what's new
July 2009

• Learn about a new  eco-resort greenroof in Thailand in our new Guest Feature from Louis Thompson.

• Read Christine's Exclusive Report on the 2nd International Green Roof Congress 2009 in Nürtingen!

• Groundwork Sheffield offers advanced greenroof courses in the UK.

• Did you attend Green Buildings NY and  learn about the Green Roof and Solar Electric Generating System NYC Tax Abatement?

• Read about the DDOE Pilot Green Roof Subsidy, administered by DC Greenworks.

• Miss our Top 10 presentation in ATL? View the PowerPoint!

• Read Linda's post "Greenroofs.com Announces the 2009 Top 10 List of Hot Trends in Greenroof Design” and see the Press Release.

• See who exhibited at the GRSC.

• Curious about the new GRP designation and exam?  Read on.

• The Green Roof Guy is ranting just a bit about wind uplift.

• Read about the Exclusive Metro Atlanta Greenroofs on the GRHC Tours.

• Toronto City Council adopts mandatory greenroof requirements.

• Ralph is Thinking Integrated(ly) in his new Sustainable Roofing Technologies Column.

• Meet Christine Thüring!

• Can you "Secede on Green Roofs Without Really Trying?" Read the new "Ask Ed" to find out.

• George talks about Research in his  Green Walls Column.

• Linda kicks off her "Meet the Editors" series with Ed Snodgrass.

• Sales Partner Opportunity with ZinCo Canada.

• Position Available with Skyland USA.

in the news
upcoming events

Present:  Submit Greenroof/Greenwall Project Profiles to Greenroofs.com's international project database

Present:  Order our new 2009 Greenroofs of the World Calendar

Present: Green Roofs: A Sustainable Strategy, online course for CEU's

newslinks

Going green on top
The Kerryman, by Staff
July 1, 2009
Kerry, Ireland. "...Simple sedum roofs can be used on existing garages and sheds whether they are roofed with corrugated iron or an asphalt/bitumen felt layer...For further information look up: www.livingroofs.org.uk, www.greenroofs.com, www.english-nature.org.uk."                               >>more

SPRI expands membership to include green roof and photovoltaic component suppliers
Building Design & Construction, by Staff
July 1, 2009
New York, NY. "SPRI, the association representing sheet membrane and component suppliers to the commercial roofing industry, recently approved a bylaw revision expanding its membership to include companies that represent Emerging Technologies...Photovoltaic and vegetative roof component suppliers were two emerg-ing technologies identified as representative of this new category..."                   >>more

Rooftop garden in Greenpoint is the stalk of the town
New York Daily News, by Jake Pearson
June 30, 2009
New York, NY. "Ben Flanner farms about fifty different types of vegetables and plants such as turnips, mustard greens, and kale at his rooftop garden in Greenpoint, Brooklyn...The project first sprouted last fall when Flanner e-mailed Goode Green, a local green roof design and installation company, about starting a rooftop farm..."       >>more

Top 10 green U.S. cities
MNN.com, by Staff
June 29, 2009
U.S. "Although the EPA has not established official criteria for ranking the greenness of a city, there are several key areas to measure for effectiveness in carbon footprint reduction. These include air and water quality, efficient recycling and management of waste, percentage of LEED-certified buildings, acres of land devoted to greenspace, use of renewable energy sources, and easy access to products and services that make green lifestyle choices (organic products, buying local, clean transportation methods) easy..."     >>more

Green walls: the growing success of 'vegitecture'
CNN.com, by Staff
June 29, 2009
U.S. "Walk past the southern face of the Musée du Quai Branly, Paris, and you will be greeted by a massive wall of brilliant green foliage -- an 8,600 square feet plant installation by the designer Patrick Blanc, featuring more than 170 different species... The amazing spectacle is one of the largest in a growing number of "plant walls' or 'vertical gardens'..."                        >>more

C.O.D. Goes ‘Green’ to Keep Up With Industry Demand
College of DuPage News, by Jennifer Duda
June 28, 2009
Glen Ellyn, IL. "...College of DuPage is preparing students by offering a variety of green courses this fall...Green course offerings include a review of green roof technology and rain gardens, instruction on using sustainable materials in interior design, and a review of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification process..."                   >>more

