Kelly Luckett, LEED AP, is “The Green Roof Guy.” He fine-tuned his editorial focus and inaugurated his new column of the same name in April, 2008.  Formerly “The Roving Exhibitor,” he wrote about his experiences at green building conferences as president of Green Roof Blocks and St. Louis Metalworks Company.  They manufacture various modular green roof products and accessories.  As president of both, he still is a frequent trade show exhibitor at greenroof and green building conferences, workshops & seminars - but Kelly also roves around the country attending ASTM, GRHC and other roofing and greenroof related organization meetings, and has become a central figure here.

Look for this column about his experiences and impressions within the greenroof industry as just a regular (green)roofing guy from St. Louis, Missouri, where Kelly lives with his wife, son and daughter.  So read his column to stay up to date within the greenroof industry!

April 2008

Same Guy, New Editor Name, Renewed Focus

Hello once again green roof fans,

The green roof industry continues to grow and evolve and so must we all.  As the "Roving Exhibitor" has been engaging in and reporting on a broad range of green roof activities, it’s been suggested that perhaps the Roving Exhibitor has outgrown that title. For quite some time now, friends and business associates have referred to me as "The Green Roof Guy."  So, I humbly submit that this designation may better suit the scope of my column as we head into the future together.  So, without further ado - let’s get started.

I had hoped to be reporting on completed wind and fire guidelines that were headed for International Code Council (ICC) acceptance.  However, the process turned out to be far more nuanced than I could have possibly imagined.  For those of you who are unaware of the ongoing efforts, I’ll review a bit.  The National Roofing Contractors Association (NRCA) submitted a building code change proposal last spring that gained unanimous acceptance by the ICC.  The simple proposal merely states that green roof systems will be subject to the same wind and fire testing standards as any other roofing systems.  Sounds simple enough, doesn’t it?  However, the American Standard Testing Methods (ASTM) has developed testing standards for most every building material used in construction, except, of course, green roofs.  As a member of the ASTM green roof task force, I can tell you that we are years from handing down testing methods for fire resistance of various plants and wind uplift for various green roof assemblies.  What does this mean?  In short, it means that Underwriters Laboratories (UL) and Factory Mutual (FM) have no standardized testing methods by which to test and rate green roof systems.  Which basically means that the green roof industry has no means of complying with the new NRCA sponsored building code change.
 
Green Roofs for Healthy Cities (GRHC) struck a committee to develop a plan to resolve the conflict between the green concept and the new building code language that is scheduled to go into effect January 1, 2009.  Many of us were invited to participate in a task force assembled by the Single Ply Roofing Industry (SPRI) to discuss the issue.  At that first meeting, we decided to research existing green roof design standards from other agencies and countries and work to develop prescriptive design standards that could be presented to the ICC for approval as a means of meeting the requirements of the new code language.

Though I had drafted a wind design guide and a fire design guide based on the compilation of the research, the chairman of the task force suggested that the wind design guide could be more easily drafted by making some minor changes to an existing standard for deigning ballasted roofing systems.  Since many of us in the industry recognize similarities between ballasted roofing systems and green roof systems, the suggestion seemed to make sense and we then initiated the standard development process sanctioned by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI).  This is a process by which industry stakeholders are identified and invited to review and comment on the design guides.  This “canvass” process is meant to build consensus by allowing those polled to contest flaws and to make recommendations to the guideline.  The comments are to be addressed by the taskforce and reconciled into the next draft and resubmitted to the canvass pool for more review and comments.  The process continues until consensus is reached and the canvass pool approves of the guideline, at which point we have a consensus based standard.

As you can imagine, this process is often quite lengthy.  As the 2009 publishing date of the NRCA sponsored code change looms off in the distance, the taskforce works to accelerate the process.  We had hoped to get the ICC to allow us to attach the standard draft to the new code language at the ICC hearings held in Palm Springs in February.  However, we learned at the SPRI meeting several weeks earlier that the process was moving very slowly as the first round of comments from the canvass team had just been submitted.  Next we learned that the NRCA was submitting additional code changes that appeared initially to provide a much simpler means of meeting the language of their earlier submitted change.  However, on closer inspection, the NRCA proposal referenced an existing standard that dramatically restricts the use of ballast in “high wind” and coastal regions.

The referenced standard has been contested by members of the roofing industry, including SPRI, because it sets the “high wind” design speed at 90 miles per hour; that incorporates most of the United States, which would have an overly restrictive impact on green roofs as well.  This was my first glimpse into the quagmire that is the International Building Code.  The code change proposals are printed in two volumes about the size of a big city telephone book.  These proposals are filled with cross references to other sections of the building code and existing standards. It’s a complicated read that can have you wishing you still had that secret spy decoder ring you enjoyed as a kid.  In all, there were about a dozen code changes being proposed during this round of hearings that could impact green roofs.  I met with two representatives from SPRI and two representatives from the NRCA just before the first of the proposals was presented to the ICC panel.  Mark Graham, NRCA associate executive director, made it clear during that meeting that the NRCA would not endorse either of the design guidelines coming out of the SPRI taskforce unless there were major revisions.  That seemed to set the stage for opposition to SPRI sponsored proposals coming from the NRCA and vice versa.

The first code change proposal regarding green roofs was presented by the NRCA proposing a simple definition of a green roof.  It seemed to be a benign assembly of words that offered some clarification regarding the distinction between a vegetated green roof and other sustainable roofing strategies that could be termed “green.”  Both SPRI and GRHC welcomed such a definition in the International Building Code (IBC) and we expected the measure to pass without opposition.  The hearings are moderated by the chairperson under Robert’s Rules of Order and heard by a thirteen member panel.  The sponsor of the proposal and those in support of the measure and then those opposing the measure are given the opportunity to give testimony and one round of rebuttal testimony.  After the final opposing rebutting rebuttal is heard, the chairperson asks the panel if they have questions for those giving testimony.  There is often a brief question and answer session between the panel and those giving testimony and a comment session for the panel; after which the chairperson requests a motion.  One of the members of the panel then makes a motion to either approve or disapprove the proposal.  Next the chairperson requests a different member of the panel to second the motion.  After there has been a second to the motion the chairperson asks the panel member who made the first motion to explain the reasoning behind their motion.

Now comes the moment of truth for the proposal.  A simple show of hands among the panel determines the life or death of the proposal; sort of.  After the panel has voted, the chairperson looks to the assembly to see if anyone in the room wishes to be heard.  At this point anyone can approach the panel and request the measure be put to a vote among those in attendance.  A simple majority in the room can overturn the decision of the panel.

When Mark Graham stepped to the microphone and addressed the panel to propose the addition of a definition of a green roof flanked by Mike Ennis of SPRI and myself representing GRHC testifying in support of the measure, we fully expected the proposal to be approved without opposition.  To our surprise, however, several members of the engineering community lined up to oppose the measure.  As they gave testimony citing conflicts the new definition would present to existing language elsewhere in the building code, they were well spoken and impressively prepared.  They addressed the thirteen member panel, made up of mostly engineers, with section numbers, dates, precedence, and anecdotal evidence to support their positions.  In the days to come, we would see every green roof related code change proposal be disapproved, in large part as a result of the opposing testimony given by this group of engineers.  The fact that GRHC working with SPRI had identified the NRCA as our opponent and completely overlooked the engineers who completely dominated the proceedings is only half the story.  The decision made by SPRI to throw out my drafted wind design guideline and instead revise an existing wind design guideline (RP-4) for ballasted roofing systems actually put us in the middle of an ongoing debate that has been raging between various interests and playing out at the ICC hearings since 2003.

As I sat and listened to nearly three hours of debate about the use of gravel ballast, I began to gain a better understanding for the high stakes chess match the International Building Code has become.  One engineer approached the microphone and announced that he represented Portland Cement and proceeded to give damning testimony regarding the use gravel ballast in hurricane zones.  His testimony was followed by similar testimony given by a representative from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).  It then occurred to me what I was witnessing.  Portland Cement, manufacturer of concrete roof pavers, has a vested interest to see regulatory restrictions placed on the use of gravel roof ballast in favor of the use of concrete paver roof ballast.  FEMA seeks to limit the windborne debris during high wind events that result in federally funded repairs to neighboring property.  SPRI is on the hot seat then to continually defend the RP-4 wind design guideline.  This battle has been ongoing since 2003 with no end in sight.

