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.

Each week you can expect to learn What’s New here on Greenroofs.com through our “This Week in Review” video.  Here’s the transcript from July 8, 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 this week, July 8th 2011 on GreenroofsTV.

- Project of the Week

- Our project of the week is Universal Studios Singapore, built in 2010.  Asia’s first movie-theme park, Universal Studios Singapore is a casino-resort off the south coast of the island nation.  It’s an integral part of Resorts World Sentosa, and celebrated its grand opening on May 28th of this year.  Among the make-believe world of movies, roller-coaster rides, theme dining and shopping, the Park also has dealt with down-to-earth issues and has sustainable green features including solar panels and green roofs, which were extensively integrated into the theme park’s concept and design, showing its firm commitment to energy conservation and responsible environmental management.  Totaling about 35,000 square meters, the massive green roofs provide an insulating shield against Singapore’s tropical temperatures, helping to cool building interiors and their immediate surroundings, mitigating urban heat island effect as well as contributing aesthetically to the ambiance of the park.  Elmich Green Roof was used as the wide structural spans of the immense roofs with their VersiDrain® 25P water retention and drainage layers, EnviroMix® GRs and VersiCell® structural drainage and insulation cells.

- To learn more about Universal Studios Singapore, click on our project of the week photo on our homepage.

“What’s New”

-  Advertiser Press Releases:

-  KISSS America’s Water Efficient Product Is “Smart” For Smart Irrigation Month.

- Over at the Sky Gardens Blog, check out Linda’s latest posts: Enter the International Skyrise Greenery Awards 2011 by August 1!  GRHC Awards of Excellence Submissions was due this week on July 6th, “Roofmeadow Creates Philly’s First Bus Shelter Green Roof,” and our GPW as well as Greenroofs.com’s “TWIR” on GreenroofsTV.

-  “Upcoming Events”

- July 9th: Green Roofs for Healthy Cities is having an Introduction to Rooftop Urban Agriculture Course in New York, New York and another one on July 11th in Toronto, Canada.

- July 9th-12th: is the 2011 Association of Horticulture Professionals (OFA) Short Course in Columbus, Ohio.

- July 14th-15th: Green Roofs for Healthy Cities is having a Green Roof Boot Camp in Kansas City, Missouri (101 and 201 courses only).

-  And don’t forget our Greenroofs & Walls of the World™ Virtual Summit 2011 – Connecting the Planet + Living Architecture: People, Projects & Design conference and expo is coming up next month, August 23rd & 24th online around the world!  Registration information coming soon!

-  “In the News”

-  Katherine Scott of 6abc.com invites you to “Take a tour of PECO’s green roof.” The 45,000 square foot green roof on the eighth floor of the PECO Building is the largest ever installed on an existing building in Philadelphia. Liz Williamson of PECO says they “made a very definite decision to choose plants that were drought resistant or drought tolerant.” Such plants include 12 different species of sedums, which have a root system that help retain moisture and are low-growing and low-maintenance, ornamental grasses and perennials, all of which are growing locally in Pennsylvania. You can go directly to 6abc.com to watch their news story about the greenroof.

- Amy Zimmer of DNAinfo talks about “Upper East Side Co-op Builds Rooftop Garden For Children.” Plymouth Tower co-op resident Sheila Tendy in Manhattan had a vision about letting children of the building learn about food by getting their hands dirty, planting and taking care of fresh herbs, hot peppers, eggplants, zucchini, squash, cucumbers, and strawberries themselves. She says, “It’s just a matter of realizing you can grow things in small quantities and grow food for yourself. It’s not that difficult. A ‘farm’ could be a 6-inch pot on your windowsill.” Tara Reddi, another parent in the building, who runs several Plymouth Tower kids events, long dreamed of doing a garden for the co-ops’s kids; and says “The best thing has been planting with the kids and having them discover how wonderful it is to put their hands in the earth and plant something and watch it grow.”

-  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.

-  This has been This Week in Review for July 8th, 2011 on GreenroofsTV.  I’m Anjuli Velazquez and I’ll see you next week!

