Greenroofs.com Project of the Week: 5/9/11
Aqua
Chicago, IL, USA
80,000 sf. Greenroof

Year: 2009
Owner: Aqua at Lakeshore East, LLC
Building Type: Multi-Use
Type: Intensive
System: Single Source Provider
Size: 80,000 sq.ft.
Slope: 2%
Access: Private
Location: Chicago, IL, USA

Project Description & Details

Designed to comply with LEED certification, Aqua is a mixed-use residential skyscraper overlooking Harbor Park, the center of the Lakeshore East development on the shores of Lake Michigan, and is setting new heights for innovation and beauty among Chicago skyscrapers.  Each floor of the 82-story tower has an architectonic facade of sensuously swerving white concrete balconies jumping out from amongst its stolid brethren.  Each floor plate is uniquely different, designed to remind viewers of the limestone outcroppings along the Great Lakes.

The 80,000 sf intensive Greenroof-Roofscapes® System roof garden by Barrett Company capping Aqua’s three-story podium roof provides a naturalistic, eco-friendly landscape that reduces the building’s interior temperature and cooling energy requirements in the summer significantly and reduces winter heat loss.  The swirling garden with paths reminiscent of Robert Burle-Marxe includes native and non-native vegetation of evergreen trees, shrubbery, grasses, deciduous trees, sedum and various annuals of great color and diversity, watered by an efficient drip irrigation system.  Challenges addressed in creating and sustaining Aqua’s rooftop garden included weight limitations and water filtration.  Because of occupied areas below, an International Leak Detection (ILD) system was installed to protect against membrane damage as well as other electric field leakage problems.

Designers/Manufacturers of Record

Developer and Executive Architect: Todd Wendell, P.M., Loewenberg & Associates
Waterproofing/Greenroof-Roofscapes® System: Tim Barrett, President, Barrett Co.
Design Architect: Jeanne Gang, AIA, Principal, The Studio Gang
Landscape Architect: Ted Wolff, Wolff Landscape Architecture
Waterproofing Applicator Contractor: Mark Caruso, P.M., Kedmont Waterproofing
Construction Contractor, Sr. Project Manager: Randy Bullard, James McHugh Construction Co.
Landscape Contractor: Patricia Sund, Executive VP, Countryside Industries, Inc.
Electric Field Vector Mapping (EFVM®): International Leak Detection (ILD)

Architect Jeanne Gang’s Aqua Tower rises distinctively amongst its modernist Chicago neighbors, and Aqua’s roof deck presents an unparalleled combination of amenities along with its extraordinary topography.  Already considered Chicago’s newest architectural landmark, equally imposing is an amenities package, known as The Shore Club, which is comparable to a world-class resort.  It includes the distinctive 80,000 sf living roof deck – the largest in the city – with its luxury gardens, gazebos, pools and cabañas, hot tub, running track, fire pit and grills.  Indoors, a 35,000 sf amenity floor provides fitness facilities, an indoor lap pool, a spa featuring a hot tub, sauna, steam and massage room, a basketball court, private club suites with catering kitchens, media room, billiards and game area, business center with conference room, skygarden lounge and concierge services.

Here’s a cool photo of the Aqua greenroof under construction from the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, and below it a plan view from Studio Gang Architects, via Metropolis Magazine:

“Gang extruded the floor slabs to enhance views of key sites in the area and analyzed the building’s seasonal sun exposure to optimize their shading potential, then softened the curves for aesthetic effect.”

1: Lake Michigan 0.3 mi; 2: Navy Pier 0.5 mi; 3: Lakeshore East Park 0.1 mi; 4: North Shoreline 1.0 mi; 5: BP Bridge 0.2 mi; 6: Cloud Gate 0.2 mi. ~ Metropolis Magazine

As you probably know by now, Aqua recently won our “Love the Earth, Plant a Roof! Earth Day Photo Contest” submitted by Linda Smith of Barrett Company, garnishing the most votes in our annual popularity contest for favorite pictures chosen by our readers of outstanding living roofs on Facebook through the end of April.   Aqua represents a vegetated roof project whose design and function clearly illustrates the concept of “Loving the Earth” through its sustainable design.  Granted, the luxury $4 billion development is not economically viable or sustainable for everyone, though!  But don’t get me wrong – it’s awesome to see healthy environmental design incorporated into high end properties.