While the green roof industry is in a difficult position resulting from the approved NRCA code change proposal, partnering with SPRI to jump into the ongoing rock fight may not be our best course of action.  We allowed SPRI take the driver’s seat to develop green roof design standards because they have experience with the process.  However, we could go through the entire ANSI process and end up with a green roof wind design guideline that is as hotly contested as their RP-4 wind design guideline.

Now I’m not ready to abandon the work we have done just yet.  But I took the opportunity to introduce myself to Edwin Huston, one of the engineers who was so impressive at the ICC hearings.  It was abundantly clear to me as I witnessed the ICC proceedings that support from the engineering community is going to be critical in gaining ICC approval of any proposals the green roof industry presents.  Mr. Huston chairs the committee within an engineering organization that would be interested in helping draft building code language to include green roofs.  He suggested that we invite the NRCA to send a representative to join GRHC and meet with his committee.  I posed the invitation to Mark Graham at the ASTM meetings in Anaheim several weeks ago and he accepted.  The meeting will be sometime in August, 2008 and I have every hope we can establish productive dialogue towards aligning the interests of all parties.

There are some real lessons for the young green roof industry here.  First and foremost is to be involved in the process!  The head in the sand posture resulted in the NRCA's acting in their own interest and at the expense of ours.  The activities of the various policy generating organizations must be monitored and, more preferably, affected by our involvement and input.  Membership in these organizations and attendance at the meetings is going to require a commitment of time and money on the part of our industry.  Our members need to populate the committees of these organizations to ensure representation of our interest.  When the ICC hearings commence, we need to fill the room with our members in numbers necessary to overturn decisions handed down from the panel that are not in the interest of our industry.

As we consider all the places we are trying to stretch our limited dollars, I know the last thing you all want is an added entry to the expense column.  The reality, however, is that regulatory barriers could dash the hopes and dreams we all share for a thriving and prosperous green roof industry.  Stay tuned green roof fans; I’ll keep you posted as we navigate the turbulent waters ahead.

Kelly Luckett, The Green Roof Guy
 

Kelly Luckett is President of GREEN ROOF BLOCKS and Green Paks, subsidiaries of Saint Louis Metalworks, and a member of the USGBC.  Kelly has been involved in the industry since 1980 and is a LEED Accredited Professional.

Green Roof Blocks are self contained portable units that are compatible with all roof membranes and hold 4 square feet of drought resistant sedum foliage growing in lightweight engineered soil.  Green Paks are knitted polyethylene green roof modules, pre-filled with lightweight engineered soil and plants, and each Green Pak covers 5.2 square feet of roof area.  Visit the websites at www.greenroofblocks.com and www.greenpaks.com.

Contact Kelly by phone at 314.972.8010, or email him at either: GreenRoofGuy@greenroofs.com or kelly@saintlouismetalworks.com.

The opinions expressed by our Contributing Editors may not necessarily reflect the beliefs of Greenroofs.com, and are offered to our readers to simply present individual views and experiences and open a dialogue of further discussion, debate and research across a wide spectrum of subjects within the greenroofing world.  Enjoy, and if you have a particular comment, please contact the author or send us an email to:  comments@greenroofs.com.

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The Roving Exhibitor

Kelly Luckett, President of Green Roof Blocks, is a frequent trade show exhibitor at greenroof and green building conferences, workshops & seminars.  Look for this occasional column as it happens as result of his attendance - a quick snapshot of the event - like "reflections of a trade show exhibitor" or, The Roving Exhibitor.  But sometimes it's not about exhibiting - he also roves around the country attending ASTM and other roofing and greenroof related organization meetings, so read his column to stay up to date!

Please feel free to send your comments about either this article or your personal take on each of these events, including photos to share and we'll post your experiences, too:   greenroofguy@greenroofs.com.

January 2008

2007 in Review and 2008: A Year of Promise for the Green Roof Community

Hello once again green roof fans,

2007 is in the memory chest and baby 2008 has started crawling towards what is sure to be an eventful year for green roof enthusiasts.  Let’s take a moment to look back on those events of this past year that helped to shape our green roof world.

In March the Single Ply Roofing Industry (SPRI) attempted to head off a building code change proposal submitted to the International Code Council (ICC) by the National Roofing Contractors Association (NRCA) that would require green roof assemblies to meet the same wind and fire testing requirements as any other roofing assembly.  At an assembly of stakeholders hosted by SPRI in Dallas, TX the NRCA refused to retract the proposal citing a lack of cooperation to date from the green roof industry and contending that the code change timeline provided ample time for the green roof industry to address the issue.

The few following months produced little in the way of progress towards addressing the issue as the green roof industry choose instead to attempt to fight the measure at the ICC meeting.  Despite these efforts, the measure received unanimous approval and is slated to become part of the International Building Code (IBC) in 2009.  However, the industry responded through the joint efforts of Green Roofs for Healthy Cities (GRHC) and SPRI to draft wind and fire design standards that will be submitted to the ICC in a proposal to attach the standards, as a means of meeting the requirements, to the newly adopted green roof building code.

Though time is limited, we are making progress, the necessary processes are underway, and we are optimistic that the standards will be accepted by the ICC for 2009 publication of the new IBC.  Still troubling, there are those in the industry that still don’t seam to "get it."  At the GRHC Corporate Members meeting in November, I addressed the group to present an update of the process and an overview of the standards.  While I meticulously prepared for discussion of the specifics of the standards, the session was mired by off point comments and arguments as to whether wind and fire testing was necessary or possible.  As the discussion heated and appeared to be speeding towards the brink of the unproductive abyss, GRHC founder Steven Peck came to my rescue.  To paraphrase what Steven said to the group, "The ship has sailed for arguing for or against testing.  The code change has been adopted and if we cannot get these standards completed and accepted by the ICC, testing will become mandatory, whether possible or not.  Everyone has been given the opportunity to get involved and participate in the process; those of you who took a pass in the first few rounds can make your voices heard through GRHC by emailing Kelly."  That was over two months ago and I have yet to be contacted by anyone.

Another issue that is poised to spell trouble for the green roof industry is our failure to convey realistic expectations to the public about green roof maintenance.  I can’t tell you how many articles I have read claiming that green roofs never need watering and that they require no maintenance.  Nothing will kill the green roof movement quicker than widespread catastrophic failures.  Yet, almost daily I hear these misconceptions echoed by building owners and architects.

To give you one example, we (Green Roof Blocks) installed just over two acres of green roof modules at the McCormick Place Convention Center in Chicago this past year.  Just as we were getting started, we were informed that the irrigation system that had been specified by the project designers had been eliminated because someone convinced the owners it was unnecessary.  It has been widely accepted by the green roof industry that supplemental irrigation throughout the establishment phase of a green roof is often necessary and sometime critical for the long term success of the green roof.  We could have rolled the dice and hoped that Mother Nature provided rain two to three times a week for the first six to eight weeks and then one inch of rain per month thereafter.  The size of this particular green roof, however, would have us shelling out a quarter million dollars to replace 96,000 square feet of plant material if we were wrong.

Instead, we held firm and insisted that the $25,000 irrigation system be added to our contract.  We were willing to walk away from the project, which indicated to the owner that we truly believed the irrigation system to be an absolute necessity.  Our conviction impressed upon them the possibility that future drought conditions could kill the green roof plants. They approved the installation of the irrigation system which was allowed to run for ninety days and is now disconnected, but will remain in place as insurance against drought related catastrophic plant failure.

Now don’t get me wrong, we have many green roof installations without irrigation systems, and in fact, this is the case with most of our green roofs.  The point is this: I never have a conversation about green roof maintenance without saying, “We provide drought tolerant plants, but there is no such thing as a drought proof plant.”  As an industry, we have to do a better job dispelling the myth.  If you are one of the green roof professionals using the term never needs irrigation or you are on the receiving end of these words, you are playing with fire.

The Roving Exhibitor participated in regional conference Greening The Heartland, hosted this year by Madison, WI; the ASLA Annual Meeting & Expo in San Francisco; and Greenbuild 2007, held this year in the new expansion of the McCormick Place Convention Center in Chicago.  Greening The Heartland was a small conference and produced little traffic for the exhibitors during the tradeshow hours.  As the ASLA Annual Meeting is a much larger conference, expectations were much higher regarding traffic through the exhibit hall.  Our expectation proved too high, however, as the number of people visiting exhibits fell far short of the number of attendees registered for the conference.  Conversations with some conference delegates seamed to indicate problems with the conference layout with limited time between educational sessions and the distance from the sessions to the exhibit hall.  Some felt there was little new to see at the tradeshow that was not also available in industry trade magazines and through the internet.

