Professor Suresh Billore, PhD, DSc, Organizing Secretary, has issued an open invitation to attend and participate in the World Green Infrastructure Network (WGIN) International Green Technology Symposium 2011, which will be held in Indore, India on October 31 through November 2, 2011.
This prestigious greenroof symposium is the first of its kind in India! Organized by GREEN TAKNIKI – Restoring Nature, the International Symposium on Green Technology (Green Roof, Green City, Rain Harvesting) will be held under the auspices of the World Green Infrastructure Network (with President Professor Manfred Köhler of Germany) and co-hosted by the Mayor of Indore.
If you’re interested in presenting a paper, please submit your extended abstract (1,000) words) by May 28, 2011 to info@greenindia2011.org.
Professor Suresh Billore also encourages non-paper contributors to attend, which will include joining one full session workshop on Green Roofs, Rain Harvesting, and the LEED and GRP designations. Tours to this exotic and burgeoning green locate will also be offered!
Aramis and I were excited to attend and exhibit at CitiesAlive!, the 8th Annual Green Roof and Wall Conference on November 30 through December 4, 2010 in this beautiful harbor city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, co-hosted by Green Roofs for Healthy Cities (GRHC) and the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT). Neither of us had been here, and we really had been looking forward to seeing this naturally gorgeous city surrounded by majestic snow covered mountain peaks, and we weren’t disappointed!
Celebrating its 125th Anniversary on April 6 of this year, Vancouver, B.C. is “Canada’s Cultural capital.” Originally inhabited by the Coast Salish people – the ancestors of the Squamish, Burrard, Tsleil-Waututh, Musqueam (Xw’muthk’i'um), Tsawwassen, Coquitlam (Kwayhquitlam), Katzie andSemiahmoo Indian bands, Spanish explorers first “discovered” Canada’s west coast in the early 1590’s. Captain George Vancouver arrived 200 years later, and fur trading, gold mining, and tree logging soon followed by the mid 1800’s. Vancouver’s cultural diversity is reflected everywhere – you have a huge selection of shopping, restaurants, bars, pubs, and nightclubs in various locales throughout the city.
Vancouver also has professed a steadfast commitment to sustainability – their long term goal is to lead the world in green building design and construction, and it promises to be “the greenest city in the world” by 2020. Vancouver’s targets include requiring all buildings constructed from 2020 onward to be carbon neutral in operations and reducing energy use and greenhouse gas emissions in existing buildings by 20% over 2007 levels. Reportedly, Vancouver has the greenest building code for new homes in North America, but they don’t plan to stop here - they believe the technology already exists to support a more ambitious new construction requirement: net zero or carbon neutral new buildings. Read the “GC 2020 Draft Green Building Action Plan” here.
“These green building innovations will create thousands of new jobs, create a significant economic stimulus, increase the value of buildings, reduce property owners’ operating costs, help Vancouver become more resilient to climate change and energy price fluctuations, and position Vancouver as a global leader in green building technologies and expertise.” ~ Talk Green Vancouver/ City of Vancouver
As you may know, Corporate Knights, Canada’s magazine for clean capitalism, recently ranked Victoria and Vancouver, B.C. at the top of the list of Canada’s most sustainable cities – see the 2.9.11 Press Release.
Our hotel and venue were both beautiful and green. The luxurious Pan Pacific Vancouver Hotel is situated atop a pier at the magnificent Canada Place complex on Vancouver’s dramatic waterfront. And its iconic white sails have made it a prominent landmark for the city (currently being renovated).
Part of the Green key ECO – rating program (rated 4) itself, the Pan Pacific is conveniently located just a short walk above or below ground to the multiple award-winning venue, the LEED® Platinum certified for New Construction Vancouver Convention Centre. This expansion project is also known as the Vancouver Convention Centre West, and last year it served as the international broadcast and media center for the XXI Olympic & Paralympic Winter Games. (Haven and I included it in 2007’s Top 10 List under the #2 category, Bigger is Better – Mega Greenroofs.)
In addition to its massive 261,360 sf living roof – the largest in Canada - seawater heating and cooling, on-site water treatment and fish habitat are built into the foundation of the Convention Centre’s West Building, making the expansion project one of the greenest convention centers in the world. Located both on land and in the water, the views were breathtaking and spectacular! The floor-to-ceiling glass allow for maximum viewing pleasure of the North Shore mountains and the harbor, its boats, and even sea planes landing at will.
Planted with more than 400,000 indigenous plants and grasses from the Gulf Islands, the roof provides a beautiful flowering natural habitat to birds, insects and small mammals. Many people worked on this project- see this gorgeous video taken by David Buge with Bruce Hemstock of PWL Partnership Landscape Architects narrating on top of the Vancouver Convention Centre:
Although the greenroof is inaccessible to the public, the designers cleverly have allowed glimpses of the various angles and vegetated planes on two separate levels for visitors to enjoy, see below:
And the interior is just as cool andeco-friendly as the massive six-acre native plant greenroof overhead. For example, a phenomenal mosaic of cedar and hemlock pieces covering the interior walls creates a warm glow and adds multi-dimension to the expansive space.
Kudos to GRHC and BCIT for securing this fabulous, uber-sustainably designed venue!
Back to the CitiesAlive! Conference and Trade Show: We arrived on Tuesday, November 30 to make sure we were on time for the following day’s pre-conference activities (this was also the first day of tours, but we were too late to make it).
On Wednesday, GRHC offered five half-day education classes and one anticipated new one, the Introduction to Rooftop Agriculture – a topic that is really hot right now. Additionally, they had four 1.5 hour education sessions which all sounded interesting! But since I had to choose, I attended the 4-hour “Integrated Water Management for Buildings & Sites” seminar presented by Jeffrey Bruce, FASLA, GRP, President of Jeffrey L. Bruce & Company (and Chair of GRHC), while Aramis set up our exhibitor booth and attended the Corporate Members Committee Meeting.
