh, USA: The botanist and biologist and Manager & Technical Director of Xero Flor America will present “One Decade of Ultralight Green Roof Proof-of-Concept on Ford’s Dearborn Truck Plant.”

John Shepley, USA: The engineer, co-founder of Emory Knoll Farms, founding board member of the Baltimore Biodiesel Cooperative, chairman of the Chesapeake Sustainable Business Alliance and contributing editor on Greenroofs.com will present “Sustainability at a Small Business: Emory Knoll Farms.“

Linda Velazquez, ASLA Associate, LEED AP, GRP, USA: The founder, publisher & editor of Greenroofs.com and principal of Sky Gardens Design will co-present the “2011 Top 10 List of Hot Trends in Greenroof & Greenwall Design” with Haven Kiers.

Remember, Government professionals and faculty/students have the special discounted rate of only $25 – that’s for both days plus the 30 days archived on-demand through October 28, 2011.  Other professionals are offered the $49 registration rate.

If you haven’t yet, register today!  Please help us spread the world – tell your colleagues, Twitter followers, Facebook fans, newsletter subscribers, and LinkedIn connections to register here.

I think there’s plenty of room in our relatively close-knit greenroof and wall community to explore new information technologies together and not feel threatened by competition – don’t you?  In fact, don’t you agree we should celebrate each other’s innovations?

This is the social media event of the year!  We need to support each other and continue to find ways to collaborate and share information.  We’re thrilled with the many features we have up our sleeves, and we hope you will be, too.

See you next week!

~ Linda V.

Greenroofs.com Project of the Week: 6/13/11
NYC Parks Five Borough (5-Boro)
Administrative Building
Randall’s Island, New York City, NY, USA
29,000 sf. Greenroof

Year: 2007-2010
Owner: New York City Department of Parks & Recreation
Location: Randall’s Island, New York City, NY, USA
Building Type: Municipal/Government
Type: Extensive, Semi-Intensive & Intensive, Test/Research
System: Other
Size: 29,000 sq.ft. 
Slope: 1%
Access: Accessible, By Appointment

Project Description & Details

In spring 2007, the Five Borough Technical Services Division of the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation began a program of installing green roofs of various designs atop the Five Borough Complex on Randall’s Island where it is headquartered. Starting with the installation of a modest 800 sf system, to date the division, together with Parks’ Green Apple Corps, has installed 24 systems covering over 29,000 sf of roof on the west wing of the building. Together, the systems here will, arguably, comprise the fifth largest green roof in New York City. These systems vary by types of growing medium, depth of growing medium, and plant selection. There are also other non-traditional green roof systems here including a green wall, container systems, a “walkable” atrium system, as well as planters on top of parapet walls.

Serving as an experimental station in which the performance of many different systems can be monitored and compared, the Technical Services’ green roof at Five Borough is truly at the forefront of green roof technology with some of the most innovative systems available. It has 19 traditional systems, 4 non-traditional systems, and one green wall making it the only roof in the nation (quite possibly the world) that has such a vast array of green roof systems side-by-side. It serves as a working laboratory for green roof design and construction, providing knowledge to the rest of the agency and other groups while at the same time conserving and giving back to the City of New York. A sophisticated green roof monitoring system and storm water retention system has also been incorporated into the display complimenting the working laboratory. Visits by appointment are welcomed.

Designers/Manufacturers of Record
Development & Design: Artie Rollins, Chief of Technical Services and John Robilotti, Senior Project Manager, NYC Parks Department
Roofing Material Donation: Barrett Company
Modular Green Roof Systems: GreenGrid™, Green Paks™,  BioTrays™, Bioroof™, Custom
Layered Green  Roof  Systems: Xero Flor™, custom
Growing Medium: GaiaSoil™, rooflite®, Metro-Mix 510, custom mixes
Plant Material: NYC Parks Native Plant Center, Emory Knoll Farms, Sempergreen™
Greenwall System: ELT Easy Green
Installation: Five Borough Technical Services, NYC Parks Summer Interns, Green Apple Corps, FedEx’s Energy Smart Outreach, Columbia University students, Million Trees Volunteers,  NYC Parks Weatherization Crews

Additional Info

The NYC 5-Boro greenroof project has been so dynamic since its creative inception that it has been hard to keep up with them!  We have received updates over the years, though, from many people.  In fact, that’s what triggered its selection of our Greenroof Project of the Week.  Artie Rollins and John Robilotti sent us an update which has grown to become our Guest Feature Article for June, which should be up in a few days, and so I figured we should also highlight it as a June GPW.