Then there was the conference that continues to be the pinnacle in tradeshow exhibition, Greenbuild.  The 2007 conference hosted over 22,000 registered attendees with thousands more utilizing passes to the exhibit hall that were circulated by the exhibitors.  Each event of the conference was filled to capacity and the exhibition hall was continuously full.  There was no down time for exhibitors between sessions and the host had to dim the lights at the end of the exhibit hall hours to get the attendees to allow the exhibitors leave for the night.  The number of attendees interested and the media attention given to the green roof exhibitors would seem to indicate the prominent position the green roof concept continues to hold in the green building movement.  The marriage has been good for both, as the public statement of the green roof continues to overshadow most other green building strategies and the green roof industry continues to grow within green construction.

To these other 2007 green roof happenings that, in the sake of brevity, are receiving short shrift, my sincere apologies.  GRHC secured financial sponsorship from Tremco Incorporated to develop the Green Roof Lifecycle Cost Calculator.  Phase one of this impressive effort is available online and future phases will be added as the technology advances to add other functions including energy modeling.  Early last year GRHC convened a group of green roof experts from various sectors of the industry to develop the Professional Green Roof Accreditation Program.  The Roving Exhibitor took part in the two day project to define the skill set required to earn the accredited designation.  In the months following we worked in committee to develop the testing model.  Our work will continue with hopes of rolling out the program in the next eighteen months.

The City of Chicago committed to continue into 2008 offering both the $5,000 grants for residential and small commercial green roof projects, and the $100,000 matching funds grants for larger commercial green roof projects.

The Green Roof Environmental Evaluation Network (G.R.E.E.N.) saw two of the researchers complete their projects and successfully complete their thesis defenses.  Congratulations are in order for Krista Forrester, Sam Kaufman, and their program director, Dr. Bill Retzlaff.

Let’s conclude "2007 in Review" by remembering just a few of the people to whom we have said goodbye. The Green Grid family suffered the untimely loss of Sandra McCullough at the very beginning of the year.  I had the pleasure of working with Sandy on some industry committees.  She was smart and funny and her passion for green roofs will be sorely missed.  Also from the Green Grid family, the founder of ABC Supply Company, Ken Hendricks, fell through the roof during a construction project at his home and sustained fatal injuries.  Those of us in roofing industry recognize ABC Supply as one of the first roofing suppliers with national presence.  Ken’s vision of moving roofing supply beyond local supply houses, from stabilizing pricing to maintaining reliable availability, raised the bar for the supply business and made life easier for thousands of roofing and siding contractors across the country.

Our country said goodbye to First Lady Claudia “Lady Bird” Johnson.  Though not directly connected with the green roof industry, the first class team of researchers conducting green roof research at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center continues to honor the name of this great American.  And finally, it was a difficult year for the Green Roof Blocks family as we lost my younger brother, Casey Luckett, in March and we lost my wife’s father, Gene Dabbs, a couple days after Christmas.  While these individuals were not involved within the green roof industry, I must acknowledge that tragedies as well as triumphs shape who we are, emerge through our work, and, in some small part, shape those around us as well.

Just as 2007 made good on the promise of reaching new heights, 2008 is sure to hold even more promise for the green roof community.  My resolution is to work even harder to strike a balance between work and play.  Well green roof fans, this concludes my final column of 2007.  From my family to yours, have a prosperous, healthy, and Happy New Year!

Kelly Luckett, The Roving Exhibitor
 

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August 2007

Sweeping Changes Coming to the North American Green Roof Industry
By Kelly Luckett, LEED AP

Hello again, green roof fans.  While two national conferences took place in late spring that the Roving Exhibitor was planning to chronicle for you, the Fifth Annual Greening Rooftops for Sustainable Communities Conference and the 2007 American Institute of Architects National Conference, an issue has come to light that could bring wide sweeping changes to the green roof industry in North America.  Rather than discuss the conferences at the moment, I would like to take this opportunity to bring you all up to speed on these latest developments.

Early this year, the National Roofing Contractors Association (NRCA) announced a plan to submit a proposed change to the International Building Code requiring green roofs to meet the same requirements for wind uplift and fire testing as all other roofing systems and materials.  The International Code Council (ICC) met this spring and unanimously approved the proposal and it will be adopted into the International Building Code in 2009.  Up to the present, there has been no testing of any green roof system for wind uplift or flammability.  What’s more, there currently are no standards to conduct the testing necessary to meet the requirements of the new building code.  This measure effectively places all green roof installations at odds with the International Building Code, which governs construction of most everything built in the free world.

There are some interesting back stories regarding a clash of personalities between some in the long established roofing industry and some in the younger green roof industry.  While there may be some debate as to what steps may or may not have been taken to bring these two sides together, whether the roofing industry is guilty of overreaching, or the green roof industry is guilty of inaction, one thing is abundantly clear: the green roof industry is guilty of being painfully unaware of the processes by which construction standards are developed in this part of the world.

Taking a position that the green roof industry had largely ignored concerns that liability for a wind or fire related green roof catastrophe would fall to NRCA member roofing contractors, the NRCA took full advantage of their longstanding involvement in building code development to protect their members using the building code.  The Single Ply Roofing Industry (SPRI) invited stakeholders from the green roof and roofing industry to meet in Dallas prior to the ICC meeting to discuss the issues of wind and fire testing.  It was concluded that there was a definite need for some standards of green roof construction within the building code but absent testing methodology from ASTM, which may be many years away, it was agreed that a prescriptive standard detailing green roof construction in terms wind uplift and fire resistance could serve to guide the industry and relieve the roofing contractors of the perceived liability.

At the conclusion of the SPRI meeting, representatives of NRCA were requested to delay the building code change proposal until such a standard could be developed.  Sighting the 18 month delay between the approval of the proposal and the final adoption of the measure in 2009, the NRCA’s position was there was ample time to develop a standard prior to the 2009 publishing date and therefore, refused to withdraw their proposal.

This matter dominated conversation during the Green Roofs for Healthy Cities’ (GRHC) corporate members committee meeting (of which my company, Green Roof Blocks, is a member) at the Greening Rooftops for Sustainable Communities Conference in May.  A committee was struck to develop a strategy to keep the measure from becoming a restrictive barrier to future green roofs.  Through several conference call meetings, the committee developed a plan of action involving several GRHC representatives attending the ICC meeting to oppose the measure through the public comment portion of the code change review process.  This effort proved futile and as I previously stated, the measure received unanimous approval.

Since SPRI had already committed to developing a pair of prescriptive standards, the fall back plan then became to partner with SPRI to develop one standard detailing how to construct green roofs to meet wind uplift requirements similar to those in place for traditional roofing systems and another standard addressing the fire concerns.

To get the ball rolling, I drafted two standards using a combination of material from the existing Factory Mutual Green Roof Guidelines (you can buy it here: FM Global's Property Loss Prevention Data Sheet 1-35: Green Roof Systems, updated 1.07).  Its 26-pages include Scope, Loss Prevention Recommendations, and Support for Recommendations, the FLL (English) Guidelines For Green Roof Construction and Maintenance, and the some of the work in progress from the ASTM Green Roof Committee.  These draft standards were circulated among several members of GRHC and SPRI for comment.  The draft standard for wind uplift was overhauled and rolled into a new document that parallels the existing roofing wind uplift standard RP-4 by Dick Gillenwater of Carlisle.  This new draft was then circulated among some members of GRHC and SPRI for additional comments.  Both drafts were revised to reflect most of the comments and submitted to SPRI for review during their recent August meeting held in Provenance, RI.

The group that had met with SPRI members in Dallas, now designated as the Green Roof Coalition, convened once again to review the draft standards at the Provenance SPRI meeting.  The twenty member panel poured over every detail of the two standards, revising until we emerged with two standards capable of initiating the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) review process.  The ANSI review process entails identifying a canvas field of experts and stakeholders who agree to review and comment on the two standards.  This field of reviewers submits their comments to the Green Roof Coalition who must then revise the standard to address all comments.  The revised standards must then be re-circulated among the same reviewers for additional comments, which must be addressed through further revisions.  This process continues until there is a consensus among reviewers on the final versions of each standard.  This is a process that typically requires many months to complete.

In our case, we have about two months to have completed the ANSI process so that the new standards can be submitted to the ICC at their February 2008 meeting.  The two new ANSI standards could then be added to the NRCA’s code change proposal that was approved last spring and would become the new building code to be published in 2009.