“At 82 stories and over 1.9 million sf, Aqua Tower is one of few high-rises in the world that creates a community on its façade.  With a hotel, apartments, condominiums, parking, offices, and one of Chicago’s largest green roofs, this multi-use tower demonstrates both architectural and technical achievements.  Its outdoor terraces—which differ in shape from floor to floor based on criteria such as views, solar shading and dwelling size/type—create a strong connection to the outdoors and the city, as well as form the tower’s distinctive undulating appearance.” ~ Studio Gang Architects

Some of Aqua’s real awards include 2010 International Highrise Award Finalist, Deutsches Architekturmuseum; 2009 Skyscraper of the Year, Emporis; 2009 Annual Design Review Honorable Mention, Architect Magazine; 2009 “Proggy” Award, PETA; and the 2008 American Architecture Award, Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture & Design.

Aqua has a large selection of vegetation on the podium greenroof – here’s the Aqua’s entire site Plant List:

Fort McNair Horsechestnut;

Daylily Mix - Includes a mix of the following:
Happy Returns Daylily
Summer Wine Daylily
Stella de Oro Daylily;
Palace Purple Coralbells;
Variegated Sweet Iris;
Munstead Lavender;
Lilyturf;
Catmint;
Russian Sage;
Viette’s Little Suzy Black-eyed Susan;
Goldsturm Black-eyed Susan;
Autumn Joy Sedum.

Aqua is reportedly the world’s tallest building designed by a woman-owned firm (at least in 2009) – make sure to read the article by Blair Kamin in the Chicago Tribune here, where you can see his YouTube video of the site under construction – photo below:

Also, you can see a more recent video and read more about the Aqua in the June 29, 2010 “Finding Home – the hidden neighborhood of Lakeshore East” blog post by Rochelle Vayo Adkinson in Chicago Now here, photo below.

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

Love the Earth, Plant a Roof!

~ Linda V.

Photo submissions and voting stopped yesterday for Greenroofs.com’s second annual  “Love the Earth, Plant a Roof!” Earth Day Photo Contest and with a total of 71 votes, the winner is:

The Aqua in Chicago, Illinois, USA!

“The Aqua, Chicago, Illinois, USA Taken by Tim Barrett, Barrett Company, Millington, NJ” ~ Linda

Well, it’s not the most descriptive entry by a long shot, but it sure makes up for it visually.  Congratulations to Linda Smith from Barrett Company who submitted this lovely project!  One of the tallest buildings in Chicago, the Aqua is a $4 billion development with an 80,000 sf intensive greenroof.  The 82-story mixed-use residential skyscraper is located in the Lakeshore East development in downtown Chicago designed in the Modern architectural style.  The beautiful terrace gardens comes complete with gazebos, pools, hot tubs, a walking/running track and even a fire pit.

Linda will receive a check for $100 and we’ll be highlighting it soon as our GPW, or Greenroof Project of the Week.  I want to get more shots of this stunning recreational greenroof and project info to share with you first.

The Aqua was neck and neck with Cultivated Abundance, another beautiful and sensitive project in New York City, below.  But yesterday, Friday, the voting really got furious and it’s obvious the Aqua fans made the difference into the evening hours.

Cultivated Abundance was submitted by Jennifer Nitzky from Mark K Morrison Landscape Architecture PC and came in second place, receiving a total of 59 votes.  I have to say that Jennifer’s write up is certainly the best – remember I wanted everyone to tell us why they felt their project was worthy of being an example of loving the Earth?  Read her entry below:

“Cultivated Abundance, a 2,000 SF intensive/extensive green roof with commanding views of New York Harbor is located on the penthouse of The Visionaire, a LEED Platinum residential high rise in Battery Park City. This dynamic intensive/extensive green roof in New York City sets a new precedent for cultivated abundance while incorporating such sustainable initiatives as recycling gray water for irrigation and retaining 95% of storm water on site. The vision and collaborative efforts of the landscape architect and client resulted in a residential landscape which celebrates bio-diversity, environmental responsibility and provides an urban farming component worthy of educational dialogue for urbanites looking to produce their own food with over 160 different species of plants. (photo credit: Mark K Morrison, RLA, FASLA, GRP)”

This year, we organized our Photo Contest a bit differently from last and utilized Facebook - each person could vote multiple times for their favorite, but just one time per day.  In 2010 we had a total of 1,500 votes for readers’ favorites, compared to this year’s 212 votes.  This really lowered the overall number of votes per project, but we felt it would provide a fairer approach than simply voting a ton of times a day for your favorite.  In any case, it’s still a popularity contest!