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

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

~ Linda V.

Each week you can expect to learn What’s New here on Greenroofs.com through our “This Week in Review” video.  After a summer vacation, here’s the transcript from June 24 which also covers the weeks of June 17 & 10, 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 this week, June 24th 2011, as well as for the past two weeks since I was gone for a little summer break, on GreenroofsTV.

- Projects of the Week

-  Our project of the week is the Hotel Ushuaïa Low-Tech Vertical Garden built in 2011 in Ibiza, Spain.  Situated in the Hotel Ushuaïa de Ibiza, the four panel eco.bin greenwall acts as a sound barrier between the open air disco, which is located in between the hotel’s central courtyard and the surrounding guest rooms.  The garden wall consists of rows of ceramic terra cotta containers whose circular openings are individually filled with growing medium and planted. Each interconnected planted ceramic has its own substrate and vegetation, and works together to create this sound-absorbent garden space.  This is the first such type of greenwall garden system in the world.  Also, the designers have selected a variety of native plants which can adapt and thrive in these Mediterranean conditions; and as you can see, they provide a multitude of colors during the year.

-  Our project of the week last week was the NYC Parks Five Borough Administrative Building built in 2007 in Randall’s Island, New York, New York. In response to Mayor Bloomberg’s visionary 2007 PlaNYC initiative, the Five Borough Technical Services division began a program of installing green roofs of various designs, realizing that they could contribute significantly to the city’s sustainability effort.  To date, the division, together with Parks’ Green Apple Corps and others, has installed 24 systems covering over 29,000 square feet of roof on the west wing of the building including Green Paks, GreenGrid, BioTrays, Bioroof, Xero Flor, and many custom designs. Five Borough’s is the only known green roof in the U.S. to feature such a vast array of distinct systems side-by-side, which vary by types of growing medium, depth of growing medium, and plant selection.  And 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.  By the way, look for a very in-depth look at this roof as our Guest Feature Article coming very soon!

-  Our project of the week for June 10th was the Ruthven Garage built in 2010 in Tacoma, Washington.  In 2010, Jenny Ruthven was a horticulture student at Oregon State University, and after graduating found employment within the green roofing industry and wanted to design and install her own greenroof, and her parents’ garage was the perfect spot.  With the help of family and friends, they had to first add some additional structural support to the garage and replace the 29+ year old shingles. Then, they used a custom made blend of soil which ended up consisting of about 52% inorganic and 48% organic.  Inorganic was all pumice, with a bit of perlite thrown in. Half of the organic component was cedar grove compost, and the rest was coconut fiber, peat moss, mushroom compost, chicken compost, and steer compost. They planted 432 plants, with about 60 different species and varieties total.  Looking back now, Mom Sandra says that she figured that she’d really like her greenroof, but had never  anticipated how much.

-  To learn more about the Ruthven Garage greenroof, type in project ID #1150 in our Projects Database, the NYC Parks Five Borough Administrative Building greenroof, project ID #787 and as always for our current project of the week, this week being the Hotel Ushüaia Low-Tech Vertical Garden, click on our project of the week photo on our homepage.  And, you can also always go to our Sky Gardens Blog and read Linda’s expanded post about our project of the week every week!

“What’s New”

-  Advertiser Press Releases:

-  LiveRoof® Adds an Architectural Specialist, Michael R. Selleck, in Chicago to Support Sales of the LiveRoof® Hybrid Green Roof System.

-  Tremco Headquarters Completes Comprehensive Green Renovation, Becomes a Showcase of Sustainable Construction Technology.

- Registration is now open in Ottawa, Canada – for a Green Living Technologies International (GLTi) Green Wall Seminar.

-  Skyland USA is pleased to announce the launch of a new rooflite® certified growing media website.

-  Joblinks:

The University of Sheffield is looking for a Hydrologist or Urban Drainage Marie Curie More Experienced Researcher in Sheffield, United Kingdom.

-  You can go to greenroofs.com/joblinks.htm more information on this job and other Green Roof Job postings.