The new standards will undoubtedly change how green roofs are constructed in North America.  The current form of the standards includes some new restrictions based on accepted roofing practice and common sense.  Not everyone will be happy with the new rules, which is typically the case with such change.  However, the green roof industry has been flying under the code enforcement radar for quite some time.  The American construction industry is heavily regulated, providing uniform building standards the insurance industry and construction financers can rely upon.  This necessary step is likely just the beginning of the growing pains this young industry is destined for.

Pioneers of the industry may be left behind as the maturing process continues and new players emerge to take green roofs into the mainstream of American construction.  Some of us may need to reinvent ourselves to remain on the new stage.  One thing is certain, the green roof business is not static and like the plants we cultivate, it changes in concert with nature, constantly evolving to meet the needs of an ever changing marketplace.
 

Kelly Luckett, The Roving Exhibitor

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April 2007

Green Roofs Go Primetime
By Kelly Luckett, LEED AP
Photos by Kelly Luckett, unless otherwise noted

Hello again, green roof fans. Though it has been a quiet winter for tradeshows and exhibitions for the Roving Exhibitor, spring has sprung and I have most exciting news to report:  About two weeks ago I received a phone call from a television producer from the ABC network.  She wanted to know if we would be interested in supplying Green Roof Blocks for Extreme Makeover – Home Edition.  Do we want to do a green roof that will be viewed by over 15 million people? Hmm, let me think… uh…Yes!!

The next phone call came from the project manager - it was then I was informed that the project was a residence to be built in Piñon, Arizona, Navajo County, Navajo Nation, northeast of Flagstaff for a single mother and her children.  The family had little or no heat, no running water, and no indoor plumbing, and their outhouse was situated away from their home.  I was about to learn more.

All I could think of when I heard them say "Arizona" was images of tumble weeds blowing across the desert floor.  I discussed by way of speaker phone, with what appeared to be a room full of people, the weight of the saturated green roof and the hydration needs of the plants.  After tossing around ideas about rainwater harvesting to irrigate the plants; they could add guttering to the project and we could supply some Rainwater Solutions rain barrels (www.rainwatersolutions.com), the construction team agreed that the first hurdle to clear was the weight factor.  They said they would review the structural drawings with the engineers and get back to me.

The phone call came the next day around 4:00 pm. The voice on the other end said somberly that the structure would not support the added weight of the green roof.  He said they might build a shed to house the hot water tank that perhaps could use a small quantity of Green Roof Blocks.  I disappointedly hung up the phone and began to rationalize that it wasn’t meant to be.  However, the phone rang again at 9:00 pm.

This time the voice was upbeat and so was the news.  The producers of the show insisted on finding a way to include the green roof on the residence.  I was informed that the engineer was working to find a way include the green roof and would let us know definitively the following day.  After a very long twelve hours the phone rang once again.  By now I recognized the number to be the project manager calling. I nervously answered to hear the news.  The answer was Yes, the engineer determined there to be three gables on the front of the structure that would indeed support the saturated weight of the green roof.

As the initial high subsided, we began to identify the many challenges facing us.  The show was filming in ten days and the producers needed a mature green roof on the day of the shoot.  We keep some planted Green Roof Blocks on hand for the occasional small project but since we did not know how big the roof areas were, our first hurdle was to calculate the roof area to determine if we had enough product. The project would require 180 of the 200 Green Roof Blocks we had at the greenhouse.  Next was the matter of transporting 180 Green Roof Blocks, some 9,000 pounds of growth media, and live plants  nearly 1,500 miles.  Since some recent experiences with common carriers proved that mode of transportation less than reliable, we decided to drive the material ourselves in a rented truck.

Finally, the roof slope on one of the gables was 26 degrees.  Green Roof Blocks have been tested on lesser slopes but 26 degrees would require some means to keeping the modules from sliding off of the roof.  We decided to fasten the handles together using stainless steel draw bands allowing the Blocks on opposite sides of the ridge to counterbalance each other.  Armed with a plan for which we felt confident, we set out for Arizona.  Regarding the final irrigation plan, we decided to input the coordinates of the project in our plant health alert system, and the owners will water the plants using the water from the rain barrels when they receive the alert from us.

Our green roof team, made up of my partner Mike Crowell, his wife and their 7 year old triplets, my wife Trish and my daughter Shannon, our greenhouse owner, Vic Jost, and fellow contributing editor, Dr. Bill Retzlaff, assembled in Flagstaff, Arizona.  When we showed up Sunday morning, just four days after bulldozing the family’s old home, we found a standing structure complete with shingle roofing.  The wind howled terribly the entire day with gusts up to 45 miles per hour.

The installation, nevertheless, went off without a hitch.  Designer Paul Di Meo helped position Green Roof Blocks for the camera while discussing the some of the benefits the green roof would be providing for the project. 

The local medicine man, Georgia Yazzie’s older brother, gave his blessing for the new dwelling.  The general contractor, HomeLife Communities, supplied a dedicated extending forklift and operator for hoisting the Green Roof Blocks to the rooftop, and volunteers fed us and looked after our every need.  We were fortunate enough to be invited to return to the home for the presentation to the family.

Ty Pennington and his designers posed for photos with the construction team and with the crowd of over 70 volunteers, Navajo Nation friends and family who gathered for the “Move That Bus” moment.  After much anticipation the white limo pulled up with the Yazzie family, the film crew made final preparations, and at last the moment arrived...

The bus pulled away and there stood Ty with mom Georgia Yazzie and her children as they first laid eyes on their new home.  You could hear a pin drop as Ty pointed out the solar panels, wind turbine, and the green roof.  The crowd was overwhelmed and there wasn’t a dry eye to be found among us.

We’re not certain of the broadcast date at this time, though we have heard some speculation about a two-hour special for the season finale or perhaps even the fall premier.  This was Extreme Makeover – Home Edition’s first green project, and with sun tracking solar panels, solar heat and hot water, all LED interior lighting, wind turbine, green roof, and a host of other environmentally responsible building strategies, there will be quite a bit more of the actual building to discuss than is covered in the typical one-hour episode.

Don’t worry green roof fans; you can be certain we’ll let you know when this episode will air.  Until then, tune in weekly to see all of the great work Ty and his friends are doing; Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Sundays, 8/7c on ABC.

Kelly Luckett, The Roving Exhibitor
 

* Publisher's Note:  Read ABC15.com Reporter Jenn Burgess' WebXtra Blog on the Navajo Nation family's new home in 'Extreme Makeover: Home Edition' comes to Arizona, for her in-depth journaling at the scene including many photos of the emotions, hard work, and joy of the entire Piñon experience.  Jenn talks about the native landscape of grasslands that give way to terra cotta-colored cliffs dotted with green brush.  She also delves into Navajo dwelling traditions and placement of built structures, and among other topics touches on the reverence and significance of the feminine in native architecture, and Hogans, in particular.  You will also find Video!  See the project profile in The Greenroof Projects Database here.
 

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February 2007

The Greenbuild 2006 International Conference and Expo
By Kelly Luckett, LEED AP
All Photos by Kelly Luckett

Hello once again, Green Roof Fans.  This exhibitor closed the 2006 tradeshow season with "The Mother of All Green Building Conferences": Greenbuild, hosted this year by the Mile High City of Denver, Colorado.  I could not have asked for a better ending to the year.  It seems like only yesterday when conference delegates stood before me with inquisitive looks on their faces asking, “What’s a green roof and why would I want one?”

Well, let me tell you, there is a new breed of educated green roof enthusiasts combing the floors of tradeshows looking for specific products and information.  Seldom are the questions about rudimentary green roof functions and purposes - I now find myself fielding questions about green roof details like growth media saturation weights, plant palate specifics, lead times, and storm water retention data. These are educated consumers that know the benefits of the green roofing concept.  Now they need the tools to incorporate green roofs into their projects.

I find most architects I speak with to be huge green roof fans.  They look to green roof professionals to arm them with the ammunition they need to convince their clients that the green roof is a sound investment.  They want to know the first cost, hidden costs, and ongoing maintenance costs.  They want to know which LEED points the green roof will help capture and if there are any incentives or tax relief to help recoup the cost.  Some are developing in areas where stormwater runoff restrictions exist and they want the data to submit to the regional planners and code enforcement officials.  And, of course, they all want to know what the energy savings will be, so they can calculate the return on their client’s green roof investment.  While most of us in the green roof industry can practically recite most of this information from memory, the energy savings derived from installing a green roof remains illusive.