I had heard mixed reviews about the course from its initial launch in Washington, D.C. last year, that it was certainly informative but a bit dry. But as someone with a degree in landscape architecture and a fairly good background in stormwater management, I enjoyed it. It wasn’t particularly dry, just quite technical and very in-depth in terms of definitions, policies, and procedures – although it said it was an introductory class, I would say it was definitely not for beginners! Developed by GRHC and the Association of Irrigation Consultants (ASIC), with leads Jeff Bruce and Lynda Wightman of Hunter, it embraces new approaches to design for Net Zero Water consumption.
The course covered water types and sources, and how we may manage water and energy resources more effectively including application and recapture methods. Jeff is a very good instructor – patient and extremely knowledgeable (his company also developed the course) -and the class was very interactive. We had some lively discussions from a really multi-disciplinary group of professionals from across Canada and the U.S., both from private practice and government at various levels. And the 98-page “Integrated Water Management for Buildings & Sites” Participant’s Manual is a veritable Bible of Integrated Water Management information.
Greenroofs.com was proud, once again, to be a Media Sponsor for the 8th year. The CitiesAlive! Opening Plenary on Wednesday night, sponsored by Architek.ca, was extremely interesting as we were greeted with a lovely traditional Coast Salish welcome from Elder Rose Point of the Musqueam First Nation and welcome song from Gerry Oleman, photo above from BCIT.
GRHC President Steven Peck was the Master of Ceremonies and he spoke about the many efforts and accomplishments of the industry association in the past year, including many firsts. We also heard from City of Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson, who proclaimed his city would be the greenest in world, and from Rod Goy, the Acting Dean of the School of Construction and the Environment at BCIT, who spoke about their commitment to greening the built environment.
The always popular Paul Kephart of Rana Creek Living Architecture was the eloquent keynote speaker and shared his vision as a restoration ecologist and designer of living architectural systems. He also spoke about several of his collaborations with unique and large scale projects including the Gap Headquarters, Transbay Terminal Bay, the California Academy of Sciences, and the Croton Water Treatment Plant (Mosholu Golf Course) in New York which, when completed, will be the largest continuous greenroof in North America at nine acres.
Afterwards the Trade Show opened, the socializing started and didn’t stop until late. Thursday dawned overcast but the sessions started bright and early at 8:30 am. As usual, there was a huge number of expert international speakers in every track, with four tracks in all – Policy, Design, Research, and Expert Discussion Panels. In my opinion, it’s almost too massive a program, since it’s impossible to experience even a fraction of all the excellent presentations. What most people did was jump from session speaker to another to ensure they could hear their favorites. I think the ideal would be to send four people from each company or organization to attend each and then get together and debrief, but, really, who could afford that.
I found that I ended up splitting the next two days worth of sessions between the Design Track and the Expert Discussions. I started off the first day, Thursday, December 2nd, with the Barriers and Opportunities to Advance Collaborative Design Practices panel and heard from Paul Kephart, landscape architect David Yocca of Conservation Design Forum, and environmental engineer Greg Allen from Sustainable Edge. Jeff Bruce moderated, and these four highly seasoned professionals provided an intense interplay of personal opinion and practical experience, with plenty of audience interaction adding to the pot of working with disparate professionals.
The Temperate Green Roofs session followed and we learned about The Ted & Lois Hole Green Roof Healing Garden in Edmonton, Alberta. Designed by the wonderful Kerry Ross, Project Architect with IBI Group Architects and Ernie Webster, Landscape Architect with IBI/Landplan, this 22,500 sf hybrid extensive/intensive green roof is located at a new facility for holistic healing, the Royal Alexandra Hospital. Designed to commemorate Lois Hole, the former Lieutenant Governor of Alberta, and her husband Ted, it serves as a passive healing garden and visual amenity. The trees, shrubs, tall grasses and flowers were selected to represent the natural flora of Alberta, and were supplied by the family nursery. Some of the beautiful features include lots of seating areas, a water fall and reflecting pool, colorful glass screens, and places for art.
I hopped over to Expert Discussions – Standards Development for Green Roofs and Walls – Future Directions, Challenges and Needs with Mike Curry of Midwest Trading, Dr. Robert Berghage of Penn State, Kelly Luckett of Green Roof Blocks, and Blair Bennett of Soprema. Moderated by Zachary Williams of CarlisleSynTec, it was pretty interesting. There was a lot of candid sentiment about the process and practical issues from from what appeared to be an audience of mostly engineers, architects, city planners and the likes. Everyone wanted to know how their product or system might fare and how to get involved, and maintenance issues and ensuring maintenance contracts were included in deliverables were also a hot topic.
But I hopped back after about 20 minutes because I didn’t want to miss Nate Griswold from American Hydrotech and his presentation about the Lincoln Center for the Performing Artsand some of their unusual challenges with this project shaped like a hyperbolic paraboloid. Problems arose with the varying slopes as well as the high amount foot traffic and as a result, a new steep slope product and assembly for this type of greenroof was developed.
Unfortunately, I missed out on most of The Hugh Garner Green Roof Project – an integrated process, presented by Monica Kuhn of Monica E. Kuhn Architect, Inc. and Carolyn Moss of Moss Sund Architects, Inc., but I learned more about it when we featured this great multi-unit residential Housing Co-operative in downtown Toronto as our first Greenroof Project of the Week for 2011:
The GRHC 2010 Awards of Excellence Luncheon followed and twelve awards were given this year – eight for awesome buildings withgreenroofs andgreenwalls, including local favorite, the Vancouver Convention Centre Expansion Project. Below is Peter MacDonagh, one of the principals of The Kestrel Design Group, who received a Special Recognition Award of Excellence for their work withThe City of Minneapolis Target Center Arena, which we featured in our 2010 Hot Trends Top 10 List in the #9 category, “Green Sporting Venues.”