-  Make sure to check out our latest Guest Feature Articles and Blog Posts:

-  Christine Thuring gives us her latest report on the 1st International Green Roof Students Conference in Sheffield, UK.

-  And Steven Peck fills us in on a Green Roofs for Healthy Cities’ 2011 CitiesAlive Conference update.

-  Over at the Sky Gardens Blog, catch up on all of Linda’s other posts about Chris Wark’s 2011 7-part Green Roof Energy Series is now available on PDF, and the Greenroofs.com’s “TWIR” on GreenroofsTV for June 3rd, 2011.

- Industry News

-  Environmental Protection Commissioner Cas Holloway announced the 15 winners of Department of Environmental Protection’s 2011 Green Infrastructure Grant Program. Selected from a total of 52 applications, the 15 winners will share approximately $3.8 million of funds to build green infrastructure projects that will reduce combined sewer overflows and improve water quality in the New York Harbor.

-  Green Roofs for Healthy Cities announces co-host agreements with the City of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania Horticultural Society for its 9th Annual CitiesAlive Green Roof and Wall Conference November 30th – December 3rd, 2011.

-  The American Institute of Architects (AIA) Committee on Architecture for Education (CAE) has selected 13 educational and cultural facilities for this year’s CAE Educational Facility Design Awards.

-  “Upcoming Events”

-  June 21st-25th: is the 2011 APGA Conference in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

-  June 27th-29th: is the 48th International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA) World Congress in Zurich, Switzerland.

-  And on June 29th-30th: is Greenbuild EXPO Exhibition & Conference of Sustainable Building in Manchester, United Kingdom.

- For more Upcoming Events visit our homepage.

-  “In the News”

-  Julia Johnson of the Ottawa Citizen reports on “Old film treasure preserved in federal news archives building.”  Earlier this week, Library and Archives Canada unveiled its new $14.7-million preservation facility for nitrate film on the government’s Shirleys Bay campus.  The new building now houses 5,575 reels of nitrate film dating back to 1912.  Archivist and librarian of Canada, Daniel Caron says that the new facility was also designed to be environmentally friendly, including efficient mechanical systems, insulated walls and a greenroof.  And Mario Gasperetti, the archives’ manager of strategic accommodation adds that the greenroof helps with keeping the vault cool by reducing heat exchange and instead of using manicured grass on the roof, it is designed to look exactly like the meadow landscape surrounding the building.

-  Julie Young of the Richmond Times-Dispatch talks about “Burnt-out home goes from ashes to awesome.”  She says a few years ago, the 1920s row house on Grove Avenue was an “architectural corpse.  Its skeletal remains consisted of a disfigured facade, broken bones and devastating internal damage.”  Then along came Dr. Susan Miller and her husband Dr. Kenneth Kendler to the rescue.  In 2008, they signed on to breathe life back into this burnt down home.  Over the next two years, “The Phoenix” was reborn and filled with green eco-friendly sustainable features like their own greenroof, the 25 foot tall green wall located in the home between the dining room and great room, thirty photovoltaic  roof panels, solar panels, concrete countertops flecked with reclaimed glass and rocks their now-adult children collected as kids, and much more.  The living wall ecosystem was designed by Scotty Guinn Dilworth of SG Designs and installed by Capitol Greenroofs who also installed the roof-top garden.

-  Ted Kortan of NewsNet5.com announces “Tremco Incorporated headquarters dedicated in Beachwood.”  Tremco Incorporated, a building products and solutions company, and subsidiary of RPM International, dedicated its renovated 40-year-old corporate headquarters last week.  Tremco said the project has resulted in a “high performance” building that is substantially more efficient, cost effective, and sustainable than the previous headquarters, with features like their vegetated roof with almost 1,600 plants and the area’s first solar powered electric car charging station.  Joining with company officials at Tremco’s Green Road campus for the dedication were Ohio Governor John Kasich, U.S. Senator Rob Portman, U.S. Congresswoman Betty Sutton and Beachwood Mayor Merle Gorden.