There is good news to report, however. Green Roofs for Healthy Cities has two committees working concurrently to help the industry provide this information to the design community: While one committee is working to evaluate the energy performance modeling tool, another is developing a lifecycle cost analysis tool that will help determine the return on investment by quantifying a broad range of tangible and intangible green roof financial attributes.  Phase one of the lifecycle cost analysis tool is due out in April.  Phase one will produce the structure of the Excel based worksheet and will use placeholders for areas of the program still under development.  These items were among those discussed at the Green Roofs for Healthy Cities corporate members meeting held in one of the meeting areas just before the Greenbuild Opening Ceremonies.

Conversations with the corporate members during and after the conference revealed similar impressions of the tradeshow traffic, quality of the sales leads, and the venue; it was great!  I didn’t have one negative comment from anyone; exhibitor or delegate.  The educational presentations were poignant and well attended.  Tradeshow traffic was outstanding.  And the city of Denver truly rolled out the red carpet, including unseasonably warm and sunny weather for a few of the days.

Mrs. Roving Exhibitor and I lived in Denver about 15 years ago and we were excited to get back and see all that has improved.  The 16th street Mall was especially impressive.  This blighted area of downtown Denver has been transformed into a very cool outdoor mall with an interesting blend of boutique and big box retailers.  The shops are situated along each side of a divided street that has a sprawling landscaped median with park benches and various pedestrian amenities that stretch its entire 16 block length.  After lunch at the Cheese Cake Factory, we walked off some calories and shopped for souvenirs.

So, Green Roof Fans, as we say so long to 2006 and we start setting our goals for 2007, let’s try to remember to be good tenants of the planet because our lease is short and the next generation will appreciate the nice green carpet on that top floor.

Kelly Luckett, The Roving Exhibitor

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November 2006

The ASLA 2006 Annual Meeting and EXPO and the 43rd IFLA World Congress
By Kelly Luckett, LEED AP

Hello again Green Roof Fans!  While the green roof planting season may be winding down, the green roof market is heating up.  Designers, contractors, and building owners all seem to be on an incessant quest for green roof information and price quotations for future projects.  There certainly was no shortage of inquiring minds at the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) 2006 Annual Meeting and EXPO and 43rd International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA) World Congress hosted on October 6–10, 2006 by the city of Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Delegates came from all across the U.S. and all over the world to share their expertise and to learn from their colleagues from China, France, Colombia, Germany, Sweden, Mauritius, Spain, Canada and more.  Green building principles and sustainability permeated discussions throughout the week.  Chicago’s Mayor Daley spoke about his efforts to make his city the greenest community in the United States.  Ed Snodgrass made a presentation on green roofs and Green Roofs for Healthy Cities presented two instructional green roof courses.  And there was a continuous buzz among the delegates about the new green roof on the ASLA Headquarters in Washington, DC.

This is the first time Green Roof Blocks exhibited at the ASLA meeting.  The 2005 meeting was hosted by Fort Lauderdale so when we were planning our exhibition schedule for 2006, I remember thinking “Fort Lauderdale in October?  It’s a tough gig, but somebody’s got to do it.”  You can imagine my disappoint-ment when I was informed that this year’s meeting would have me traveling in the opposite direction. One conjures visions of late August snow falls when thinking about Minnesota.  To my surprise the weather was sunny with balmy 70 degree temperatures.

The convention center here is bordered by incredible displays of landscape architecture on both public and private properties.  As I took in a bit of the city, I couldn’t help but to be impressed by the greenery that abounded from hanging baskets, adorned the sidewalk in planter boxes, and draped the building walls.

Minneapolis is eager to continue this citywide focus on green space to the rooftops, and the city will host the annual Greening Rooftops for Sustainable Communities Conference, Awards & Trade Show next spring to further promote the green roof concept in the region.  Some of our green roof family gathered after the conference for some relaxation at a pub where the locals were enjoying lawn bowling on one of American Hydrotech’s green roof projects.  We enjoyed each other’s company and discussed the green roof business, and the general consensus was that this market continues to expand.  I was a little surprised, as I walked the exhibit floor, by the absence of some of the faces I have become accustomed to seeing at such exhibitions.

The landscape architect plays a significant role in many of the green roof projects with which we are involved, and I found those in attendance to be keenly interested in the green roof concept and many who requested information from me said they were currently involved with a green roof project.  While I tend to focus on the functionality of the green roof, I suspect landscape architects will help our industry find a marriage of form and function.

That’s all for now Green Roof Fans - my next stop, the 2006 Greenbuild Conference and Expo hosted this week in Denver, Colorado.  Until the next roving experience, have a happy Thanksgiving!

Kelly Luckett, The Roving Exhibitor
 

The AIA National Convention and G.R.E.E.N.'s first Green Roof Symposium
By Kelly Luckett, LEED AP
All Photos by Linda S. Velazquez


Hello once again green roof fans.  Summer is winding down, the green roof market is heating up, and the Roving Exhibitor has been roving!  Between the ball games and barbeques there was quite a bit of activity to report so I’ll get right to it.

I kicked summer off in June at the 138th AIA (American Institute of Architects) National Convention held this year in sunny Los Angeles.  This was a first class event on every level.  Discounted airfare was provided for delegates and exhibitors; a first for this exhibitor.  Blocks of rooms at area hotels were complimented by efficient shuttle service to and from the event. The exhibit hall was decked out with every amenity.  But most impressive was the trade show traffic.

The format was typical of most conference tradeshows holding breakout sessions concurrent to tradeshow hours.  So, I was expecting some idle time during sessions.  I was mistaken.  A crowd of designers gathered at the tradeshow entrance waiting to be allowed into the exhibit hall.  Once security declared the hall open, the flood of visitors to the exhibits was overwhelming.  I don’t typically utilize the scanners that are available to gather visitor information because I don’t make cold calls and I don’t like sending correspondence that resembles junk mail.  At the last minute, however, something made me decide to give the scanner a try, and how that scanner saved my butt!  Within minutes of the hall opening I had architects lined up at my booth four deep handing their badges over the top of the people in front of them for me to scan.  I was alone in the booth, a mistake I won’t make next year, and the scanner was the only way I could have kept up with the hectic pace of delegate traffic.

During the three day exhibition I distributed over 1500 brochures before running out and I scanned 467 architects requesting information.  The last day of the show I actually stayed in my booth speaking with designers and scanning badges for about an hour after the exhibit hall lights were shut down.

On June 29th the Green Roof Environmental Evaluation Network (G.R.E.E.N.) held our first Green Roof Symposium in Edwardsville, IL.  Visitors came from nearby cities like Chicago and Kansas City, and from cities as far away as New York.

Ed Snodgrass of Emory Knoll Farms (Greenroofs.com's own Ask Ed) was the Keynote Speaker.  Ed Jarger and Bill Schaefer from American Hydrotech came to present a case study breakout session and to help introduce the green roof basics.  Mr. Jarger presented the anatomy of a green roof and I followed up with an introduction to the modular approach.  Mike Curry of Midwest Trading and Grace Koehler of Midwest Groundcover presented a breakout session on green roof soil formulation and plant selections being utilized in Chicago Land.  Greenroofs.com's Publisher, Linda Velazquez, helped kick the event off with a state of the industry presentation and then presented a case study on one of her projects in Atlanta, and closed with a demonstration of the new international Greenroof Projects Database.

Other speakers included the Dean of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, the stormwater engineer for the City of O’Fallon, IL, a representative from the St. Louis Metropolitan Sewer District, and yours truly, who presented a breakout session on structural engineering for green roofs that I borrowed from a symposium Dr. Bill Hunt had hosted previously in Raleigh, NC.

The G.R.E.E.N. research team presented the latest data of each of the green roof research projects and the guests were treated to a tour of the stormwater research site.  Tabletop exhibits were provided by Rooflite, Buildex, American Hydrotech, St. Louis Retaining Wall, and of course Green Roof Blocks.

The months of July and August were quiet on the exhibition front but we were busy installing another green roof at Carnegie Mellon University, preparing a project for Bank of America in Chicago, and launching our first privately funded Green Paks project for Cook + Fox Architects in Manhattan.  As I write this column I am returning from China where I met with our team to continue to expand our presence there.  When my feet hit the ground again in the United States my focus will be on a project we are doing in Chicago for one of Mayor Daley’s green roof grant recipients.