A growing trend: Green roofs
Albany Times Union, by Brian Nearing
June 28, 2009
Albany, NY. "It is Karen McGowan's job to keep plants growing inside malls, hotels and office buildings around the Capital Region. Now, she's getting ready to start greening up the rooftops...Composed of living plants and earth, green roofs are gradually showing up in the United States..."                   >>more

Something green sprouts up on Target Center roof
KARE11.com, by Jeffrey DeMars
June 28, 2009
Minneapolis, MN. "From a view above the Target Center in Minneapolis, Mother Nature's canopy is all green and the roof of the Target Center will be as well. It will soon become the largest green roof space in Minnesota and the 2.5 acres will be one of the 10 largest in the nation..."         >>more

Installation work begins on Minnesota's largest green roof
Building Design & Construction, by Staff
June 26, 2009
Minneapolis, MN. "Installation of the 2.5 acre green roof vegetation on the City-owned Target Center begins today...The green roof design team includes Leo A Daly, Kestrel Design Group, and Inspec; locally-operated Stock Roofing, a Tecta America company, is replacing all of the roofs on the Target Center and installing the extensive green roof..."                                >>more

New York City's High Line, a park built from industrial ruins
Green Right Now, by John DeFore
June 26, 2009
New York, NY. "...A new park built upon industrial ruins, sustained by both citizens and government, and (to judge from its opening week) enjoyed by all...Those planted areas, which are feathered into and around concrete paths throughout the park, perform a valuable role when it comes to rain. The High Line 'functions essentially like the City’s largest green roof,'..."      >>more

First Community Bank Goes Green With New I-45/Beltway 8 Headquarters Building
MarketWatch, Press Release
June 26, 2009‎
Houston, TX. "FC Holdings, Inc., parent company of First Community Bank, N.A., broke ground today on a new 24,000 square foot headquarters building...The roof of tomorrow, today 12,000 SF, 9" deep, Green roof to keep things cool..."              >>more

Putting stimulus funds to work on roof repairs
GovPro Media, by Michael Keating
June 25, 2009‎
Louisville, KY. "...city officials will use federal stimulus funds to pay for a green roof on a new transit maintenance and training hub facility. The transit hub project, valued at $5.5 million, will include the installation of solar panels..."         >>more

Small Biz in Brooklyn Going Green? Panel Explores Business Solutions
Brooklyn Daily Eagle, by Sarah Tobol
June 25, 2009‎
Brooklyn, NY. "Mankiewicz, as director of the Gaia Institute, works with the relationship between humans and the environment, developing soil for green roofs and increasing the number of community gardens and trees in the city. While new green technologies, such as green roofs and solar panels, are pricey right now, he said, the horizon is good. The technology is just getting there...the more we build, the better off we are..."                         >>more

Daniel F. and Ada L. Rice Plant Conservation Science Center Opens
Chicago Press Release Services, Press Release
June 25, 2009‎
Chicago, IL. "...The 16,000 square-foot green roof garden will be accessible to the public via a grand staircase and features an overlook with interpretive panels educating visitors about all aspects of rooftop gardens. The south side of the.."    >>more

IC Green Container Dwellings Sprout Up in California
Inhabitat, by Haily Zaki
June 25, 2009
Los Angeles, CA. "...All models come with water conservation measures such as rainwater collection systems, grey-water systems, green roofs, and dual flush toilets. Materials used include FSC certified wood products, VOC free paint, and metal products with high recycled..."        >>more

Bobo Hosts Green Roof Fundraiser, We Win Tequila
Village Voice, by Chantal Martineau
June 25, 2009
New York, NY. "...The event's aim was to raise money for neighbor PS 41's green roof project, which has become a pet cause for owner Carlos Suarez...The GELL project is a 20,000-square-foot learning lab planned for the roof of PS 41, where kids can conduct experiments and grow fresh produce...."                                   >>more

Lofty 'green' renovation for Sears Tower, adds hotel
Chicago Sun-Times, by David Roeder
June 25, 2009
Chicago, IL. "...Sears Tower is "going green" while keeping its attire of basic black. The tower's owners are planning a rooftop-to-plaza renovation to conserve energy and power up its financial performance... initiatives such as green roofs and advanced lighting controls will trim energy usage..."                                       >>more

For rooftop gardens, the sky's the limit
Times Herald-Record, by Adam Bosch
June 25, 2009
Kingston, NY. "...The media center will soon be home to Ulster County's first commercial rooftop garden, replete with vegetables, shrubs and benches where workers from the various businesses inside can chill out with their laptops..."     >>more

features

June 28, 2009
greenroof project of the week

Where in the Greenroof World?
The Greenroof Projects Database!

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Reporting on the 2nd International Green Roof Congress 2009 – Bringing Nature Back to Town

By Christine Thüring

Flying high above the North Shore of Lake Constance; Photo by Christine Thüring.

From May 25 – 28^th 2009, representatives from five continents came together to celebrate and discuss green roof technology in the municipality of Nürtingen (~30 km south of Stuttgart).  The 2^nd International Green Roof Congress 2009 was jointly hosted by the International Green Roof Association (IGRA) and the German Roof Gardener Association (DDV), with patronage from the Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Affairs.

Compared to the first event in 2004, this second congress featured speakers from 10 countries and drew 270 delegates from 40 countries.  Simply walking the exhibition or meandering through a coffee break was akin to moving through an international airport.  While English was the primary language, countless accents were undeniably present and many original languages rang out in communicative chorus.  When recalling the diversity of professions in attendance (architects, roofers, botanists, developers, academics, planners, etc.), and combining this with the internationality of the assembly, one gains a sense of how exciting and significant green roof technology has become, if only in cross-linking boundaries and cultures and overlapping...                   >>more

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guest feature article

The Eco-villa at Soneva Kiri

By Louis Thompson, Six Senses Permaculturist
Photos Courtesy Louis Thompson

An eco-resort greenroof on a tropical island off the coast of Thailand using native ferns.

The eco-villa is a prototype zero carbon emissions Six Senses hotel suite we just completed building at Soneva Kiri and Six Senses Spa on the island of Ko Kood, Thailand, as a forerunner to our forthcoming Zero emissions brand.  It is essentially an experimental showcase of a range of environmental technologies incorporated into a bio-climatically designed luxury pool villa made from locally sourced building materials.

The structure has been erected by a team of Thai craftsmen, including mud brick experts, terracotta potters, master carpenters, and stonemasons.  We have designed and built this structure to demonstrate that it is already possible to provide the same levels of service and comfort as a five-star luxury hotel room using modern building techniques and state of the art, zero carbon emissions, renewable energy technology combined with indigenous skills and knowledge, even in the remotest areas.  The construction, landscaping and operation are based on permaculture design principals to ensure that waste is minimized or...   >>more

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The Green Roof Guy

Green Roof Wind Uplift Challenges:
Paranoia, Turn a Blind Eye, or How About We Work Together?

By Kelly Luckett, LEED™ AP

Hello once again green roof fans,

A while back I received an invitation to attend a wintertime meeting in Dallas to discuss wind uplift and fire resistance characteristics of green roof systems. Though people who live in St. Louis don’t typically need much of a reason to head south for a few days when there is snow on the ground in the Midwest, I was particularly interested in taking part in these discussions

I had just completed a green roof installation in Orlando, Florida, perhaps one of the more stringent code enforcement environments in the United States, and I never even heard mention of the building code or the building inspector. The last time I had worked in Florida was just after Hurricane Andrew (August, 1992). The building code and the building inspectors dominated the conversation across the roofing industry. Yet here I was back in the land of wind uplift paranoia and not a single mention of how the green roof complied with wind uplift requirements in the building code...     >>more         

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industry news: company/organization/
government/university

aia and the city of san francisco

To celebrate San Francisco, the host city of the American Institute of Architects’ 2009 Convention, and its commitment to sustainable design, the AIA has partnered with Mayor Gavin Newsom to select the city's ‘greenest’ buildings. San Francisco’s Greenest program celebrates projects that make a positive contribution to their communities and reduce environmental impacts through strategies such as reuse of existing structures, energy and water conservation and the use of sustainable or renewable construction materials. The announcement comes on the heels of Mayor Newsom’s signing of a ground-breaking green building ordinance to reduce greenhouse gas emissions there.

The list includes buildings that are certified by the U.S. EPA's Energy Star Program as well as LEED.  Projects with living roofs include 355 Eleventh Street, The California Academy of Sciences, and La Casa Verde.  Read more.