-  Sandy Bauers of Philly.com says “A tiny step forward for green roofs in Philadelphia” includes “a cheerful puff of plant life atop a bus-stop shelter.”  Tiffany Ledesma Groll, the project’s coordinator said, “We basically see this project as an opportunity to inspire homeowners.  A lot of the green roofs that are really fabulous and gorgeous are on high-rises” – which most people never see.  She goes on to say, “We thought it would be fun to bring it down to eye level.”  Last week, workers from Roofmeadow, a Philadelphia green roofs company that did the installation pro bono, were busy topping the shelter with its “mini-oasis.”  They planted a fuzz of pink dianthus, multicolored portulaca, and sedum and Roofmeadow also has committed to maintaining the roof for its first two years.  Charlie Miller, president and founder of Roofmeadow, said the roof “will give people a sense of familiarity…how it contributes to the quality of life.”  His son, Ari, designed the installation so it could be replicated as a “kit” for other bus-stop roofs in the city.

-  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.

-  This has been This Week in Review for June 24th, 2011 as well as June 10th and 17th on GreenroofsTV.  I’m Anjuli Velazquez and I’ll see you next week!

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

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

~ Linda V.

Each week you can expect to learn What’s New here on Greenroofs.com through our “This Week in Review” video.  Here’s the transcript for April 29, 2011 from our daughter, Anjuli - click on the photo below to see the video, or here.  Enjoy!

-  Hello, I’m Anjuli Velazquez and welcome to This Week in Review for April 29th, 2011, on GreenroofsTV.

- Project of the Week

- Our project of the week is the U.S. Tax Court greenroof built in 2008 in Washington, D.C.  The D.C. area is well known for having some of the worst storm water control problems in America and the Federal Government along with the District Government authorities have recognized that greening its rooftops is the most practical and economical means of addressing this issue.  The United States Tax Court, one of a number of notable General Services Administration’s greening projects, was recently re-roofed with a Barrett Company 4 inch extensive “Greenroof-Roofscapes®” assembly, adding to the growing federal green roof inventory within the Capitol District.  The green roof initiative is reducing the storm water runoff volume while providing the many other environmental contributions that living roofs are known to provide.  Cole Roofing was brought in as Barrett Company’s Greenroof-Roofscape® installer, who then hired Greg Long of Capitol Greenroofs to oversee installation and maintain the roof.

- To learn more about the U.S. Tax Court greenroof, click on our project of the week photo on our homepage.

-  “What’s New”

- Chris Wark, our Energy Editor, wraps up his final installment of his 7-part “Cooler Than Cool Roofs: How Heat Doesn’t Move Through a Green Roof” Energy series. Make sure to read “The Secret and How To Use It.“

- Did you know you can watch YouTube videos, like our latest Sky Gardens ~ Greenroofs of the World episode, the Cook+Fox Architects Office, on your DirecTV?  Just click on the link on our homepage or go to the greenroofsTV page and follow the directions.

- Our April 2011 e-Newsletter is out, so catch up on all of the greenroof and wall news from this past month.

- Don’t forget: our 2011“Love the Earth, Plant a Roof!” Earth Day Photo Contest has been extended until today, so go to our Facebook page, submit your photos and vote for your favorite until midnight tonight and the winner will be announced tomorrow!

- Read Linda’s latest Sky Gardens Blog posts: “GPW: U.S. Tax Court” and “Greenroofs.com’s ‘This Week in Review’ on GreenroofsTV: 4.22.11,” and Christine Thuring’s “See the UK Green Roof Student Conference Programme & Register by 6th May 2011.”

-  “Upcoming Events”

- April 29th-May 8th: is the WMG Water Harvesting Certification in Tucson, AZ.

- May 2nd: is the 2nd Annual Massachusetts Sustainable Economy Conference in Boston, MA.

- and May 4th-6th: is Greenbuilding – International Exhibition & Conference on Energy Efficiency & Sustainable Architecture in Verona, Italy. For more Upcoming Events visit our homepage.