My next exhibition stop is in Minneapolis in October for the 2006 American Society of Landscape Architects Annual Meeting & EXPO and 43rd IFLA World Congress. Until then, green roof fans, think green - be green!

Kelly Luckett, The Roving Exhibitor

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June 2006

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May 2006

The 50th Annual CSI Show & Convention
By Kelly Luckett, LEED AP
All Photos by Kelly Luckett

About the middle of March an architect from Las Vegas emailed me about a mid-rise building they were designing and wanted to know if a green roof would survive the desert climate.  I refer such plant questions to my friend and horticultural advisor, Vic Jost.  I knew the first thing Vic was going to ask was if the project would have an irrigation system so I posed that question to the architect before making the call to Vic.  The answer was Yes, they were designing the project with an automated drip irrigation system.  When I spoke with Vic he felt as long as we were irrigating it should be possible to do the green roof.  But before we committed to anything he wanted to call some perennial grower associates in Las Vegas and get their help with a plant selection list.

Several days went by as I waited to hear from Vic and his friends from the desert.  The timing for this project was curious because I was getting ready to travel to Las Vegas for the national Construction Specifications Institute tradeshow.  I was even kind of jazzed about the prospect of having a local project I could discuss with the tradeshow delegates.

The day before my flight, however, I got a rather disturbing phone call from Vic.  It seemed his friends in Las Vegas were in disagreement about the feasibility of getting plants to live in the full desert sun. One grower told Vic that he could not get any sedum to survive at grade without afternoon shade, let alone on a roof.  While another grower felt as Vic did that as long as the plants were irrigated they would do just fine.  The last thing I want to hear when I am designing a green roof project is that the plant professionals on whom I rely for expert advice are at odds about the viability of the project!  I really didn’t want this uncertainty while I was headed to Las Vegas to speak with a few hundred architects and specification writers.  I like having answers to the questions and I don’t like surprises. But here I was headed to the desert armed only with “two out three growers recommend…”

An American Hydrotech associate stopped by my booth to chat and I asked him about their experience.  It seems they have yet to do a green roof in such a climate though he heard there are a couple in existence.  He said it will likely to take some failures before the industry determines how to design green roofs for the desert.  He suggested it would be nice if I took one for the team and produced the first catastrophic failure.  Though we were teasing, he was right.  As an industry we need to get some testing going in these arid climates that so desperately need the green roof concept to help address serious runoff and heat island problems.

Some of the usual tradeshow suspects were also with us at CSI in Las Vegas:

Las Vegas isn’t the only region looking at green roofs and wondering if the solution to some of their environmental problems lies within.  Phoenix, New Mexico, Southern California, and parts of Texas are all in the same boat.  One problem is the lack of cohesion within the industry.  We shroud our failures in secrecy while they are celebrated by our competitors.  Green roof research, though increasing, seems to be isolated and largely proprietary.  Though this business model has worked well for other industries, it does a disservice to ours.
 
Green roofs are still too expensive, which makes the stakes too high to gamble with a building owner’s money.  The green roof industry seems to be taking a “play it safe” approach.  This is understandable since nobody wants to be associated with failure and who of us can afford to loose money on a grand scale?  Perhaps the way to wade into the unknown is as a group.  We can start by sharing information.  Who knows where we could go from there.  We might even co-sponsor some research projects that would provide all of us with some answers.  We all need to come to terms with one unavoidable fact:  Every green roof sold makes it a little easier to sell another, and every green roof failure makes it a little more difficult to sell the next one.

At this embryonic stage, our industry clearly has some common enemies.  Mother Nature is out front while rising fuel cost and instability within the expanded aggregate market trail closely behind.  We need cheaper growth media and a better understanding of the plant life we are working with.  We need to take a serious look at leaching and explore contaminant fixers.  We need to be able to tell consumers what they can realistically expect from green roof installation in terms of energy savings and storm water runoff reduction.  Once we’ve found some answers and worked some of these bugs out of the green roof concept we can all get back to the business of back stabbing and playing hardball.

Oh Yeah, this column is supposed to be about the CSI Show.  You may recall last year I wrote that the CSI show at McCormick Place in Chicago was one of the best attended tradeshows I’ve seen.  I was also a huge fan of the conference format separating the tradeshow hours from the education sessions.  This year the format was the same; education sessions ended at noon and the exhibit floor hours followed from 12:30 to 4:30.  Though the total number of delegates to the conference increased over last year, the traffic at the tradeshow seemed a little light.

Now don’t get me wrong, I spent three days engaged in conversations with a lot of people who were genuinely interested in the green roof concept, some from as far away as Hawaii and Australia.  But comparatively it didn’t hit the numbers we generated in terms of contacts and handouts at the Chicago show last year.  Perhaps the reason was a combination of the format and the setting.  In a city where there are slot machines in the neighborhood 7-11 convenience store, the closing statements of the morning education sessions had the same effect as a grade school recess bell.  How are you going to get people into the tradeshow when the playground of all playgrounds beckons?  This could also explain the rush of delegates speeding through the exhibit hall frantically gathering brochures during the final hours of the show.

The next stop for the Roving Exhibitor is Boston, Massachusetts for the 4th Annual Greening Rooftops for Sustainable Communities Conference, Awards, & Trade Show.  Until then, Green Roof Fans, enjoy the spring and keep building green!

Kelly Luckett, The Roving Exhibitor

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March 2006

Raise The Green Roof Fundraiser and Other Worthy Events,
By Kelly Luckett, LEED AP

After two years of marketing the green roof concept, I have learned to carefully choose where to invest my company’s time and resources.  With new green building tradeshows and conferences springing up almost daily, it’s increasingly difficult to choose which events to participate in.  In fact, it’s downright hard to say no.  This year we had chosen to limit our tradeshows exhibitions to six.  We are doing the top four: CSI, AIA, ASLA, and Green Build. We made our debut at the regional conference Greening the Heartland in 2004 so we like to do this conference for sentimental value, plus it helps support our local chapter of the USGBC.  Though the Green Roofs For Sustainable Cities conference is not one of the best attended tradeshows, it’s a great to catch up with green roof industry friends, make some new friends, and check out new green roof products and technology.

I got out the laptop and plotted each date on my calendar.  With no scheduling conflicts and the year planned out, I closed the calendar and opened my email.  There it was - the invitation to exhibit in the annual Earth Day Festival.  OK, I thought, one more event wouldn’t break the bank.  A couple days later came the invitation to participate in the regional Low Impact Development Symposium.  After that was the Sierra Club Energy Festival, the Botanical Garden Green Building Expo, the Construction Expo, the Wichita Green Expo, Forest Park Forever, and about half a dozen more.  With so many worthy events it wasn’t long before my 2006 calendar looked a lot like 2005.

So when the students at the Whitfield High School called on me to set up my booth at their Raise The Green Roof fundraiser, I just couldn’t say no.  The students accompanied their teacher to the Earth Day Festival last spring where they gathered information and literature from the many exhibitors of green building products. I was flattered to hear that of all of the exhibited products the students were most excited by our green roof product.  It seems each senior class engages in a major project to improve the school and to inspire future senior classes to keep pushing the bar higher.  The graduating class of 2006 has decided to green a portion of the school rooftop.  On a cold Saturday in January they held an open house to raise money for the project. T hey washed cars, sold organic snacks and cloth shopping bags, and a student rock and roll band performed in the school auditorium.

One by one the students brought their friends and family members to my table to explain what their efforts were purchasing.  They beamed with pride as they explained how green roofs benefit the environment and why they had chosen this particular green roof system.  As I spent the afternoon thoroughly entertained by the enthusiasm of these young men and women, I reflected on my own high school days.  To us, saving the planet meant not lighting forest fires and “pitch-in” with our litter.  You couldn’t have dragged me onto school property with a team of oxen on a Saturday, let alone get me to spend my day off raising money for a school related anything.

What a long way we have come in 25 years.  As consumers, we are demanding goods and services that reflect our environmental values, and industry is responding. Saving the planet is now a multi-billion dollar industry. Though I have heard recent skepticism about reducing our fossil fuel dependence, when I look at the commitment of these young people, I can’t help but to be optimistic for a very green future.