The truly inspiring aspect of the project is the dedication by John and Artie to initiate the project back in 2007 and, along with the combined efforts of many others, to continue to add different systems and components each year.  The amount and plant material alone – both native and non-native – is astounding.

Other new green technologies being trialed on the 5-Boro greenroof are: the addition of both solitary bees and honey bees taking up residency on Randall’s Island; an overhead trellis with a surface area of 650 square feet, but a roof foot print of only 90 square feet; a wood parapet system along the atrium parapet wall; a metal parapet wall along the west wing’s perimeter; and a small hydroponic system that can hold 20 plants.

In any case, the NYC Parks Five Borough Administrative Building manages to serves many ecological purposes, including stormwater retention – both via the greenroof and collection tanks, mitigating the urban heat island effect, energy conservation, and food production, just to name a few.

The fact that it also provides a variety of educational components, such as collecting plant, growing media, stormwater retention and other data; various interpretive signage; and allowing tours of the greenroof, is some really green icing on the cake.

I look forward to learning more about all the interesting and different traditional and non-traditional roof greening systems – look for the article soon here on Greenroofs.com from John and Artie, two very hands-on NYC Parks Department professionals:

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 daughter, Anjuli, has been writing, filming and editing our “This Week in Review” video since August, 2010 and each week you can expect to learn What’s New here on Greenroofs.com.  Here’s the transcript for April 1, 2011 - 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 1st, 2011 on GreenroofsTV.

- Project of the Week

-  Our projects of the week are the Cheyenne I and III (251 & 253 Medical Center Blvd.), greenroofs built in 2007 and 2009 in Webster, Texas.  Developer and General Contractor, Jacob White Construction Company, wanted the buildings to stand apart from all other commercial buildings in the Houston area.  And they did just that when 251 East became the first LEED Gold certified building that side of Austin and 253 West gained LEED-CS Platinum certification in 2009.  The most impressive and ambitious part of these projects are the greenroofs complete with gardens, walking paths, and a lush landscaped area.  On September 13, 2008 Hurricane Ike went across the site as a strong Category 2 hurricane with 120+ mph winds and 11 inches of rain, yet there was no impact on the green roof nor the building.  In both cases, Webb Architects designed a custom system using EnkaRetain & Drain from Colbond with a locally designed growing media mix – the material cost savings alone was in the neighborhood of $250,000 each.  Approximately 73% of all rain water is retained, while the excess is transported to the roof drains that direct it to underground cisterns for storage and that reclaimed water is used for everything from irrigating the grounds to flushing the toilets.

-  To learn more about the Cheyenne I and Cheyenne III greenroofs, click on our project of the week links on our homepage.

-  “What’s New”

-  Advertiser Press Release:  Metro Green Visions introduces MGV GroRoof Hybrid Green Roof System. MGV GroRoof, a new modular green roof system, is poised to make a strong impact in the marketplace, offering the best of both worlds, it installs like a modular tray system but functions and appears like a monolithic extensive green roof.

-  The American Horticultural Society is pleased to announce that Ed Snodgrass is the 2011 recipient of the G.B. Gunlogson Award.  The award is one of 12 Great American Gardeners Awards that the AHS presents annually to individuals, organizations, and businesses that represent the best in American gardening.  Congrats to Ed, co-owner of Emory Knoll Farms and our very own contributing editor of the “Ask Ed” Plant Column here on Greenroofs.com!

- Green Roofs for Healthy Cities is pleased to announce the results of its 2011 Annual Industry Survey of Corporate Members which found that the greenroof industry grew by 28.5% over the course of 2010, which was up significantly from the 16% growth recorded in 2009!  The City of Chicago was #1, with Washington D.C. #2 in the Annual Top Ten U.S. Cities List.

-  Read our latest guest feature contributing editor blog post on Sky Gardens by Christine Thuring, “EcoBuild London (March 2011).”  Christine talks about the world’s largest sustainable construction fair, the biggest EcoBuild yet with over 50,000 visitors, over 1,300 suppliers and more than 130 free seminar sessions feazturing over 600 speakers.