There were some other really cool projects, see them all here, as well as four deserving individuals honored within our industry.
One of these was Kelly Luckett, above, AKA The Green Roof Guy, who won a Civic Award of Excellence for his hard work on the RP-14 Wind Design Guideline (read his Green Roofs, a Civic Award of Excellence, and a Lifetime of Memories article). Talk about someone who really should have been recognized! He has put in years of his life (not to mention probably tens of thousands of dollars from his own pocket) to further this important issue for our industry. And he was really excited and humbled about receiving it, too. I can only say how humble and proud I felt when he acknowledged me for giving him a platform to write. Way to go, Kelly!
The Lifetime Achievement Awardsceremony was truly poignant and inspiring as a special tribute was held for two legends of the roof garden/greenroofing industry. Author of “Roof Gardens, History, Design and Construction,” W.W. Norton, 1999, the late Theodore Osmundson, FASLA, was honored. Theodore Osmundson became a Fellow of the ASLA in 1963 and was ASLA president from 1967-1969. We heard about his lifelong passion for landscape architecture, and roof gardens in particular, from his son, Gordon.
Inspired by the Rockefeller Center Roof Gardens in New York City, industrialist Henry Kaiser hired Osmundson in 1958 to design the beautiful 3 and a half acre public park, the Kaiser Center Roof Gardenin Oakland, CA, which became Osmundson’s best known work. Gordon Osmundson, also a successful landscape architect, has taken on the task of working on a second edition of his dad’s highly successful “Roof Gardens” book.
Cornelia Hahn Oberlander, OC, FASLA, FCSLA, LMBCSLA then graced the stage and spoke about “Reflections of six decades designing natural sites.” Educated at Harvard University, she expressed her love and gratitude for landscape architecture where she has shone brilliantly as a leader in garden roofs, and spoke about her early work while raising a family. She shared the visions of some of her numerous important projects, including the stunning Visitor Centre Green Roof at the VanDusen Botanical Gardens.
Designed by Busby Perkins + Willand Cornelia, the center is slated to meet the Living Building Challenge 2.0 (as per the Cascadia Green Building Council) as well as LEED Platinum standards. To receive its Living Building certification, the center will have to operate for 12 months with net zero energy while providing all of its own water.
Thursday afternoon was spent in and out of our Exhibit Booth on the Trade Show Floor, popping into a variety of sessions, and simply catching up with lots of people!
The Trade Show floor had a good turnout, and most exhibitors we spoke to were pleased with the quality of visitors to their booths (meaning designers and specifiers). I have to say our Greenroofs.com booth was hopping most of the time, and we had tons of visitors – thanks to all of you who came by to say hello!
This may have been due to our lively and lovely in-house booth mates, Contributing Editors Patrick Carey (and GRHC Trainer), Haven Kiers (also a GRHC Trainer), andCaroline Menetre, above, who camped out here off and on. We had some interesting booth neighbors, including the vivacious Kathy of BusyBee Gardening across from us, seen below, as well as neighbors Craig of MYKE® Pro Premier Tech Biotechnology andGenevièveNöel of Mubi Regenerative Consulting, below her:
Dr. Clayton Rugh of Xero Flor America, above, andXero Flor Canada were also close by and I have to say Thank you! to Joy Schmidt for giving me a copy of the lovely book “Vancouver 2010.” All about the 17 Olympic and 10 Paralympic Games days, it features stunning photos of Vancouver and their Xero Flor greenroof technology that covers approximately 56,000 sf of the Millennium Water Project - Vancouver’s Olympic Village. Here are more Trade Show pics:
That evening, Green Roofs for Healthy Cities put on a really nice, invitation-only GRP Reception for the first year’s class (2009-2010) of graduating Green Roof Professionals. It was casually elegant and beautifully set up - the beverage and food selection was wonderful and the service was excellent. Aramis and I saw a lot of our friends and colleagues here, and met quite a few new ones, too.
We heard Sara Loveland and Ashleigh Uiska (with Dusty Gedge) threw an awesome afterparty, but we had our own much smaller version with our band of Contributing Editors and colleagues. By the way, Sara won our free yearly Premium Listing in The Greenroof Directory.
The Friday sessions were just as bustling and varied. I sat through (and thoroughly enjoyed) Green Wall Case Studies II, starting withInterior Living Wall Biofilter Projects – Lessons Learned from Pioneering Experience from Dr. Alan Darlington of Nedlaw Living Walls and Birgit Siber of Diamond andSchmitt Architects. They shared stories of years of research and project monitoring, and how living walls have the capacity to break down hundreds of different kinds of contaminants found in indoor air; they demonstrated how a biofilter can substantially reduce the need to bring in fresh air by generating its own clean air indoors.
One of my favorite presentations was next, Innovative and Cost Effective Biofilters for Residential Applications from Robert Cameron and Dr. Robert Berghage from Penn State University. They have an experimental site on campus as well as the one Rob Cameron built at his home using a combination of materials on site, some donated, and some leftover from experiments from other Penn State projects. They conducted studies showing that living systems do not need to be highly sophisticated to work beautifully.
Rob Cameron asks, How can we take wasterwater and make it a resource? Using plants, from food crops to ornamentals, he showed us how the living wall with “Living Columns” – basically vertical plastic corrugated tubes – act like a constructed wetland and can filter out pollutants from an entire household. At his own residence he integrated these living columns with a greenroof for downspouts and rain water harvesting, and combined a living wall with an extensive greenroof to provide a vertical garden for tomatoes, peppers, herbs, and other veggies.
By the way, George Irwin of Green Living Technologies (GLT) was scheduled to speak during this session, and was deemed a no-show. Since he’s a Contributing Editor here, Caroline texted him to see where he was – he answered that he had indeed let GRHC know early in the week that something major had come up and would not be able to make it.
That morning I also sat in on a couple of sessions from Local Interest – From Barn Raisings to Green Roof Raisings: Community-Built Green Roof was presented by Bryce Gauthier, Director of the Projects In Place Society. What a great story! Projects In Place has taken the concept from the old community-based barn raisings and applied it to building sustainable projects. Using almost 100 volunteers including BCIT students, this small non-profit installed a 500 sf greenroof in two days on top of a business on the edge of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. Projects In Place Society posted their CitiesAlive PowerPoint on their website, make sure to see it.
I skipped Retrofitting Existing Buildings With Green Roofs by Dr. Karen Liu of Xero Flor International because I had already seen and loved her similar (I hope) presentation at 2009’s CitiesAlive! in Toronto. Instead, I listened in on the Expert Discussion- How Green IS Your Green Roof: Devising a LEED Style Credit System for Green Roofs – Challenges and Opportunities with Steven Peck, Kerry Ross, Dr. Robert Berghage and Chuck Friedrich of Carolina Stalite.
Talk about a charged subject! Some argued that we should not create yet another rating system, but should rally to make the highly universally accepted (yet sometimes controversial) U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC)’s LEEDprogram work better for our industry in terms of rating greenroofs. Others argued that GRHC knows our subject best and that starting new made the most sense rather than trying to fix another existing product. Having both my LEED AP andGRP designations, I have opinions, but will share them in another post.
So even though I was extremely interested in this subject, I returned to the Design Track andLocal Interest to hear about The Visitor Centre Green Roof at the VanDusen Botanical Gardens from Ken Larsson of Sharp & Diamond Landscape Architecture and the lovely Cornelia Hahn Oberlander, which was a treat, indeed!
Cornelia is a force to be reckoned with, and her exuberance shone through the entire presentation. It is a fascinating project – 3/4 of the 20,000 sf roof is greened, while 1/4 is “blue;” the undulating roof is based upon the shape of a native orchid – this project would have fit nicely in our Top 10 List as an example of the #3 position,“Biomimicry as Eco-literacy and Holistic Design.” Maybe for 2011. Lunch on the Trade Show Floor followed, along with the Poster Sessions.
Next up was Haven’s and my session where we were right in the middle of The Big Picture View, and we were very pleased at the turnout. Kerry Ross started with her extremely informative Nordic Adventures: a field study of green roofs in Norway. She highlighted cold climate greenroofs from a recent Scandinavian trip; through her research and documentation of projects has been able to better promote greenroof design and maintenance within Canada.
We followed with our Top 10 List presentation, and it was jam packed! This was the first time we had co-presented together, and Virginia (Jennie) Russell from the University of Cincinnati, our moderator extraordinaire, kept us in-line with methodical announcements for us to pick up the pace. So, it was a bit rushed, but fun (see our PowerPoint here). So many great projects to show, so little time!
We were honored to be in the same session as Cornelia Oberlander, who followed us and presented along with Ross Dixon of Phillips FarevaagSmallenberg. They shared their experiences with the Rooftoptop Renewal – The Redevelopment of Robson Square – An Intensive Green Roof in Downtown Vancouver.
This iconic rooftop civic center courthouse complex and public plaza was originally completed in 1983 by Arthur Erickson Architects and landscape architect Cornelia Hahn Oberlander; replacement of the original waterproofing membrane and restoration of the plantings is currently underway, and is expected to be completed sometime within this year. Refurbishments included surveying to see which tree specimens would be saved and evaluating the best methods for removal, safe keeping during construction, and then replanting.
The Closing Plenary opened with its own lively Top 10 List invitation to join GRHC at the 9th Annual CitiesAlive 2011 in Philadelphia by members of the Philadelphia Local Host Committee. Co-hosted by the City of Philadelphia and the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, the next Green Roof and Wall Conference will be held in the City of Brotherly Love from November 29 to December 3.
The Panel Discussion Peak Oil, Urban Farming and the Roofs and Walls of Our Cities: Creating a Future We Desire wrapped up the Conference. Delivered by visionary yet practical Keynote Speaker Greg Allen, PE, LEEP AP, of Sustainable Edge, the presentation was forward thinking but set in a very grim reality – we must release our bonds with oil and embrace sustainable energy strategies as well as develop local urban farming on our rooftops and walls to ensure food security – basically we need to explore alternative food options more intelligently.
Panelists included Thomas Mueller of the Canadian Green Building Council, Vancouver Councilor Andrea Reimer, KeithAgoada of Sky Vegetables and Jeff Bruce, and a lot of people raised their own concerns about food supply and quality control, organics, and infrastructure for urban agriculture in the sky. Greenroofs.com was definitely in sync, as Haven Kiers and I had Tower Oases as Skyrise Urban Ag in the 2010 #1 category for our Top 10 List of Hot Trends in Greenroof and Greenwall Design.
We enjoyed our Habitat Havens Tour the next day on Saturday, and especially our tour guide, the lively and informative Tyrel Sutton from Flynn Canada. We had a beautiful, clear day to roam around four rooftops (really three, more on that later) that were selected because they were designed to either replicate a specific ecosystem or to provide food for birds, butterflies, or bees. We were lucky because the tours on Tuesday were rainy – in fact, at least one was cancelled.