It’s been fun for me to read all 161 of the comments from everyone on Facebook – most are short and sweet, which is a great way to get the point across quickly.  You can still do that, too, if you’re interested, and see who voted for whom by clicking on each photo.

There were a lot of cool projects from which to choose, from small to large, single family residential to huge institutional.  I’d like to include each of these in our Greenroof & Greenwall Projects Database so that we can all learn more about them and see more photos, too.  See everyone’s submissions and their total vote counts here.

As Earth Month comes to a close for 2011, I hope we all continue honoring our planet with thoughtful decisions, living roofs and walls, and more forward-thinking sustainable design.

Happy greening!

~ Linda V.

Each week you can expect to learn What’s New here on Greenroofs.com through our “This Week in Review” video.  Here’s the transcript 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.

Each week you can expect to learn What’s New here on Greenroofs.com through our “This Week in Review” video.  Here’s the transcript for April 15, 2011 from our daughter, Anjuli - click on the photo below to see the video, or here.  Enjoy!

-  Hello, I’m Anjuli Velazquez and welcome to This Week in Review for April 15th, 2011 on GreenroofsTV.

- Project of the Week

- Our project of the week is the Longdrive house built in 2008 in Long Eddy, New York.  This 4,000 square foot home by Alveary Architects was designed to be an extension of existing trails and paths that wind through this beautiful 63 acre property.  A conversation pit with a large stone fireplace dominates and anchors the center of the house.  Radiant-heated stone floors were used throughout the main level while the master bedroom suite and upper stories were floored with reclaimed wood, which was also used for all interior walls.  Next to the master bedroom is a green house separated by pivoting wood doors providing a tropical retreat during New York’s long winters.  The house is covered by a custom designed green roof complimenting the natural setting and the planted roof on three levels blends into the natural landscape and encourages the wildlife to creep in close to the house.  Also, Longdrive was featured on the cover of our 2011 Greenroofs and Walls of the World™ 12 Month Wall Calendar!

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

-  “What’s New”

- Our 2011 “Love the Earth, Plant a Roof!” Earth Day Photo Contest is going on right now, so participate in the fun by submitting a photo on our Facebook page and telling your friends to vote!  You can submit your greenroof or wall photo by next Friday, Earth Day April 22nd, but keep voting until Friday, April 29th and the winner will be announced on Saturday, April 30th!

- We’d like to announce a new Contributing Editor here at Greenroofs.com:  Welcome to John Shepley!  John is co-owner of Emory Knoll Farms/Green Roof Plants based in Street, Maryland and look for his first column coming very soon!

- Advertiser Press Release: Green Living Technologies International – or GLTi – has added a Vertical Farming Seminar to its Certification Training: “Food is Not an Option…” The class will provide the knowledge base to implement vertical agriculture ranging from a hobbyist/education to professional grower and for profit opportunity.

- GLTi also announces that Certification Training is Available for Registration in Detroit, Michigan.  The GLTi training is much more than a lecture series; it’s also a hands-on demonstration and application comparing apples to apples.  You will learn to compare other technologies!  Both class sizes are limited so register early!

- The NYC Strategic Alliance for Health honored Discovery High School as the first recipient of its Excellence in School Wellness Award at Bronx ceremony earlier this week, on Tuesday April 12th, 2011.  The Excellence in School Wellness Award recognizes the strides that schools are making in creating healthy school environments as a means to prevent childhood obesity and improve academic achievement.  So, congrats to them!

- Be sure to read Linda’s Sky Gardens Blog posts where you can read how the ASLA, or the American Society of Landscape Architects, has been nominated for their new greenroof page as a Webby Award finalist; learn more about our project of the week on the “GPW: Longdrive” post; see my script on the “Greenroofs.com’s ‘This Week in Review’ on GreenroofsTV: April 8th, 2011” post; and, read all about our annual contest with the “Enter the 2011 ‘Love the Earth, Plant a Roof!’ Earth Day Photo Contest” post – what it’s all about, what you have to do to enter, the requirements, how to vote and more!