-  (Check out Linda’s latest Sky Gardens Blog post about the “GPW: Cheyenne I and III (251 & 253 Medical Center Blvd.)” which has info on research data for the buildings.

-  Joblinks Update:  ZinCo USA is looking for two Regional Account Managers for Architectural/Contractor Green Roof Sales. One is located in Boston, MA and the other on in Philadelphia, PA.  Go to greenroofs.com/joblinks.htm to apply to these jobs and check out our other Green Roof Jobs postings.  Go to greenroofs.com/joblinks.htm to apply to these jobs and check out our other Green Roof Jobs postings.

-  Industry News: New “Design Guidelines and Maintenance Manual for Green Roofs in the Semi-Arid and Arid West” are released.  The guidelines are a collaboration of the University of Colorado Denver, City and County of Denver, Green Print Denver and the Urban Drainage and Flood Control District.

-  “Upcoming Events”

-  April 4th & 5th: is the Rooftop Rainforest TV programme featuring Dusty Gedge, which will be broadcast on Sky 1 HD in the UK.

- April 5th: is a Green Infrastructure Ontario Coalition: One Day Training Workshop in Thunder Bay, Ontario Canada.

- April 6th – 7th: is Water & Environment 2011, CIWEM’s Annual Conference in London, United Kingdom.

- April 7th & 12th: is Designing with Nature – Compost BMP Design Webinar for Green Infrastructure and LID.

- April 7th – 12th: is RCI – 26th International Convention and Trade Show in Reno, Nevada.

- And on April 8th – 9th: is Green Build Cornwall in Cornwall, United Kingdom.

-  “In the News”

-  Ross Dulmaine of IBTimes reports on “Green roof uberwork: Bjarke Ingels’ M2 House.”  He says “from a distance the M2 house looks like just another little rolling hill.  Approach more closely and you find a modern, subtly camouflaged residence whose roof is covered in beautiful, easy to maintain sedum.”  Located in Denmark, the home was designed to blend into its rural surroundings and one side features huge, light-infusing glass sections which provide plenty of natural light to the living and kitchen areas.  Check out the article on IBTimes for some more beautiful photos.

-  Sandy Hingston of Philly Mag’s The Philly Post invites you to “Build A Green-Roof Birdhouse.”  In Longwood Gardens, she took a birdhouse-making class with the most cutting-edge architectural design: a green roof.  Longwood has been experimenting with bluebird houses in its fields for years hoping to attract more but with local summers heating up, eggs were reaching boiling points inside these birdhouses.  Green roofs create a heat differential that aids airflow and reduces interior temperatures.  The sedums used were specially grown at Ed Snodgrass’ Emory Knoll Farms in Street, Maryland where he focuses on perennial green-roof plants that can stay outdoors year-round.

-  Jeffrey Tomich of stltoday.com asks “Five Questions with green roofer Kelly Luckett.”  He talks about how Kelly Luckett, president of Green Roof Blocks, is taking back one rooftop at a time in St. Louis.  Kelly explains that there are many benefits to green roofs: they soak up about half of the storm water that would otherwise run off into gutters, they keep rooftops cooler, saving energy in the buildings underneath and they provide a habitat for bees, butterflies and birds.  Be sure to visit this article to read Kelly’s answers to questions like how he got into the green roof business, how green roofs are priced and what’s next for Greenroofs.com’s “Green Roof Guy.”

-  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.

-  Stay up-to-date with what’s going on at Greenroofs.com by subscribing to our greenroofsTV channel on YouTube, following us on Twitter, liking us on Facebook and being a member of our network on LinkedIn.

-  Coming Soon: Stayed tuned for our latest Sky Gardens – Greenroofs of the World episode, The Cook+Fox Architects Office in Manhattan, New York!

-  This has been This Week in Review for April 1st, 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.

By Matt Burlin

The ecoroof industry in Portland, Oregon, has been making great strides.  Since 2008, the City of Portland has offered an incentive of $5 per square foot of ecoroof on approved projects.  Over 100 projects have been funded so far for over 8 acres in vegetated roof space, and the funding will be offered twice annually until 2013.  The City now boasts nearly 13 acres of ecoroofs (extensive green roofs) and close to 28 acres of green roofs (intensive and extensive combined).