There are quite a few publically accessible projects around Vancouver, and the Local Host Committee put together a 9-stop Self-Guided Green Roof and Wall Tour list that was included in the program. We didn’t see much, but Caroline did – this is her photo of the ING Green Wall, left, designed by CitiesAlive exhibitor Green over Grey – Living Walls and Design Inc.
I would say there were maybe 700 people at CitiesAlive. With the exception of a few hiccups – spotty snacks, flimsy conference program, tour time changes - overall, I felt that Steven Peck and Green Roofs for Healthy Cities did a fantastic job of planning and executing this first “international” conference. Kind of funny since they’re Canadian, but this was the first time the conference was held outside of the U.S. Plus it was the first time under its new name – CitiesAlive. (As you’ll recall, the previous seven incarnations were titled “Greening Rooftops for Sustainable Communities.”)
And the Vancouver Local Host Committee (Rod Goy, Marita Luk, Andrea Martinello, Blair Bennett, Nicholas Rousseau, Dr. Katherine Dunster, Helen Goodland, Andrea Linsky, Andrea Kausel and Lyn Ross) should be commended, too, for their outstanding accomplishments and participation in this successful conference! Visit Green Roofs for Healthy Cities’ Acknowledgements page, where I borrowed this photo below:
In general, people were very happy with everything, with minor grumblings about not enough food at the Opening Plenary and dessert on the Trade Show floor after the Awards of Excellence Luncheon. Also, for the first time, CD’s of the conference proceedings were not available, but you can purchase video recordings of the over 60 speakers that go along with each’s PowerPoint presentation (“Full Compilation Streaming Media – Audio Synched to PPT”) from GRHC for $120.
In reflection, we should be happy the conference agenda is so big – I’m sure Greenbuild had similiar growing pains, talk about a massive, multi-day, multi-track program! Or ASLA, or AIA, for that matter. It simply, very clearly, illustrates the tremendous growth of our greenroof and greenwall industry, and acceptance of building integrated greenery into mainstream design. It is impossible to attend each presentation, so it’s great that GRHC developed the Living Architecture Academy – an online learning center with technical papers from all the past conferences and proceedings. Having such a resource at our fingertips is inmeasurable.
Regarding the Trade Show, we’ve all noticed a trend of some past exhibitors not exhibiting lately, sometimes due to the challenging economy, scheduling conflicts, or feeling resources could be better used elsewhere. So, I would also just like to add that all of us who are members of GRHC should pay a big thanks to all of the companies who have exhibited in the past, and who faithfully continue to do so. Being international for many of us, for Vancouver it was more cumbersome and expensive to ship everything, but conferences couldn’t be held without the support of exhibitors and sponsors. I would encourage everyone doing business within our industry to exhibit and work together to make our committment and exposure even better. Here are a few more Trade Show pics:
One of the very best things about all these conferences is the chance to meet new colleagues and see old friends from across the world and catch up on each other’s lives and happenings – we were happy to do this with the always effervescent Dusty Gedge of Livingroofs.org, Kerry Ross and her husband Bob, Chuck Friedrich and Ernie Higgins of ItSaul Natural – Mr. Natural (also from Atlanta), Contributing Editor Dr. Bill Retzlaff of SIUe, and too many other folks to mention! Many of our “usual” German colleagues were missing (Manfred Köhler and Roland Appl, among others), probably due to the numerous previous international congresses where we saw them, but it was great seeing several folks from the City of Portland’s Beaurau of Environmental Services and lots of international students, too.
I wish I had had more time with a bunch of people – the always wonderful Maureen Connelly from BCIT, Jennie Russell, and Andrea Martinello of N.A.T.S., for example, but there will be other conferences!
I’m sorry I couldn’t attend Maureen’s panel session of Expert Discussion: Taking Green Roofs and Walls to the Next Level in British Columbia – A Pathway to the Future! because it conflicted with our Top 10 presentation session. It included the fanstastic Deputy City Manager of the City of Vancouver, Sadhu Johnston – previously Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley’s Chief Environmental Officer and Deputy Chief of Staff, where he headed up much of their greenroof program.
In my opinion, Maureen Connelly is the true greenroof champion in Vancouver with her many years of dedication and research at British Columbia Institute of Technology’s Centre for the Advancement of Green Roof Technology, and should be commended for an outstanding job – keep up the great work, and thanks BCIT for all that you do! (See their project profile in The Greenroof & Greenwall Projects Database here.) Their Mission Statement:
“The mission of the BCIT Centre for Architectural Ecology – Collaborations in Green Roofs and Living Walls is to conduct world-class, innovative research on green roof and living wall systems and to provide research-based education across disciplines, to students and practitioners.”
The BCIT Centre is evaluating the function and performance of extensive greenroofs and living walls in the rainforest climate of coastal B.C. Through collaborations with industry, government and academic partners, their vision is to help advance the widespread adoption of these technologies in this region. It would have been great to have visited the research facility, but, just like any working trip, there simply wasn’t enough time. Make sure to read BCIT’s “750 attend BCIT-co-hosted green roof conference” of December 13, 2010, where you can also see a huge gallery of photos.
We were here five nights and every day was devoted to conference events – although we didn’t get out to see the city and surroundings, many of our friends did (like Caroline and Janet Faust of JDR Enterprises). Caroline was fortunate enough to go up on a seaplane and took this wonderful aerial photo of Vancouver, above. Like most people, she also visited Whistler Mountain, one of North America’s top ski and snowboard resorts (and snapped this fun snow picture left).
The two greenroofed places I really wanted to visit but didn’t was the awesome Vancouver Public Library (also known as Library Square Building) with its pioneering rooftop built in 1995, and the fantastic 2010 Olympic andParalympic Winter Games Olympic Village, also known as Southeast False Creek and Millennium Water with about 287,000 sf total of greenroofs.