-  “Upcoming Events”

- April 16th-17th: Join EPA for Earth Day on the National Mall at Washington, DC.

- April 19th-20th: is the Green California Summit and Exposition in Sacramento, CA.

- April 20th: there is a Garden Roof Course at GOCSI Green Product Show at the Central Florida Fairgrounds in Orlando, FL.

- And April 22nd: is Earth Day!  Your support enables Earth Day Network to power the environmental movement and ensure a healthy and sustainable planet for all of us.  Your contributions and purchases help mobilize communities, implement environmental education programs and support Earth Day events and actions around the world.  From greening schools in post-Katrina New Orleans to improving water and sanitation services in a refugee community in Ghana, EDN supports and coordinates thousands of Earth Day events worldwide each year.  Earth Day, April 22, is the largest secular holiday in the world, now celebrated by more than one billion people.

- Stay tuned for our latest Sky Gardens – Greenroofs of the World™: The Cook+Fox Architects Office episode in Manhattan, New York coming soon.  In the summer of 2006, Cook+Fox Architects decided to set a greener, healthier example with a roof that absorbs stormwater, lowers surface temperature, and benefits both the local ecosystem and the human environment.  Having grown rapidly, the firm had recently moved to a new office on Avenue of the Americas at West 20th Street.  Located in the 8th floor penthouse of a former upscale department store, in the Ladies’ Mile Historic District, the new space looked onto a sizable terrace-level rooftop.  Though coated in black tar and formally off-limits, the roof held great potential as a platform for promoting urban sustainability.  For more information about this project profile you can search Cook+Fox in our projects database, or visit this link below: (http://www.greenroofs.com/projects/pview.php?id=670)

-  “In the News”

- Preston Moretz of the Temple University News talks about “Sustainability projects advance throughout Temple.”  He says, “At Temple, environmental responsibility is continually being woven through the campus fabric; everywhere from academics, to research, to everyday business practices.”  On the Main Campus, the redesign of Pearson and McGonigle Halls were to include a new upper level, which will feature the installation of approximately five 12-foot wind turbines on the roof.  The turbines could generate between 16-18 kilowatts of power, which will be returned to the building’s power grid, reducing Temple’s energy costs.  Temple’s Ambler Campus is home to the university’s first green roof, which was installed in 2005 through a grant from PECO Energy and occupies three-quarters of the 5,000-square-foot roof atop the Intercollegiate Athletics Field House.

- Tom Oswald of MSU News reports on “MSU students to present green-roof technology at EPA event in Washington.”  A team of Michigan State University students travels to Washington, D.C. to take part in a competition that could get them a federal grant to continue research into technology that would allow green roofs to be used on sloped roofs.  The students, who are in the MSU School of Planning, Design and Construction, are participating in the National Sustainable Design Expo, which is part of the Environmental Protection Agency’s celebration of Earth Day 2011.  Jeremy Monsma, a graduate student in the SPDC who is heading up the project says, “The majority of residential roofs, especially here in the north, are sloped because of snow,” and “the goal of our work is to answer fundamental questions relating to the performance of extensive green roof systems when applied to more conventional pitched roof systems.”  One of the goals of the team is to develop a construction manual which will assist with all future greenroof installation on steep slopes.

- Elisse Lorenc of Iowa State Daily announces, “Students Society of Landscape Architecture recruits by building green roof VEISHEA display.”  Located in front of the College of Design, SSLA spent 6 months planning and constructing a display to demonstrate the uses of green roofs.  The display has three miniature roofs or modules, each displaying a different type of green roof.  The group hopes to grab students’ attention at VEISHEA, but also alumni to get the word out about green roofs, answering student questions and demonstrating the uses of a green roof.

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

-  Have something you think we should know about and post on our website?  You can send us your green articles, videos and images to editor@greenroofs.com.

-  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 15th, 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.