 
The entire month of March will include ecoroof-themed events and presentations.  During the first week we welcome Dr. Stephan Brenneisen, green roof and biodiversity expert, who will participate in a design charrette and share a presentation on his work in Basel, Switzerland.

There will also be several ecoroof project tours throughout the month that are free and open to the public.  The calendar of events can be found on the City of Portland’s Ecoroof Portland website.

The high point of the month will be the third annual Ecoroof Portland event, which will take place on Friday, March 18, 2011 at the Oregon Convention Center.

The event brings together professionals from throughout the ecoroof industry as well as all business owners, homeowners, and developers with an interest in ecoroofs.  More than 60 local ecoroof designers, landscapers, contractors, architects, consultants, nurseries, suppliers, manufacturers, researchers, non-profits and community groups will be on hand at this free, public event to share their knowledge with Portland citizens about greening our local rooftops to protect our rivers and streams.

(To apply to be a vendor, visit www.portlandonline.com/bes/ecoroofpdx, email Jake at jake@socialenterprises.net or call 503.226.2377 for more information.)

We’re very excited about our keynote speakers for this event.  Wolfgang Ansel, Director of the International Green Roof Association (IGRA), and renowned green roof designer Paul Kephart, of Rana Creek Living Architecture, will headline this year’s program. (Last year we were lucky to have Greenroofs.com’s Linda Velazquez and Emory Knoll Farms’ Ed Snodgrass as our keynote speakers!).

Additional programming includes case studies of high profile ecoroof and green building projects, and live demonstrations with ACE Academy (Architecture, Construction, Engineering) students and faculty.

 ~ Matt Burlin

Matt Burlin is the Outreach Coordinator for Sustainable Stormwater Management with the City of Portland Environmental Services (BES).  Contact Matt at 503.823.7863 or his new email address: matt.burlin@portlandoregon.gov.  Visit the City of Portland’s website for complete info.  You can also stay up to date by liking our facebook page.

Over the years here at Greenroofs.com we have been fortunate to accumulate eight (so far) very different but certainly unique Contributing Editors who are well known and respected throughout the greenroof community.  If you follow us regularly, you know that they all write “occasional” columns, which means whenever they can take time out of their busy schedules (and paying careers, I should add)!  They’re all great people whom we’ve come to highly regard as colleagues and friends and today I’ll be inaugurating the “Meet the Editors” series, starting in order of coming on board, so our readers can get to know them a bit more, too – first up is Ed Snodgrass.

Ed Snodgrass is co-owner of Emory Knoll Farms/Green Roof Plants (along with John Shepley), and co-author of the appropriately titled “Green Roof Plants: A Resource and Planting Guide,” 2006 from Timber Press, Portland, OR (along with his wife, Lucie L. Snodgrass).  As the first nursery owner in North America to devote 100% of production to growing greenroof plants and having presented on the subject across the world, Ed is considered a leader in our field and definitely the expert on extensive greenroof plant materials.  Basically, Emory Knoll Farms jump started a new business market; they currently stock over 100 varieties of greenroof plants and are always acquiring and testing new plants.  So Ed’s become quite famous – practically a week doesn’t go by where he’s not quoted or interviewed somewhere…but I’m happy to say that none of it has gone to his head – he’s just a regular, laid back kind of guy who’s passionate about what he does for a living.

And Ed is also our very first Contributing Editor here on Greenroofs.com and has been writing the occasional column “Ask Ed” as our Plant Editor since August, 2004.  He answers reader mail, features greenroof plants, and provides highlights of the plant trials and research performed regularly at Emory Knolls Farms (EKF).

I had the pleasure of visiting Emory Knoll Farms last May, 2008 - Lucie prepared a lovely and healthy locally grown lunch for us in their beautiful 1881 farmhouse.  Lucie Snodgrass has been a journalist for years and is very active in D.C. area public policy and lobbying efforts, more recently in promoting local farms, food production and distribution.  Together they live on this wonderful farm, tending to the beautiful flower and vegetable gardens, enhancing the local ecosystem, and taking care of Huckleberry Hound, a few cats, and each other.