-  “In the News”

- Tanya Snyder of Streetsblog Capitol Hill Blog talks about “Philadelphia’s Battle Against Impervious Asphalt.”  She says, “In Philadelphia, your water bill used to be based only on your water consumption…now, your bill is a more accurate reflection of your water footprint, including the amount it costs the city to manage stormwater runoff from your property.”  Philadelphia is now the number-two city in the country for green roofs.  And they’re also implementing a multitude of public space improvements that are popular and desirable in urban cities for many other reasons besides stormwater management.

- Kim North Shine of Metromode Media reports on “Metro Detroit’s Institutes of Greener Learning.”  The students of Lawrence Technological University in Southfield use its green roofs, rainwater collection systems, solar panels and other eco-minded facilities, like the Alfred A. Taubman Student Services Center, as living laboratories.  The student center was built with recyclable materials and has 120 geothermal wells that heat and cool the building as well as a 10,000 square foot green roof that controls and reduces water runoff.

-  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.

-  This has been This Week in Review for April 29th, 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.

Our daughter, Anjuli Velazquez, 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.   She’s become quite popular, and we thought it would be a great idea to start posting her transcript, too, to make things easier to research.  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 March 18th, 2011 on GreenroofsTV.

- Project of the Week

-  Our Project of the Week is The Department Store, Stephen Marr Hair Salon Greenwall built in 2009 in Takapuna, New Zealand.  In 2010 The Department Store was named top retail concept store in the world by Monocle magazine.  One of the centerpieces of the store is the lush interior greenwall on the top floor.  The double-sided greenwall, designed and installed by Natural Habitats Landscapes, is New Zealand’s first interior greenwall.  The wall is 10 meters long by 2 meters high and boasts well over 1,000 individual plants.  It divides the upper level, promoting unique spaces that can be used for presentations like fashion shows.  The building has had skylights installed to ensure the wall is given as much natural light as possible, and so the use of supplementary man-made lighting is kept at a minimum.  This greenwall is an original and breathtaking piece of artwork, but also offers some incredible environmental benefits, like: increased thermal insulation to buildings, noise dampening, and creating cleaner and better quality air, which means healthier buildings and people.  From a commercial perspective, the greenwall increases the building’s value and has also been found to raise employee productivity.

-  To learn more about The Department Store, Stephen Marr Hair Salon Greenwall, click on our project of the week photo on our homepage.

-  “What’s New”

-  Check out Linda’s latest Sky Gardens Blog posts about the New Zealand greenwall, and the “CitiesAlive 2011 Call for Paper and Poster Abstracts.”  Green Roofs for Healthy Cities is pleased to be working with the City of Philadelphia and the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society as co-hosts for CitiesAlive, the 9th Annual Green Roof & Wall Conference to be held later this year in Philadelphia from November 29th to December 3rd.  GRHC says they’re looking for papers that display novel ideas on taking a green approach to storm water management through the use of green infrastructure, indoor greening and residential green infrastructure.  All applications are due by April 15th, and for more information you can visit this blog post and/or e-mail Luna Ghose at lghose@greenroofs.org.

-  Do you think green walls can’t survive in the cold; they don’t look good in the winter, they are only viable in the south or indoors… well, think again!  Contributing Editor George Irwin writes about Winter Interest with Green Walls in his latest column and shows some pretty interesting photos of various looks.

-  Advertiser Press Release: Irrigation Water Technologies America, Inc. recently signed an exclusive agreement with Australia-based Irrigation Water Technologies to manufacture and distribute the revolutionary water conserving KISSS product in North America.

-  Green Roof Jobs:  Joy Kuebler Landscape Architect is seeking resumes for a Landscape Architect/Designer with 5-6 years experience for their busy Buffalo, NY office, so make sure to check this job and many others in JobLinks if you’re looking to work in our industry!

-  “Upcoming Events”

-  March 18th – 27th: is the WMG Water Harvesting Certification in Phoenix, Arizona.

-  March 22nd: is the 2011 Green Roof Technology Workshop in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

-  March 23rd – 27th: is the San Francisco Flower & Garden Show in San Mateo, California.

-  March 24th – 27th: is a Green Roofs for Healthy Cities – Green Roof Boot Camp in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

-  March 25th – 26th: is the GreenScaped Buildings Spring Open House in San Diego, California.

-  March 25th – 27th: is the Better Living Show – Home, Garden & Lifestyle in Portland, Oregon.

-  And don’t forget that on Saturday, March 26, 2011 at 8:30 PM (local time, wherever you are), lights will switch off around the globe for Earth Hour and people will commit to actions that go beyond the hour.  With Earth Hour almost upon us, the organization’s thoughts, as well as ours, are with the people of Japan during this incredibly challenging and sad time for their country.

-  “In the News”

-  Kathleen E. Carey of the Delaware County Daily Times reports on “Green LEEDs to platinum: SAP America earns distinction for utilizing environmental sources for newest building.”  The Newtown Square campus of SAP America Inc. in Delaware County is holding one of the highest environmentally sustainable distinctions in the world with its new Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Platinum level construction.  Just some of the features that have led to its LEED Platinum certification are: its entry to the building – the passageway features a floor comprised of recycled materials, including seashells and pieces of crushed bottles and glass; glass panels surrounding the building with the goal of directing 90 percent of daylight to reach 75 percent of the employees; underneath the floors are tubes that transfer the natural temperature of the Earth which is generated from the 10 geothermal wells in the rear of the property to the inside of the building; and a rooftop garden that spans more than 1 acre which features lavender, rosemary, sedum and butterfly bushes.

-  Katie Kosier of Care2.com talks about “Removing Barriers to Green Building.”  With the help of Philadelphia based Re:Vision Architecture, Pennsylvania’s largest electric and natural gas utility company, PECO, installed a 45,000-square-foot vegetated green roof on its headquarters in central Philadelphia.  It’s the largest in urban Pennsylvania and the roof absorbs more than 1.5 million gallons of rainwater runoff annually, it reduces air temperature in the summer and  it also provides a beautiful habitat for wildlife.  Principle Scott Kelly of RVA, says “For us, it’s about removing barriers to green building.”  You can find more information about the PECO Greenroof in our International Greenroof & Greenwall Projects Database by typing in Project ID number 851.

-  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.

-  By the way, did you know that now you can watch YouTube videos just like this one on DirecTV?  That’s fun!

-  Still haven’t picked up one of our 2011 Greenroofs & Walls of the World 12 Month Wall Calendar yet?  Go to greenroofs.com/calendar.htm and order some today!  Thanks to George Irwin for this great photo!

-  This has been This Week in Review for March 18th, 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.

We’ve begun the Greenroofs.com website redesign starting with the Homepage. Our new design is about improving page navigation and making it easier for our visitors to find the content they want.  More white space has been created and we changed the font type and size for better reading.  We also kept in mind that search engines like to have a sense of what role a page plays in the bigger picture of our site, and we think that this has been accomplished.

HERE’S WHAT’S NEW:

Project of the Week
The Project of the Week section has been moved to the top of the left side in order to attract the first look of our visitors.  Well-documented eyetool analysis has revealed “hotspots” where visitors looked the most on a webpage – and people look most at the left top side. This visual image of the featured greenroof project should instigate additional interest and thus a click-through that brings the latest project profile to the forefront in a separate window.  As you probably know, the project profile contains various photos and detailed content describing many important and relevant aspects of the case study.  The data associated with these profiles is administered on our MySQL Greenroof & Greenwall Projects Database via PHP scripts.  Our database currently has 1,022 project profiles with many more being added every day. By the way, the content of this database is currently indexed by Google and Google News – which means when visitors search online, the results page will contain links to the data from our database.

The Greenroof & Greenwall Projects Database has been open to the world since 2004, evolving from the “International and North American Case Studies” portion of Linda Velazquez’ initial 1999 independent research study.   Read more about how Linda selects the Project of the Week.

The Greenroof Directory
Visitors looking for companies to work with on their projects now have a quick search capability from the homepage, direct to the Greenroof Directory.

The Greenroof Directory is also a MySQL database which contains essential information (contact, products, services, photos, etc.) about Manufacturers, Suppliers, Professional Services, and Organizations in the greenroof industry.

All this information is searchable from the main Directory page and now, for the first time, from our homepage with our new quick search feature.  The most popular main categories are highlighted in this new search box, and you can also access more categories from here, too.

In a guest feature article submitted by Adam Henige, a Web consultant, he states “An analysis of search engine data for 2009 clearly demonstrates a rising trend in the general public’s awareness of and interest in green roofs. Looking at these estimates for a cross section of the most popular general roofing terms and green roofing terms performed on search engines, there was growth in both areas, but by November the monthly search volume had grown only 51 percent for general roofing terms while green roofing terms had grown 155 percent.”

No one knows the secret formula that search engines use in order to optimize a particular site and improve rankings, but fortunately for us, we have enjoyed the number one spot in all the top search engines for the most significant keywords in our industry for over 10 years.  In addition to creating lots of organic content on a consistent basis, we also have a high number of sites that consider us a great resource and thus add links back to us, which also improves search results positioning and site PageRank.  So, if you want your company to be found online, make sure you get listed with us (shameless plug!).

Video player
An embedded video player showing the latest videos from our greenroofsTV channel on YouTube has been moved to the top right side for better viewing.  YouTube is the most popular video hosting and sharing service and is owned by Google.  Their service lets users view and upload video files, and in addition to hosting videos, the service lets users rate videos, add comments, and subscribe to their favorite producers.

Public videos uploaded by YouTube online users are selected by us based on their relevance to the greenroof and greenwall industry, and then added to the respective playlist that feed the various video players throughout our entire website.  We encourage all of you to upload your videos to showcase and increase your exposure by sharing experiences, projects, interviews, tours, product demonstrations – with our marketplace and the rest of the world.

Industry News, ResearchLinks & Industry Support
The extremely long Industry News content that used to be displayed in the center column has been consolidated to a short list of the latest news with links to a new separate page fully dedicated to all the industry news associated with the greenroof and greenwall community.

The ResearchLinks section on the Navigation Bar has now been replaced simply with Industry, which now houses Industry News, Industry Support and ResearchLinks.  Industry Support used to be under Greenroofs 101, which was the basis for Linda’s 1999 paper and Greenroofs.com.

Guest Features
You’ll find them now in a highlighted box displaying the latest two features with links to the full articles. If you are an expert on a particular greenroof or greenwall design topic, you may submit your content to our Editor and it will be reviewed for publishing on our site – just email your information to: submissions@greenroofs.com.

NewsLinks
The long list of NewsLinks has also been reduced to a shorter one of the latest few, with links for more news on our page dedicated to all our NewsLinks.  We have also added a section that will highlight a particular event during the month – like the 2010 Olympics, Earth Hour, etc.  Make sure you visit often for all your industry news!

Contributing Editor Columns
Similar to Guest Features, another highlighted section now houses the latest from our contributing editors, prominently displayed within the body of the homepage with links to the respective columns.

Other changes
· The Google Search Box that allows for searching our entire website is now more visible.

·  The banners on the top and bottom of the page rotate randomly with a fade transition instead of the old slide in a sequential order.  This will allow for all of our advertisers’ banner ads to have equal exposure to our visitors.

·  Social Media icons are now top and center for easy clicks.  Make sure you stay connected with us by following us on Twitter, becoming a fan of our Facebook wall, joining our Greenroofs.com Network group in LinkedIn, subscribing to the greenroofsTV channel on YouTube and our monthly eNewsletter.

·  Finally, the bottom of the page is now filled with small logos from all our sponsors linkable to their respective color brochures in The Greenroof Directory filled with lots of pertinent information about their products and services.

·  The Sky Gardens blog box, Upcoming Events, JobLinks, and our Advertiser Press Releases and are still pretty much in their respective spots, just cleaned up a bit.

We’re still in our tweaking stages, and have a lot more work to do to the rest of our site, but we welcome your feedback for what we have done so far.  Keep us informed of all your greenroof and greenwall happenings, and stay on top of the greenroof world with Greenroofs.com!  We look forward to hearing back from you.