As you know by now, ESRI Canada’s Garden in the Sky in Toronto, Canada is the winner in our first contest here at Greenroofs.com, the 2010 Love the Earth, Plant a Roof! Earth Day Photo Contest, and was featured as our Greenroof Project of the Week (GPW) from May 2, 2010 through May 9, 2010.  Submitted by Josephine Chan, Public Relations Specialist, Marketing, with ESRI Canada, this project received a whopping 735 votes!  Well, Josephine is a marketing specialist and should be commended on doing a great job of getting the word out to vote for her project!

Although this really was a popularity contest, nonetheless, this “Garden in the Sky” is a stunning example of collaboration, resulting in a thoughtful, peaceful, and inviting greenspace in an otherwise dreary, hot urban roofscape canyon typically found in our core downtown areas.  I asked Josephine why she felt the ESRI Canada living roof was special:

“The green roof is a great project because it provides access to nature in an urban environment.  It reflects the passion for the environment and collective creativity of ESRI Canada’s staff, who were consulted and encouraged to submit suggestions for the design of the green roof.  The result is a colorful, accessible and functional rooftop garden that significantly enhances our workplace and the environment.” ~ Josephine Chan

ESRI (Environmental Systems Research Institute) Canada is a geographic information systems software company who wanted an ecological roofing alternative for their ninth-story headquarters.  According to an article in unlimited Magazine, company president Alex Miller saw big potential:

“We’re an environmental company.  Our business is building geographic information systems for our customers.  We wanted to set an example of what a company could do, for a relatively small amount of money overall, at improving the sustainability of our surrounding environment.” ~ Alex Miller

The greenroof was designed by Scott Torrance Landscape Architect of Toronto, who also conducted a Green Roof Feasibility Study for the ESRI Canada Head Office in 2007.  The design encompasses several zones of outdoor rooms for circulation purposes, and also reflects the indoor plan.

The project was installed and is maintained by Gardens in the Sky, Flynn Canada.  Not including the planters, the 7,500 sf installation is a pre-vegetated LiveRoof Hybrid greenroof system combining 4″ LiveRoof Standard and 6″ LiveRoof Deep modules.  Josephine told us about several challenges that were encountered during the design and implementation of the roof garden.  The first step was convincing the landlord, Crown Property Management, that it was an idea worth pursuing.

“Fortunately, they are committed to making their buildings more energy efficient and sustainable.  They agreed that a green roof would be a valuable enhancement and covered the cost of re-roofing the structure on which the garden would be laid.  Capital costs for the green roof were in the range of $25 to $35 per square foot.  The investment the company allocated for the project was substantial.  However, it knew the benefits would far outweigh the costs and proceeded with the project despite the severe economic downturn.” 

ESRI Canada faced other challenges such as winds, loading capacity and logistics for a project located in a busy commercial area of east Toronto, and shares the following items that needed to be addressed:

“Wind velocity, particularly nine stories above ground, needed to be factored into plant selection and installation.  An 85-ton crane was used to lift a total weight of 260,000 pounds of plant modules, including 100 yards of soil, 56 planter boxes and 4,000 individual modules of live root plants.  Further complicating the process was logistics.  Crane availability and other logistical considerations in a busy office building meant that work could only be done on Saturdays and Sundays.  This was carried out with a crew of eight working 12-hour days for two weekends in early May 2009.”  Another reason for doing the crane work over weekends was so that the fire routes were not blocked during working hours.

One other interesting challenge was the need to access window washing anchors set within the gravel, which was accomplished through Scott Torrance’s design (photo below from Treehugger).  The landscape architect positioned the plantings “so that the lines for the window washers go between them.  The gravel also keeps people on roof away from the glass.”

Kees Govers, BSc (Agr), of LiveRoof Ontario Inc. adds perspective from the installation process:  “In May 2009, Gardens in the Sky devoted two consecutive weekends to the installation.  On the first Saturday, all the planters and furniture were hoisted to the 8th floor balcony and positioned, and on the second Saturday the LiveRoof modules were craned up and installed along with the irrigation and the pathways.

“The pathways were all preloaded in LiveRoof modules and were simply installed as any other module.  As a result, the entire green roof is truly portable.  It would take approximately one day to completely remove the entire green roof without a trace, if and when the time came.  Because LiveRoof utilizes patented ‘hoppits’ as conveyance for the modules to the rooftop, even grasses and perennials can be completely full grown ready for installation in the nursery and installed without any damage.  As a result, the green roof is truly finished on the day it is installed rather than requiring another two to three years of growth.”

These two photos below were taken by Kees approximately two weeks after installation was completed (late-May, 2009):

Kees explains that unlike other modular systems, LiveRoof doesn’t stack their modules.  “We also use only a minimal amount of stretch wrap to prevent overheating of the plants.  As a result we can ship fully grown grasses, perennials and sedums without any shipping damage to the plants and without having to utilize refrigerated trailers.  The elevators are removed during installation to create a monolithic green roof without visible modules.”

“We always utilize the living mulch principle when executing plant designs.  No deciduous plants are used without an evergreen groundcover underplanted.  Because everything is full grown and already maturing at the time of installation, there is never any exposed growing medium.  As a result, wind erosion of the growing medium is virtually non-existent even when the deciduous plants have gone dormant.” ~ Kees Govers

Patrick Biller, Green Roof Maintenance & Installation with Flynn Canada, Gardens in the Sky, believes the ESRI is a unique project.  ”It has all the typical Sedums and grasses that other LiveRoof systems have, but it also has an area devoted to plants that are unique to green roofs.  A lot of rock garden Sempervivums were used, as well as thyme and Nepeta.  The sculpture in the center is unique and points in the direction of the city with the CN Tower in the background.”  From a maintenance point of view, Patrick says that the LiveRoof system is quick to install, fills in quickly, and reduces the maintenance challenges, and that everything about the system is efficient.  Other than a few select perennials such as coreopsis and evening primrose dying out, the greenroof has filled in very nicely.  In early May Flynn Canada/Gardens in the Sky planted some more coreopsis and yarrow.

“I had the privilege of doing the spring clean-up on this site this spring, and I enjoyed myself thoroughly.  All the hustle and bustle of the city, with the Don Valley Parkway directly underneath and general road noise are masked up there, and it feels like an oasis.  Not very often do we do projects that can actually separate you from your surroundings, offering a tranquil space for people to enjoy.  I wish more projects were like this one!” ~ Patrick Biller

Despite the many site challenges, ESRI Canada believes the company was able to “transform a previously dreary concrete terrace into a lush green roof that provides important environmental and business benefits, including improved air quality, lower energy consumption for air conditioning and reduced stormwater runoff.  Previously, you would be met by dust and highway noise when you stepped out onto the terrace.  Now, employees and visitors can walk out to green outdoor space for formal meetings, corporate events and informal lunch breaks.  They can enjoy the breathtaking view of perennials and tall grasses intermingled with sedums that can also be seen from inside and neighbouring buildings.  Birds and butterflies have also become frequent visitors to the green roof.  It has been transformed into a colourful, living garden enjoyed by many.”

Josephine gave us her personal reflections on the greenroof and its contribution to a healthier Earth:  “It’s been almost a year since ESRI Canada’s green roof was installed.  It was about the same time when I started with the company.  I have never worked in an office with a green roof before so I was, and still am, extremely impressed with ESRI Canada’s environmental effort and proud to be part of a company that is committed to being green.

“From inside the offices, you get seamless views of the garden, which is broken into zones that extend the interior space.  It’s a refreshing place to relax during breaks and provides a great venue for more formal corporate gatherings.  It’s designed with several walkways, so you can tour the roof and look closely at the more than 50 varieties of shrubs, flowering plants, grasses and trees.

“We’ve hosted numerous tours for customers, partners, journalists, and tenants in the building and surrounding buildings who are curious to see the green roof.  They are always amazed by how cool and quiet it is there, given that the busy Don Valley Parkway is just below.  Birds and butterflies are also frequent visitors.  It’s a living garden enjoyed by many.  In addition to providing weather and noise insulation, it retains stormwater and delivers significant energy cost savings.  It also serves as an excellent demonstration of and inspiration for preserving nature and caring for the environment. ”

Kudos to all the stakeholders for a wonderful project and in particular to Josephine Chan of ESRI Canada, who says she’ll be donating the $100 prize to a local charity that protects migratory birds.  Josephine adds, “I love seeing them on the green roof!”

Lloyd Alter from Treehugger.com created two videos about the project for his article “Prefab, Portable Green Roof Installed In Toronto” of October 5, 2009, where he interviewed ESRI General Manager John Kitchen and the landscape architect, Scott Torrance.   Also read more from the project profile in the Greenroof & Greenwall Projects Database, and watch a short video about ESRI Canada’s Garden in the Sky below:

Happy Greening for Mother Earth! ~ Linda V.

You know by now that the winner of our inaugural “Love the Earth, Plant a Roof!” Earth Day Photo Contest 2010 is ESRI Canada’s Garden in the Sky, and here we go, following up with our Top 10 List of the entries accumulating the highest number of votes overall.

We received 30 photos of international living roof projects representing seven countries, including the United States (18), Canada (6), UK (2), Japan (1), Singapore (1), Germany (1), and Sweden (1). 

Without further ado, here are the top votes in descending order – click on hyperlinks to learn more about each project – if they don’t have one, that means we don’t have a profile yet in The Greenroof & Greenwall Projects Database, but we will soon:

2010 “Love the Earth, Plant a Roof!” Earth Day Photo Contest
Top 10 List

#1)  ESRI Canada’s Garden in the Sky, Toronto, Ontario, Canada – 735 votes

Overlooking one of Toronto’s busiest highways, this 7,500-sq-ft portable garden reduces urban heat, noise and stormwater runoff. It provides lush meeting space for staff and visitors, as well as habitat for birds and butterflies. It helps create a greener, healthier environment. Photo by Margaret Mulligan.

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#2)  parc24, Vero Beach, Florida, USA – 190 votes

Parc24 is taking a stand, and directing Vero Beach into the future, where business can be smart by design and green by nature. Photo by Leah Campbell.

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#3)  Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Canada – 158 votes

This green roof is the pinnacle of what a green roof should be. It combines Art, Architecture, Design, and Ingenuity, without sacrificing its Ecological Benefits. Photo by Patrick Biller.

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#4)  Bellevue Towers, Bellevue, Washington, USA – 86 votes

At nearly an acre in size, the rooftop garden’s bold, modern geometry is informed by the curvilinear tower design, which includes 27,100 square feet of intensive roof garden planting area and 6,400 square feet of extensive ecoroof.  The intensive gardens between towers provide a valuable, usable outdoor spaces for the residents and a visual asset to the condominium units above and adjacent office buildings.  This project is certified LEED Gold. Photo by Ben Johnson.

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#5)  Longdrive Residential green roof, Long Eddy, New York, USA – 85 votes

Located on 63 acres in upstate New York the house sits at the edge of the woods overlooking a meadow.  The planted roof on three levels blends into the natural landscape and encourages the wildlife to creep in close to the house. Photo by Steve Chrostowski.

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#6)  St. Louis Children’s Hospital Rooftop Garden,  St. Louis, Missouri, USA – 71 votes

Just outside St. Louis Children’s Hospital’s eighth floor, patients have a unique setting to enjoy time with nature, a private walk or quiet reflection. The 8,000-square-foot Olson Family Garden , an interactive rooftop oasis designed expressly for children and families who want a place for privacy, solace and healing, is another reason why St. Louis Children’s Hospital is a special place for kids. Photo by Tom Tyler.

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#7)  Trent University, Peterborough, ON Canada – 47 votes

Trent’s roof top garden sits on our Environmental Sciences Building providing learning and volunteer opportunities for students.  In this garden we grow vegetables and herbs that are served in our organic campus café –the Seasoned Spoon!  Photo by Leslie Menagh.

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#8)  College of Law, Saskatoon, Canada – 36 votes

This 650 m² green roof is thriving in an extreme climate. Pasture sage, a plant indigenous to the region, grows above the Native Law Centre. In late summer, the sage is harvested in a traditional manner by faculty of the NLC to use for smudging in ceremonies throughout the following year. Photo by Goya Ngan.

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#9)  Greenroof Pavilion at Rock Mill Park, Alpharetta, Georgia, USA – 32 votes

The Greenroof Pavilion design honors the land and Cherokee heritage in this historically and environmentally sensitive Big Creek Watershed with The Greenroof Trial Gardens display; hands-on models and interpretive signage inform young and old alike. Photo by Caroline Menetre.

Note:  FYI – Although I designed this, I did not vote for it, nor any other project for that matter.  This entry was submitted by Caroline Menetre, our Student Intern, who has helped me with planting, plant trial record keeping, and weeding duties - I like how she didn’t even bother to come up with her own narrative, but felt comfortable just copying my own example above!

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#10)  Miami Science Museum, Miami, Florida, USA – 21 votes

The Museum’s four green roof assemblies, each with varied depths and irrigation schedules, include interpretive signs and rain/ temperature sensors. They provide information for visitors and data for the designers of the Museum’s new building. Photo by Chris Trigg.

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See all the photo submittals here.  In my eyes, everyone who entered a photo is a winner, and I know we all enjoyed seeing this wide assortment of greenroofs.  Next year I promise to start earlier so you can have more time to get your “people” to vote for your favorite project – but it was fun, although a bit fast and furious!

Happy greening ~ Linda V.

Some of you may recall back a couple of years ago that Greenroofs.com was a semi-finalist in a competition from The Green on the Sundance Channel called “What’s the Big Idea?” Contest with our 60-second video “Love the Earth, Plant a Roof!”  While we didn’t win, the tag line stuck with me – simple and direct.  April 22, 2010 marks the 40th anniversary of Earth Day and we are excited to honor Earth Day, really the entire Earth Month of April, with our first photo contest ever!

The “Love the Earth, Plant a Roof!” Photo Contest is designed to be quick, simple, and fun.  Any and all types of greenroofs are eligible, any place on Earth.  Send us* your favorite shot of that special greenroof which graphically epitomizes its relationship to our planet – how it is a living example of loving the Earth.  We’ll be keeping everyone updated on Greenroofs.com with a special page for all the contest photos, and on Twitter.

Tell us how it is a living example in 285 characters or less for the write up on the Love the Earth, Plant a Roof! Voting Page next to your thumbnail photo to let people why they should vote for this particular project and you.  Include a photo source/credit, not part of the 285 count.

For the Greenroofs.com tweet, pare it down to the meat and bones in 120 characters for all to see (we need 20 characters for the link to your photo – so people can click and vote immediately!).  Don’t follow us on Twitter yet?  Do so here.

Here’s an example for inspiration – this precious child is my own grandson, Nicky, at The Greenroof Pavilion and Trial Gardens of Rock Mill Park here in Alpharetta, Georgia, USA:

Example tweet @ 120 characters:

Vote Rock Mill Park! The design honors the land & Cherokee heritage with hands-on models & signage for young and old.

The contest is open to everyone, not just the roof owner or the designers of record.  And voting is open to everyone, too, as many times as you like, so tell your friends to vote for your submission!

Entries will be accepted today and voting will be open to everyone until Wednesday, April 28 at 5:00 p.m. EST – but, of course, you’ll increase your chances of receiving the most votes by entering early!  Enter now and rally your forces – don’t delay.

Vote as often as you wish by clicking on your selected photo.  Include your real name and contact info or it will be discarded.

The winner will be announced on the last day of Earth Month, Friday, April 30, 2010, in our Top 10 List for the ”Love the Earth, Plant a Roof!” Photo Contest.  The winner will have “their” project highlighted on Greenroofs.com as an upcoming Greenroof Project of the Week and we’ll feature you in a Sky Gardens interview so you can really tell us more about this living roof and why you love it so much.

And, as a humble token of our esteem, the winner will also receive your choice of a $100 gift card to either The Home Depot or Lowe’s for your spring projects or just a good old fashioned check!

Some requirements:

• ~ You can enter as often as you wish, but only one photo per project for the Contest (send more photos and project description for the blog post if you win, but send the contest photo clearly identified as such).
• ~ It has to be a real project, no Photoshopping!
• ~ Didn’t take the photo yourself?  Make sure you credit the source and check for any copyright issues – we’re not liable!
• ~ Don’t break any laws or bones while taking the photos!
• ~ Minimum size: 491 x 367
• ~ And, obviously, by submitting the photo you agree to its being published.

* Include your real name and contact information; a 120-character including spaces description for the tweet starting with ”Vote (Name of Project)!…”; a 285-character including spaces (or less) description for the write up including Name of Project, City, State, and/or Country; any additional photos in case you win, but that can come later.

Submit away and good luck – start telling your friends now!  Vote for your favorite here on the Love the Earth, Plant a Roof! Voting Page.

Happy Greening for the Earth, ~ Linda V.