After lunch Ed and Lucie showed our group (my husband, Aramis, our intern, Caroline Menetre, Trish Luckett, Tom Liptan, Brad Rowe, Kristin Getter and I) around the sensitively managed large farmlands starting with the two test greenroofs on site – a smaller one over a barn shed, above, and the larger covering the business office, below.  There are other greenroofed surfaces, too, including houses for the kitty’s, small sheds and some very unorthodox yet creative applications (more later).

The test greenroofs hold many varieties of succulents and herbaceous plants including various herbs, bulbs and some grasses, and some modular systems are also monitored on the main test roof alongside the built-in-place living roof – which also sports solar panels.  Along with plant material, EKF tests growing media and several methods of planting including plugs, seeds, and vegetated mats.  Read some of EKF’s trial results here.

Ed offered me the opportunity to see the growing facility from a really cool vantage point, and so I didn’t hesitate and hopped on board this Deere scooper thing (whatever you call this type of farm equipment!). 

I may not know its name, but it went up pretty high and I did take some interesting overhead photos – notice the solar panels above on some of the growing facility offices, and some of our lovely group, below.

Along the fields and nature trails on the property we also visited the testing area for green walls, the old barn, bee hives, and the nearly 10,000 sf of green house space and acres of stock plants.

Ed’s pretty private, so it’s an honor for me to have had him answer some of my questions after our tour:
 
Linda:  Ed, you’re a fifth generation farmer, but you also had another completely different career before returning to the land – can you talk about that and why you felt it was important to return to your roots?
 
Ed:  When I was farming I did so because it was what I knew and what I had grown up doing.  I never thought about it as a career choice, but after it become impossible economically to farm and I had to go and work “in the world” I realized what a touchstone the land was for me and it was always in my mind to try to make something work on the farm again.

 
Linda:  When were you first introduced to living roofs and how did you arrive at the huge conclusion to dedicate EKF operations exclusively to greenroof plants?  In other words, you really went out on a limb back back then – what year was that?  This was when we were just a fledgling community, let alone a new industry.  What made you and your partner decide to make greenroofs the “green” part of the basis for your “black?”
 
Ed:  I don’t remember the exact date, but somewhere around 1998-1999 I became really committed to the idea of starting a nursery.  I was working as a management consultant at the time and doing a lot of traveling. Lucie was also working full time and we both talked about the notion of being self employed.  Right around then, the company I was working for was bought by a bigger company and moved to Tampa.  I wasn’t about to commute to Tampa, so the time seemed right to start something.

Lucie continued to work and I started to build the nursery.  I started by going to farmer’s markets, doing some free lance consulting, some landscaping and anything that would generate a little cash.  I had the first green roof sale in 2000 and John Shepley came as a partner in 2004.  Lucie eased off her full time work and became a freelance writer and did project work in public policy.

Linda:  You carry social responsibility and equitable practices throughout all facets of your life, including running the farm with partner John Shepley.  Would you share your philosophy of EKF’s sustainable operations with us and give us some examples of what you are doing to tread lighter on the land?

Ed:  The redesign of the farm is based around the design protocols of the Natural Step.  It is important to me to tread lightly because I am on a piece of land and have this opportunity because people that came before me didn’t exhaust it as a resource.  One of the first decisions was to not print a paper catalog and subsequently we have heated all our green houses and offices with spent fry oil, we pump all our water for the nursery with solar power, we have a small photovoltaic array, we allow employees to job share and on the land front Lucie and I have planted 9 acres of native trees and are turning over 75 acres into ground bird habitat.  It feels like we are just beginning to get a handle on our stewardship responsibilities.

Linda:  How did you go from llamas to greenroofs?  And what’s the deal – are you really a hippie?  I remember one of your “fans” sent this in a while back:

Dear Ask Ed,
 
The picture of you in a lab coat suggests you are an MD or have a Doctorate in something. Are you? The sign on the wall presents some confusion as Hippies are an untrustworthy, unclean lot. So how do I know you are a legitimate specialist and not some wacko aging hippie grinning outside his meth lab?
 
Signed,
Wanting to trust

Ed:  Check out the song from the group The Bobs: First I Was a Hippie, Then I was a Stockbroker, Now I am a Hippie Again.  I think that song about sums it up.

 
Linda:  You’ve been central to the greenroof movement from the beginning through plant research, development, public speaking, and most recently writing your first book along with Lucie.  What do you enjoy most about your work, and do you see any more book endeavors in the future?

Ed:  I don’t think I have been central to the green roof movement, there are lots of folks that are moving this thing forward.  It takes a village to make a green roof?  I enjoy learning most of all, and I enjoy the people I work with at the farm.  They are bright enthusiastic folks I learn from them every day.  I love watching things grow and looking at the systems that support things that grow.  The people that are in the green roof movement worldwide are great people to converse with and learn from. 

I have two more books on the way, one with Nigel Dunnett, Dusty Gedge and John Little on small do-it-yourself green roofs.  That one is due out in May of 2009.  I am also working on another book, it’s going to be on green roof design, install and maintain, mostly from the plant perspective.  I have a new co-author, Linda McIntyre who was a staff writer and editor for Landscape Architecture Magazine and did all their green roof articles over the last few years.  We hope to help fill the knowledge gap that exists in the market today.  That book is due out in early 2010, both are from Timber Press.
 
Linda:  Emory Knoll Farms/Green Roof Plants has supplied over 2,489,238 sf or 221,251 M2 of greenroofs so far across North America – is there one particular project which is your favorite, or maybe particularly important in your eyes?

Ed:  I do like the one in Fells Point in Baltimore.  It is on the Mikulski Workforce Development Center at Living Classrooms.  Lucie and I are big fans of Senator Mikulski and Living Classrooms and their work, and it is a green roof that you can see from the ground, which is kind of rare.

And I do like the ones I have at the farm because I get to see them everyday, especially my barn roof which I see every morning from the bedroom window.  Gardens change every day and I love watching the change.

Linda:  What issues do you feel are important within our industry, and where do you see us heading in the next few years?  What would you like to see changed or addressed?

Ed:  I think the public policy side of the industry has to come into focus and be more uniform and that will require more quantifiable benefits derived from the research community.  I see that coming in the next few years.  I think design intent will become sharper as that happens and green roof terminology may become more precise.  I would like to see green roofs become more integrated with other green technologies like vegetated swales, rain gardens and water harvesting.
 
Linda:  I think you’re a consummate professional, a trailblazer, and all around nice guy.  But if there was one thing that you’d like people to know about you or how you see the world, what would that be?

Ed:  That is nice of you to say, but we are only as strong as the people around us.  I think the world is getting smaller and faster; we need to think of all the people, plants and animals as part of ourselves if we are going to make truly lasting gardens.

You may have realized that Ed and company have quite a sense of humor.  Not all is hard work on Emory Knoll Farms – check out some of the lighter research going on here…greenroofs?  I don’t know – maybe green topped.  For example, remember the previous incarnation as a llama farm?  Well, they put some bones to rest in an unlikely spot – talk about recycle, reuse!

And although the EKF office has a composting toilet, the photo below shows Tom Liptan (who works, appropriately, for a Bureau of Environmental Services) displaying one of Emory Knoll Farms’ even greener environmental options: the Sedum Toilet – “storm” water management at its best!

In case you’re interested in seeing Ed in public, here are some of his upcoming speaking engagements:

Sunday, March 15, 2009  Alexandria VA:  Harry Allen Winter Lecture Series, Green Spring Gardens

Wednesday, May 6, 2009  Bel Air MD:  Leadership Group, Harford Leadership Academy

Thursday, June 18, 2009  Denver CO:  Green Roofs for the West Symposium, Denver Botanic Gardens

Sunday, July 12, 2009  Portland OR:  APLD Conference, APLD

So thanks, Ed, for sharing some personal thoughts with us.  Among all the other things that you do, we know you’re a writer – but how about a blogger?  We haven’t read anything from you yet here, but this could be a new horizon for you…  Should our readers expect to hear from you on Sky Gardens sometime in the future?

We’ll see… Until then, send him your Plant and Horticulture questions to:

PlantEditor@Greenroofs.com or Ed.Snodgrass@greenroofplants.com. 

Next up in “Meet the Editors” is Christine Thüring, ecologist, researcher, world trekker, and currently our Student Editor (among other personas).

Happy Greening,

~ Linda V.