Read my 2.17.10 Sky Gardens post about it here. We featured Millennium Water in 2007’s Top 10 List in the #1 category – Visionary Proposed Projects since the City of Vancouver mandated that at least 50% of the buildings should be covered in green. Next time!
Not content to leave things alone, upon leaving the Vancouver International Airport (YVR), I had to take a bunch of photos of the 17-meter high YVR Canada Line Station 4 Living Wall, designed by the talented Randy Sharp of Sharp & Diamond Landscape Architecture. As you may know, the Canada Line is Vancouver’s new rapid transit rail link connecting YVR to downtown Vancouver, and visitors are greeted by this beautiful green wall of green and silver euonymus, mondo grass, and licorice fern. Read my 3.26.10 Sky Gardens post about it here.
We will defintely return to Vancouver, B.C. as a vacation destination, where we can take in all the sights and locations of this gorgeous city at our leisure! That’s it for now.
If you haven’t already, make sure to read our December, 2010 Guest Feature Article by Janet Faust of JDR Enterprises, “CitiesAlive! 2010,” where she did a great job in describing her reflections of this eighth yearly conference. Her account of compares the experience to a fine wine and Janet comments how these Green Roofs for Healthy Cities’ conferences have gotten better with age! If you’d like to present at the 9th Annual CitiesAlive! Green Roof and Wall Conference in Philadelphia, the Call for Paper Abstracts will be released in a few weeks.
Next up will be a series of posts about individual tour sites from each of these unique cities we had the pleaure of visiting last year: Mexico City, Singapore, and the lovely Vancouver, B.C., Canada.
2009 marks the third year of our “Top 10 List of Hot Trends in Greenroof Design” – download the Press Release here. Compiled by our Design Editor, Haven Kiers, and I, we presented the Top 10 List on Friday, June 5, 2009 at the 7th Annual Greening Rooftops for Sustainable Communities Conference, Awards and Trade Show in Atlanta, GA.
Our time slot was changed by Green Roofs for Healthy Cities from 9:30 am to 8:00 am, so if you went by an older Agenda, you missed us!
In 2007, we explored “chic sustainability” and looked at examples of trailblazing and trendsetting greenroof design. Last year, we turned to greenroof industry professionals for inspiration and guidance and asked them to share their top 10 trends of 2008 with us. Together we chose “The Influence of LEED on Design Professionals = Pushing the Green Envelope,” “Sky High Cool Green Schools,” and “Eco-Communities & Eco-Cities” for the top three spots.
This year, the projects we have chosen all share a similar concept – the desire to improve their surrounding environment. The focus of the Top 10 Trends of 2009 is on greenroof design as a means to combat problems in our world of the built environment versus nature, and restore sustainability to the eco-system.
I feel the common element running through all the categories this year is the increasing shift in viewing the building not as a single physical element to be manipulated, but holistically – integrating the site, building envelope, and roof with cultural awareness – creating vegetated surfaces in 3-D and truly linking nature to human design.
6) Sustainable Stimulus: Green Buildings Creating Green Collar Jobs
5) LID Strategies: Celebrating Water with Greenroofs, Rain Gardens, Stormwater Catchment & Beyond
4) Championing the Green Machine: Policy Driven Ecological Development
3) Healthy, Efficient & Affordable Green Housing
2) Sky-High Green Living on the Rise: Condos, Townhomes and Lofts
1) “Towers of Power” – Mega Vertical Structures Linking Earth and Sky
As usual, we included built projects, those on the boards, and several which are stunningly conceptual, like “The Lilypad” by Vincent Callebaut, above and below, designed to make us really push our notion of the possibilities of function and design, and to reprioritize and rethink our global view of our diminishing natural resources. Actually, The Lilypad is a “Tower of Power” – Mega Vertical Structures Linking Earth, Sky, and Water!
Missed our presentation? No problem - click on the 2009 PowerPoint here:
You can also view the 2008 and 2007 PowerPoint presentations of the Top 10 List of Hot Trends in Greenroof Design, and the papers, too. We’ll be posting the 2009 paper – with hyperlinks to each project in The Greenroof Projects Database - by the end of the month.
After a flurry of showers, tornadoes, and even a sprinkling of late snow here in the Atlanta area, leaves are boldly unfurling, flowers are sprouting, and the pollen is flowing. If you’re also in the northern hemisphere, you’re probably experiencing much of the same. Spring is in full bloom and Spring greenroof conferences are gearing up across the U.S. and the world! What better time than the season of rebirth to enjoy visiting new or favorite cities and, of course, taking in the greenroof scenery?
We’ve been busy planning for and helping to promote our two favorite conferences devoted exclusively to the organic architecture of greenroof technology: the 2nd International Green Roof Congress in Stuttgart-Nürtingen, Germany on May 25-27 and the 7th Annual Greening Rooftops for Sustainable Communities Conference, Awards & Trade Show here in Atlanta, GA on June 3-5. Each is an awesome opportunity to meet and greet with industry experts and greenroof colleagues, old and new. I’ll be talking about both, starting with the German event.
But first, some quick thoughts on traveling during our trying economic times – people ask me how fiscally responsible is it to spend money now on an international conference – or any conference for that matter, factoring in the expenses plus the cost of missed billing of clients or other income producing work… Great points, but I see it also as a working vacation, continuing education, an investment in our future. Referring to traveling, a recent professional acquaintance of mine commented, “Our interest lies in seeing what else is out there, what experiences (the good, the bad and the ugly) other professionals have had, and provide an opportunity to exchange ideas.” But, she added, it has to make economic sense, and be perceived as a “good value for our money.” Meaning, I believe, the educational component must be strong and varied. And I know that both of these conferences offer incredible opportunities through the lectures, workshops, tours, and just plain networking. The experiential benefits of participating in these interactive events present invaluable hands-on learning through engagement with the actual designers and planners. If you can swing it, you simply cannot replicate the knowledge obtained and lessons learned in-situ.
This will be our second participation in the International Green Roof Congress, after attending in September, 2004. Along with many international colleagues we heard from a wide variety of green roof experts, including the late Dr. Dave Beattie, Prof. Dr. Manfred Köhler, Dr. Nigel Dunnett, Susan K. Weiler, Dr. Franz Alt, and Ho Wan Weng, just to mention a few.
Wolfgang Ansel, the Coordinator, met up with us at last September’s World Green Roof Congress in London, and brought us up to speed with the upcoming Congress and their amazing line-up of world renown experts and practitioners – see his January Guest Feature INTERNATIONAL GREEN ROOF CONGRESS 2009: “Bringing Nature Back to Town.” They are concentrating on case studies of truly extraordinary global projects, from Copenhagen to London, Zaragoza, Nijmegen, Warsaw, Singapore and Fukuoka, Japan where the ACROS – Asian Cross Roads Over the Sea - designed by Emilio Ambasz, will be highlighted as an example of his philosophy and presentation “The Green over the Grey” – Landscape-cum-Building Designs.
Learning that famed Argentine-born, New York-based Ambasz himself would be presenting on this amazing 100,000 sf green oasis in the middle of the city sealed the deal for me – I’ve been a fan of his since I went back to school at UGA in the late 1990’s, and even selected him once to study as our architect of choice for a group project on green architecture. And in 2008 when we inaugurated our Greenroofs of the World Calendar series, we selected the ACROS Fukuoka Prefectural International Hall for the month of December – the very project I reported on!
Other not-to-be missed speakers include Bernd W. Krupka, famed German landscape architect, “certified expert” and author of technical books on greenroofs – I’m not sure how you get that designation, but I’ll find out! He’ll talk about “Basic Green Roof Planning – Vegetation Technology;” with his many years of experience in the field, Bernd was very helpful to me a few years ago when I was writing my paper “European Airport Greenroofs – A Potential Model for North America,” (2005). The always popular British plant expert, Dr. Nigel Dunnett- soft-spoken but with a bite, will present “Plant Selection Criteria for Green Roofs – The Question of Biodiversity,” American restoration ecologist Paul Kephart of Rana Creek fame will lecture on “Ecological Designs with Green Roofs,” and our knowledgeable and charming Brit colleague Dusty Gedge of Livingroofs.org will discuss “Promoting Green Roofs in the UK – The Greater London Authority Campaign.”
And we’ll hear from these distinguished German professionals as well: our colleague Roland Appl, green roof engineer, President of the International Green Roof Association: “Green Roof Technology – Yesterday – Today – Tomorrow;” Rolf Disch, architect known for integrating solar into green building design: “Sustainable Architecture in the 21st century,” another esteemed colleague of ours, Prof. Dr. Manfred Köhler, landscape architect, professor at the University of Applied Science Neubrandenburg, and President of WGRIN: “Energy Savings with Green Roofs,” and Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Gilbert Lösken of Leibniz University of Hanover and Head of the FLL Green Roof Workgroup: “Key Criteria for Creating Green Roof Guidelines.” Click here to see the complete list of speakers.
The excursions will be the real highlight for Aramis and me – last time we went on the all day ZinCo Green Roof Tour which took us to the Stuttgart region including “Hundertwasserhaus Plochingen” – the Hundertwasser Multi-Family Development, “MAG-Galerien” in Geislingen, Schule Unterensingen, ZinCo International’s Headquarters, and “Römerpark-Museum” in Köngen. So this time I think we’ll try something different – I think a jaunt to the German solar capital, Freiburg, would be highly informative, or maybe you’ll catch us cruising on the Zeppelin NT over beautiful Lake Constance in Southern Germany on the lookout for greenroofs…
So, will you be going? Finalize your plans now and hopefully we’ll see you there!
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?
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
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:
Well folks, it’s that time of year again. Linda and I have been burning the midnight oil trying to finalize this year’s Top 10 List of Hot Trendsin Greenroof Design, and we’re looking for input from you, our faithful Greenroofs.com readers.
Have you seen any outstanding green roof projects this year or in the past few years? Is there anything that stands out in terms of great design? Did you design a greenroof that you think needs a little extra recognition? We’re searching for all types of greenroofs – sleek and modern, esoteric, big or small, built or proposed.
10) Client Specific ‘Boutique’ Greenroofs
9) PreFab Modular Homes are Fabulous
8) Greenroofs as Art & Architecture
7) Parks & Interpretive Greenroof Spaces
6) Solar & Vegetative Roofs as High Performance Buildings
5) Greenroofs for Biodiversity
4) Institutional & Office Parks – Setting the Example
3) Eco-Communities & Eco-Cities
2) Sky High Cool Green Schools
1) The Influence of LEED on Design Professionals = Pushing the Green Envelope
And this is our “working” Top 10 List for 2009:
10) Unique Driving Factors/Boutique Greenroofs: “Mother Nature Meets Lady Luck” – Greenroof Casinos; Living Billboards, and more!
9) “Ecological” Gas Stations?
8) Heavenly Gardens – Religious Institutions Embracing Living Design
7) Design Competitions Promoting Future Inspiration
6) Green Buildings Creating Green Collar Jobs & Spurring the Industry
5) LID (Low Impact Development) Strategies: Celebrating Water with Greenroofs, Rain Gardens & Green Streets
4) Technological Advances – Faster, Cheaper, & Better Materials
3) The “Green Factor” – Policy Driving Ecological Development
2) Mayoral Initiatives – Championing the Green Machine
1)”Towers of Power” – Mega Vertical Structures Linking Earth and Sky
What do you think? Have you noticed any new greenroof trends this year? What are the forces driving new projects? Has the economy had an effect on the number or type of greenroofs being built? What role has the new Obama administration had on greenroof projects?
Send your suggestions, thoughts, website links, and photos by March 18th to the following email address:
I’m on the NYC Tax Abatement e-mail list, and this is what Carter H. Strickland, Jr., Senior Policy Advisor for Air and Water in the Mayor’s Office of Long Term Planning and Sustainability, just sent out to advise everyone planning on applying for a tax abatement for either a greenroof or solar system:
Dear green roof stakeholder:
Given the tight time frame we are facing with processing the new green roof tax abatements for this year, the Department of Buildings is trying to streamline the process for processing those applications. Any solar installers or buildings owners who have a project that they think qualifies for an abatement this year (therefore needing to start the process by March 16, 2009 per the law) should immediately contact Bonnie Gerard (212-442-1239 or bgerard@buildings.nyc.gov) as soon as possible. DOB is finalizing the checklist and application forms for the abatement and we will distribute them to you as soon as we receive the finalized version (Bonnie will also be able to give them to you once they are finalized).
Please forward this email to anyone else you think could have green roof projects that are eligible for an abatement this year. Thank you.”
This follows the DOB hearing held yesterday, March 3, 2009, regarding implementing the draft regulations relating to the installation of green roofs for a tax abatement (which was open to public comment), approved by the state of New York in June of 2008.
Since the statute requires that applications have to be filed by March 15 every year (a Sunday in 2009, so it extends to the following day, March 16), NYC is trying to get a sense of the number of applications that they can expect. Obviously, New York City’s Department of Buildings needs to know immediately on prospective applications, so if you’re building a greenroof this year, take note!
August 8, 2008: GOVERNOR PATERSON SIGNS LAWS TO HELP SPUR INVESTMENT IN RENEWABLE ENERGY – The A.11226 Diaz R/S.7553 Lanza bill was signed by New York State Governor Paterson and deals with the tax abatement for renewable energy, providing a tax abatement for construction of green roofs in New York City. Read the Press Release from New York State.
June 24, 2008: Building owners in New York City who install green rooftops will now receive a significant tax credit under a bill (A.11226) sponsored by Assemblyman Ruben Diaz Jr. that passed the state legislature on June 24, 2008.
Under this law, building owners in New York City who install green roofs on at least 50 percent of available rooftop space can apply for a one-year property tax credit of up to $100,000. The credit would be equal to $4.50 per square-foot of roof area that is planted with vegetation, or approximately 25 percent of the typical costs associated with the materials, labor, installation and design of the green roof. Read the Press Release from Sustainable South Bronx.
Like the majority of our readers/ visitors, I am constantly on the look-out for green roofs. Extensive, intensive, moss-covered, or grass-filled eaves… Every green roof is, for me, a signal of Mother Nature’s pulse. A sign that she hasn’t abandoned us entirely, and will slowly, subtly, reclame our denuded constructions with autotrophic (i.e. self-feeding, from the sun’s energy…) Life.
I recently moved back to Austria, one of the several German-speaking lands of milk and honey. Further to my beloved cheese- and chocolate-dominated diet, this analogy also extends to the fact that I’m now living in the Motherland of extensive green roof technology. Whether driving along the Autobahn, hiking at 2500 m above sea level, or going to work, my hungry eyes are constantly satiated with the sight of green roofs.
Here’s the funny thing, though. When I lived in Reutte in the autumn/ winter of 2005, virtually all the conversations I had with locals about green roofs were met with confusion, curiosity and disbelief:
“Why would you put plants on the roof?” “Never heard of such a thing..” “They may be big in Germany, but green roofs don’t exist around here..” “Green roofs wouldn’t work here, we get too much snow.” It reminded me presenting the concept of vegetated roofs to someone who’d never heard of it before in North America.. except I’m in Austria, a progressive member of the EU.
Granted, I’m not in Linz, which has been implementing green roof policy and incentives since 1989. I’m 600 km west, in a Tyrolean Alpine village that is covered by snow for 6 months of the year. Deep and persistent snow cover plays an important role to the cultural psyche of this region. World-class skiers grow up here. As far as the locals with which I’ve spoken are concerned, green roofs may exist in Linz or Munich, but they don’t fit in here.
What’s so funny, then? Well, when I returned to the area this past July, my eyes were repeatedly surprised by green roof after green roof. They are, in fact, EVERYWHERE here! Just as I have been pleasantly surprised, many of the locals (who had no idea about green roofs before) universe community now report that they’re seeing green roofs everywhere too.. they’d just never noticed them before.
The experience has been not unlike that familiar experience from back home, of witnessing the lightbulb going on above a newly introduced’s head. The only difference is that here, the green roofs are HERE yet few people notice them (or thought much about them if they had). In some of the cases (see photos), it is hard to imagine how someone could miss them!
Catholic church in Reutte with green roof walkway
Tourist Information Centre in Reutte with green roof
This experience has opened my eyes to how green roofs are perceived. While North American’s figure that Europeans are light-years ahead with regards to social and environmental policy (realistically about 15 years), this doesn’t mean that all Europeans know what green roofs are.
Dare I conclude that, regardless of geography or culture, green roofs may be either new and exciting, or so common that the layman doesn’t notice them. Is this too much of a generalization?
In reflection, we should be happy the conference agenda is so big – I’m sure 
I’m sorry I couldn’t attend Maureen’s panel session of Expert Discussion: Taking Green Roofs and Walls to the Next Level in British Columbia – A Pathway to the Future! because it conflicted with our Top 10 presentation session. It
Not content to leave things alone, upon leaving the Vancouver International Airport (YVR), I had to take a bunch of photos of the 17-meter high 