Kelly Luckett, The Roving Exhibitor        

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December 2005

The Greenbuild 2005 International Conference and Expo
By Kelly Luckett , LEED AP
All Photos by Kelly Luckett

Hello once again Green Roof Fans.  Though it’s been a while since my last report, the Roving Exhibitor has been busy.  We returned to Beijing in September to establish Green Roof Blocks in China, and I managed to complete the journey without becoming the subject of an international incident.  Our first Beijing project will be in place soon; keep an eye on the press releases.  I also recently participated in several Watershed and Low Impact Development conferences.  A driving force behind green roofs in the next decade will be storm water issues.  The State of Illinois has just passed Bill 519 providing funding and mandates to address run off issues in selected counties including the Chicagoland and metro East St. Louis.  The Metropolitan Sewer District of St. Louis is taking another run at implementing an impervious surface surcharge despite growing opposition by powerful lobbyists representing owners of properties containing vast amounts of impervious surfaces.  It promises to be a hard fought battle that pits money against the environment.

Now, I know what you’re thinking, but before you assume that big money will steam roll over the environmental interest, let me tell you about an event that is rallying the troops for the environment: Greenbuild.  The Greenbuild 2005 International Conference and Expo was held on November 9 - 11 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, GA.

Now in its fourth year, Greenbuild is presented annually by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), a nonprofit coalition of more than 5,500 private companies, nonprofits and governmental agencies working to transform the building industry.  Throughout its 10-year history, the USGBC has been at the forefront of green building - introducing the LEED Green Building Rating System in 2000 and launching Greenbuild in 2002.
 

The 2005 Greenbuild Expo was hosted by the city of Atlanta, Georgia, and with over 500 exhibitors and nearly 10,000 delegates, this year’s expo was the most successful environmental awareness gathering to date.  The educational sessions covered green building issues ranging from policy to practice, and numerous workshops and tours were offered; the exhibit hall was jammed with vendors marketing everything under the sun, literally.

For such a huge undertaking, everything flowed smoothly with a lot of behind the scenes support and the entire organization proved to be very professionally run - even the conference food was good!   A couple of fun events were the Welcome Party and the Leadership Awards Ceremony with live music at the awesome Tabernacle, a historical landmark and former church turned award-winning entertainment venue.  The evening started with performances from a local marching band followed by the awards, a soulful choir, and DJ's spinning some great sounds.  Good food, drinks, an abundance of funky and cozy performance rooms plus great colorful art representing local and exotic primitive, religious, and oriental art and sculpture equaled an evening to remember with friends old and new.

The green roof industry was represented by several total system providers as well as some green roof component suppliers.  Additionally, Green Roofs For Healthy Cities hosted a booth in the non-profit table area. I spoke with many of the green roof industry representatives after the trade show to get their feelings on the success of the show.  The consensus was overwhelmingly positive.  Everyone was impressed with the number of focused visitors to their booths and most had already signed up to exhibit at next year’s GreenBuild show in Denver, Colorado, and this exhibitor is no exception.  The 2005 GreenBuild Expo was the most successful marketing event of the year for Green Roof Blocks - having given away 250 DVD’s, over 500 brochures, and almost 1000 business cards, signing up for the 2006 show in Denver seemed a sound marketing decision.  See the green roof exhibitors:

In my opinion, a marketing strategy that does not enjoy such a positive consensus among the green roof industry is involvement in the Green Roofs For Healthy Cities organization. Though this is not a forum to air those grievances, the significant presence of the group’s organizers at the Expo kept the topic emerging during my interviews with the green roof players.  There was a corporate member meeting held just before the opening of the exhibit hall.  The meeting was supposed to put to rest dissention among the members about the project database the group has been discussing throughout the year.  The meeting was poorly attended, however, and though there were votes and measures were passed, the project lacks member consensus.  Founder Steven Peck spoke about various activities aimed to bring more value to the membership in the organization.  The members I spoke with experienced a significant raise in membership fees when the new corporate fee structure went into effect.  Many feel the gap between the new fees and the value of corporate membership is too wide to be offset by these recent activities.  As we all attempt to squeeze every ounce of value from our marketing budget for 2006, many of us are taking a hard look at organization memberships.  Organizations perceived as fee generation entities will see membership diminish, while organizations that add zeros to the membership’s bottom line receive our coveted marketing dollars.

Well, Green Roof Fans, it has been an exciting year for the green roof industry.  The design community is helping to expand the market with each new green roof project.  Some plant failures in the Midwest, though seemingly catastrophic to those involved with the projects, helped to bring drought tolerance expectation levels down to more realistic levels and will make for more successful green roofs going forward.  New research projects are springing up all over the country helping to both educate future consumers as well as to help the green roof concept evolve through better understanding of design and performance.  From my family to yours, I hope you have enjoyed a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and have a GREEN New Year!

Publisher's Note:  I was a member of the Atlanta Host Committee, and would like to add that the USGBC, the local chapter, Southface Energy Institute and all the volunteers did a great job!  Read all about the last and future Greenbuild on the USGBC's Greenbuild International Conference & Expo website here.  Read about the features of the Greenbuild 2005 Proceedings CD-ROM, available for purchase for $159 - LSV.
 

Kelly Luckett, The Roving Exhibitor

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August 2005

Beijing Olympic Committee at the Energy Efficient and Environmentally Friendly Products Exposition for Olympic Projects
By Kelly Luckett, LEED AP
All Photos by Kelly Luckett

As members of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), Green Roof Blocks was invited to exhibit at the Beijing Olympic Committee at the Energy Efficient and Environmentally Friendly Products Exposition for Olympic Projects. The invitation came June 14th and we were asked to RSVP by end of the following day! In this budding business that seems to be dominated by trade secrets and patented intellectual property, the decision to participate in the Expo could not be taken lightly. Many of the green roof related patents in the United States do not extend beyond our boarders. Some friends who routinely do business in China had some pretty disheartening warnings about brand name knock-offs and price undercutting. There was even some mention of SARS and the typical concerns for the safety of an American traveling abroad. I must admit that I was more than just a little apprehensive about going where I could not readily communicate with my host. After carefully weighing the pro and cons, it all came down to this: we could list endless concerns and reasons not to go, but would an American green roof company ever again be invited to China to display a product to an Olympic Committee? Not likely. Despite the many unknowns, we decided to accept the invitation.

Those of you who exhibit at tradeshows know the challenge of getting your display material to the show on time and in one piece. We decided to pear down to what we could check as baggage on the flight over. The extra charges for additional and overweight baggage came as some what of a surprise at the departure check in, but I decided there was no turning back at this point and I handed over my credit card. The trip took about twenty hours with a two hour layover in Atlanta. As the plane taxied down the runway upon landing I looked out of the window over scores of construction cranes erected at an immense string of construction projects that line the runway.

Once I gathered my baggage and cleared Chinese Customs I made my way to the exit. Just outside the exit doors was a 200 foot long rope line with people standing five and six deep waiting to greet arriving passengers. Just as my head started to spin from the overwhelming chaos, I spotted my name written on a sign being held by the driver sent by Expedia to pick me up and take me to my hotel. The driver, Leo, corralled my five pieces of luggage to his car, conversed with me in English on the way to my hotel, and even programmed my cell phone to the Beijing cellular network. Placing the check in the box for the optional shuttle service on the Expedia website may have been the best $45 I spent on the entire trip! Leo even talked with the front desk clerk and the bell hop at the hotel and made sure me and my bags got settled into my room at the Prime Hotel Beijing.

 

The next morning I started the day with a traditional Chinese breakfast dumpling and some noodles and set about the task of checking in at the Product Expo. I approached the concierge to arrange for my exhibit materials to be brought down from my room. This seemed to confuse the three young men at the desk since I had just checked in the day before and now I appeared to be checking out six days early. When I tried to explain that I was not checking out and that I only needed my exhibit materials I started to realize that there are a few English phrases they spoke flawlessly, prompting me to assume they were fluent in English. However, once the conversation began to deviate from the typical hotel guest requests, communication became much more difficult. No problem, I got my own bags and decided to just stick to the tourist script. Or so I thought. The address to the Expo didn’t seem to be on that script. After five minutes of discussion among the hotel staff, none of whom I was able to understand, it was concluded that they did not know where the Expo was being held. Now, this is significant because none of the taxi drivers speak English. The hotel employees flag down a passing taxi and tell them where to take you as they help you into the car. If the hotel staff doesn’t know where you are going getting you there becomes quite a challenge.
 
The Roving Exhibitor, however, is a seasoned traveler with extensive experience navigating his way to and from a multitude of convention centers and conference locations. I confidently reached in my briefcase and produced the phone number to the hosting agency. The concierge spoke briefly on the phone and wrote something in Chinese on the back of a hotel business card. He handed the card to the doorman and the doorman helped me into the waiting taxi. After some brief conversation between the driver and the doorman, the doorman gave the hotel business card to the driver and away we went. I took many digital photos as I took in the sights along the 45 minute drive. The driver turned and said something in Chinese as we turned into a gated driveway with a posted guard. The driver lowered the window and spoke to the guard. Evidently the guard knew nothing of the conference. The driver and the guard began speaking to me simultaneously, in Chinese. As I remembered handing the paper with the Expo host’s phone number to the hotel concierge and realizing that he did not give it back to me, my traditional Chinese breakfast began to churn in my stomach. Just when I thought I would be heading back to the hotel the driver produced the hotel business card on which the concierge had apparently written the Expo host’s phone number along with the directions to the building. The driver phoned the host from her cell phone and found that we were, in fact, at the correct address but at the wrong gate. I retrieved that precious hotel business card from the driver and guarded it like the Holy Grail for the next few days. Though it was a little more of a challenge than I expected, I made it to the Expo site with my exhibit and I strolled into the building to announce my arrival.

There were four bright faced young people behind a desk just inside the main entrance. They smiled at me as I walk up to the desk. I said “hello.” Three of them stopped smiling and looked nervously at the remaining young girl as she returned my greeting and said “hello.” I told her my name, she told me hers, so far so good. I said, “I’m with Green Roof Blocks.” She looked at her clip board to find me on her list of exhibitors as she repeated after me, “Green Roof Blocks.” I knew that all of the USGBC members were supposed to be located together at the Expo so I decided to try that as I said, “USGBC?” She looked up and said, “Oh yes, USGBC. This way please.” She then lead me to an area about twenty feet by twenty feet where there were three exhibitors setting up already. She spoke to them at length. They did not appear to be happy about being squeezed into this space and the addition of my exhibit wasn’t going over well. At one point they stopped and brought me a chair and politely asked me to sit while they sorted the situation out. The conversation went on for about twenty minutes all in Chinese except for the occasional “Green Roof Blocks” and “USGBC.” Finally they assigned me a space along one wall and allowed me to get set up.

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July 2005

Greening the Heartland 2005 Conference
By Kelly Luckett, LEED AP

Green Grid, Intrinsic, JDR, American Hydrotech, Prairie Technologies and Green Roof Blocks were back in Chicago last month for the for the second annual Greening the Heartland Conference.  Keynote speakers included Chicago’s Mayor Daley and USGBC founder Rick Fedrizzi.  The show was attended by designers, policy makers, and green building enthusiasts from all over the Midwest.  Green roofs continue to be a major attraction for tradeshows hosted in the city of Chicago.

Steven Peck of Green Roofs For Healthy Cities was at the show drumming up business for his Green Roof Design 101 class.  He stopped by our booth to chat about the Green Roofs For Sustainable Cities Conference in Boston next year.  The corporate committee has been discussing changes to the format of the trade show to enhance the experience for the exhibitors and delegates.  Details will be included in my future columns as they become available.  There was some discussion of possible sites for the 2007 conference, Minneapolis was mentioned. Stay tuned.

Susan Morgan and John Albrect of the Chicago General Services were in attendance.  Susan said the Chicago city officials are currently evaluating information provided by various green roof suppliers and component manufacturers that responded to the November 2004 Request For Information.  Though green roofs are just one of the green building strategies that the city is promoting, they continue to play a major role in their overall policy of sustainability.  I spoke with quite a few designers and developers who were gathering green roof information to help them meet the green roof requirements of their Chicago building permit process.  The more public funding a given project utilizes, the more green roof space the city is asking for.  We are currently working with a couple of developers who are returning to city hall to request reductions in square footage of required green roof space

Though I completely understand budget limitations and cost overruns on construction projects, renegotiation of the building permit requirements undermines the process.  Chicago City Hall will have to decide whether green requirements are as important as any other building code requirement.  Once we start relaxing the requirements of the building code we step onto a slippery slope that’s increasingly difficult to navigate.  I’ll keep you posted green roof fans.

My next stop is Beijing, China to exhibit for the Beijing Olympic Committee.  The BOC has committed to build the 2008 Olympic Village and associated buildings to green building standards.  The USGBC members have been invited to Beijing for the Building Product Showcase July 12-14, 2005. I’ll have all of the details for you next month.

Kelly Luckett, The Roving Exhibitor
 

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June 2005

Greening Rooftops for Sustainable Communities Conference, Awards and Trade Show
By Kelly Luckett, LEED AP
Photos by Linda Velazquez

Well green roof fans, another Greening Rooftops for Sustainable Communities Conference has come and gone.  For green roof industry exhibitors this trade show is the equivalent of an all star game! We all went to Washington, D.C. to see and be seen by the movers and shakers of our industry.  For some there was less tradeshow traffic then they may have hoped for, yet for others there was a steady flow of interested delegates.  Perhaps one of the busiest booths at the tradeshow was Daichi Corporation’s.  Each time I stopped by their booth they had visitors waiting in line to hear about their new sedum sheet that uses sedum cuttings sandwiched between two biodegradable layers of fabric to propagate green roofs and living walls.  Just another example of how innovators are working hard to make green roofs easier, more effective, and more affordable.

Host Steven Peck made the rounds near the close of the tradeshow to hear first hand from the exhibitors what they thought of this year’s show and what improvements could be made.  There were some suggestions of perhaps changing the tradeshow hours to be dedicated times either before or after the plenary sessions, allowing the exhibitors the opportunity to sit in on sessions. Some felt the delegates needed more time to browse the exhibit hall rather than squeezing the exhibition time between plenary sessions.  There was some agreement that a cocktail hour in the exhibit hall would work well to get delegates to visit the exhibits in a more relaxed frame of mind.  Steven said the corporate membership committee would entertain all suggestions to keep the conference evolving towards the best possible experience for delegates and exhibitors alike.

The green roof tours provided the chance to see some of Washington, D.C. that wasn’t on the guided tour, and were well planned and very informative.  Those of us who stayed for the weekend took in some of the sites that were on the city guide, too. Though I have seen many photos and even visited the traveling replica when it came to St. Louis, I was not prepared for what a moving experience a visit to the Vietnam Memorial Wall is.  The mementos left by surviving loved ones and the reverence with which the National Park Service hosts the monument made the visit one of my most humbling experiences. I recommend placing it on your “have to do list;” the Vietnam Memorial alone was worth the price of the trip.  We squeezed what we could into one day of site seeing, though you could spend a month and still not see everything.  We saw the Lincoln Memorial, the World War II Memorial, the National Monument, the White House, the Capitol Building, and we even viewed the original Declaration of Independence and the Constitution in the National Archives Building.

Some of the original members of the green roof family talked about how far the movement has come since the first conference in Chicago, while the new members anxiously look forward to the next three years.  All agree we have long way to go but collectively we can eventually make the building without a green roof the oddity.  I’ll keep shoveling my share of the water.  My next stop is the Greening the Heartland Conference at the Palmer House Hilton in Chicago, Illinois, May 31st through June 2nd.

Kelly Luckett

Publisher's Note:  Most of us in the industry would agree that the Greening Rooftops for Sustainable Communities Conference is the premier opportunity to showcase greenroof projects, products, and people.  Here is your opportunity to submit and share photos, experiences, etc., too.  Below are some reader comments and photos I took on the last day in the Trade Show.

From PennHort.org:  "Great content, and a lot of bells and whistles.  A couple of things about the basics:

    ~ The conference website was hard to access, hard to read, hard to register.
    ~ A better balance on the food - it was feast or famine - mostly famine.
    ~ Almost all of my sessions started late and ran over. Perhaps reconsider what can reasonably fit in a 90 minute session.
    ~ The last presenter in a session shouldn't be punished because the first ran on and on... The audience shouldn't be punished by missing lunch or a break, or content of importance to them.  Facilitators need to bring their sessions in on time, or find a way to excuse the audience if necessary.
    ~ The proceedings are pretty skimpy. Perhaps it would be possible to link to websites or researchers full publications. I understand that many academics are reluctant to assign copyright, so instead, permission to reprint might result in vastly improved abstracts."

From an exhibitor wanting to remain Anonymous:  "What happened to the green carpeting that was supposed to line the walkways of the Exhibit Hall??? It looked like an industrial warehouse and not very inviting."

Click on each thumbnail to enlarge the photo: