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Each week you can expect to learn What’s New here on Greenroofs.com through our “This Week in Review” video. Here is the transcript from February 3rd, 2012 with an overview from the beginning of the new year from our daughter, Anjuli – click on the photo below to see the video, or here. Enjoy!
– Hello, I’m Anjuli Velázquez and after a short hiatus, welcome back to This Week in Review! First of all, we here at Greenroofs.com wish all of you a very healthy and prosperous New Year, and hope you’re off to a great start in 2012!
This is not only a “This Week in Review” for February 3rd, 2012, but also pretty much a “This Month in Review for January 2012,” here on GreenroofsTV.
– Our project of the week is the Private Brussels Residence Vertical Garden & Greenroof built in 2006 in Brussels, Belgium. The architect of the private home is Philippe Samyn with Patrick Blanc as the botanist and designer of the Vertical Garden Wall. Construction took eight years with one year of fine-tuning the plant selection and as a result, the four-story house is covered completely in plants on three sides, plus the roof. It was Patrick Blanc’s first opportunity to design an entire house in vegetation, including the rooftop. Patrick had to carefully select the numerous plant species for the lush semi-circular facade form, keeping in mind sun patterns and micro climates. Water is collected from the rooftop edges and used for irrigation and is supplemented by a well; also, any runoff is recycled.
To learn more about the Private Brussels Residence Vertical Garden & Greenroof, designed by the internationally famously fascinating Patrick Blanc, click on our project of the week photo on our homepage (or on the above photo).
– Read about the following Projects of the Week that we’ve featured since my last “This Week in Review” – find them in Greenroof & Greenwall Projects Database using their profile ID # below each photo (or click on the photo):
– December 26 & 19, 2011: Tremco Incorporated Headquarters #1371
– January 2, 2012: Delft University of Technology Library #534
– January 9, 2012: Heritage Flight #1253
– January 16, 2012: Queens Botanical Garden Visitor and Administration Center #653
– January 23, 2012: Arbroath Abbey Visitor Centre #79
– Watch our Greenroofs & Walls of the World™ Virtual Summit 2011 Episode 8: Panel Presentation “The Portland Ecoroof Program: A Cross-section of the Green Roof Movement in Portland, Oregon” with Tom Liptan, Matt Burlin, Amy Chomowicz, Casey Cunningham, and Alice Meyers. If you haven’t already, check out these first 7 episodes on our greenroofsTV page and on YouTube:
Episode 7: “Constructing Gardens in the Sky” by Terry McGlade
Episode 6: “Sky Meadows – Integrating People and Nature: Sustainable Green Roofs and Roof Gardens” by Dr. Nigel Dunnett
Episode #5: “Greenroofs & Walls for Educational & Social Equity in the Bronx” Panel Session with New York State Senator Gustavo Rivera, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., Robert Bieder, Jon Beuttler, Jess Dannhauser, Javier Lopez and Steve Ritz
Episode #4: Keynote Address “CSR, Corporate Social Responsibility – The Who, What, Where, When and How” by Ralph Velasquez
Episode #3: “CDA Leads the Way for Incorporating Green Roof Space in an Airport Environment” by Rosemarie Andolino
Episode #2: 2011 Top 10 Hot Trends in Greenroof & Greenwall Design by Haven Kiers and Linda Velazquez
Episode #1: Opening Keynote Address “A New Place“ by Charlie Miller
– Don’t forget: the 2012 Greenroofs & Walls of the World™ 12 Month Wall Calendar is still available for purchase – now at the discounted rate of $9.95, so order yours today!
– Xero Flor Green Roof Products Receives Cradle to Cradle Certification for Environmental Stewardship.
– SKYLAND USA, LLC – rooflite ® Announces Launch of New Spanish Website: www.techosvegetales.com.
– RUBBERMASTER/A & A Melters are approved by Material Manufacturers.
– GLTi Green Training Course Added at the State University New York (SUNY) Ulster.
– Tremco Roofing and Building Maintenance Adhesive added to BioPreferred Program.
– LiveRoof is now hiring a Sales Specialist – Wisconsin in Spring Lake, Michigan, USA.
– Prides Corner Farms (a LiveRoof ® Licensed Grower) is looking for a Green Roof Sales Specialist in the Metro NY area.
– Read Todd Skopic’s guest feature article, “All-Aboard the Greenroof Ship at the U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters.”
– This week, the NRDC released a new report on how local and state governments can stimulate potentially billions of dollars of private investment, to offset the costs of repairing our nation’s broken stormwater infrastructure. It’s worth a read for policymakers, investors, and anyone who receives a wastewater or stormwater bill from a local utility. The new report, “Financing Stormwater Retrofits in Philadelphia and Beyond,” uses the City of Brotherly Love as a test case to explore how innovative financing mechanisms, currently being used for energy efficiency retrofits, can be adapted to the stormwater management context.
– The Sustainable Sites Initiative™ (SITES™) has announced the first three projects to be certified by the nation’s most comprehensive system for rating the sustainable design, construction and maintenance of built landscapes. The corporate headquarters of an international manufacturing company, a new university green space and a children’s playground in an urban park are the first to be recognized for their sustainable land practices from among 150-plus pilot projects that began the certification process in summer 2010.
– The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD) is providing incentive funding to increase green roof coverage within its service area. The Regional Green Roof Initiative will provide up to $5 per square foot of an approved green roof project. The District’s interest in green roofs is to hold rainwater where it falls, thereby diminishing the risk of sewer overflows and improving the overall water quality in the region. In addition to managing stormwater, green roofs offer numerous additional environmental, economic, and social benefits.
– The District Department of the Environment (DDOE) is once again providing rebates, at $5 per square foot, for green roofs to qualified applicants for the third consecutive year. The Anacostia Watershed Society is administering the program for DDOE and believes this is a great opportunity to help people cover some costs of their proposed green roofs as well as an opportunity to reach out to those unfamiliar with this technology all in an effort to help restore the watershed.
– Over at Sky Gardens, check out Linda’s latest posts: our Greenroofs & Walls of the World™ Virtual Summit 2011 episodes, “Stephen Ritz, South Bronx Educator/ Administrator at TEDx Manhattan “˜Changing the Way We Eat’ Tomorrow!,” “8 House Honored by the AIA,” and our GPWs. Also read “Current Green Roof Trends in Germany (2011)” by Christine Thuring.
– “Upcoming Events“
– February 2nd-4th: is the 11th Annual New Partners for Smart Growth Conference in San Diego, CA.
– February 7th: is an EPA Green Infrastructure Forum in New York, NY.
– February 8th-9th: is BUILDEX Vancouver at the Vancouver Convention Center in Vancouver, BC, Canada.
– Also February 8th-9th: is Better Buildings By Design Conference 2012 in Burlington, VT.
– February 8th-10th: is ProGreen EXPO 2012 at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, CO.
– And February 15th: is the Green Roofs for Healthy Cities class, Green Infrastructure: Policies, Performance and Projects, held at the Southface Institute Eco-Office in Atlanta, Georgia.
– “In the News“
– Daniel Beekman of the New York Daily News, reports on “Classroom farm at Bronx public high school, Green Bronx Machine, shut down despite fresh successes.” He says that the “celebrated classroom farm that yielded fresh produce and great jobs for students at a South Bronx public high school has been quietly shut down.” For two years, Discovery High School special education teacher, Steve Ritz, used green walls to teach his students about science and technology and how to grow your own vegetables in an urban setting. Lesson plans he developed there are now being used at the college level at the State University of New York. Steve says he’s “disappointed… [and] the kids loved it,” also that the Green Bronx Machine “really took root because it cultivated minds and harvested hope.”
He created the Green Bronx Machine after meeting George Irwin, founder and CEO of Green Living Technologies, and they began growing vegetables while developing a curriculum. Students trained by Irwin even got summer jobs installing green roofs. This program has helped the Bronx students and every one of them who took part in the program has begun college or is on the track to getting there. Senator Gustavo Rivera said, “Steve is a guy who can get people energized about healthy eating…he has proven he can get students to care about school. I hope that continues.” We all hope it does and are confident that Steve will continue his work with the Green Bronx Machine and help even more students. Check out their Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/green.BX.machine.
– Lauren Lloyd of the LAist talks about “From Rooftop to Fork: Downtown LA Club Grows Its Own Greens.” She says, California’s largest urban farming operation, Farmscape, recently wrapped a first-of-its-kind project in Downtown LA. A large rooftop garden, designed to grow fresh organic greens sits on top of The Jonathan Club. The 200-square-foot custom organic garden will produce greens such as snap and snow peas, spinach, arugula, lettuces, a variety of herbs and much more in the winter growing season, as well as fruits like lemons, limes, oranges, and figs. Farmscape and the club are loving their new garden.
Farmscape CEO, Jesse DuBois, says “we’re excited to be able grown the freshest produce possible for The Jonathan Club’s new head chef,” and that “we hope that building this rooftop garden right in the middle of Los Angeles demonstrates that food cultivation can happen almost anywhere.” It can happen almost anywhere, and hopefully other urban restaurants and buildings will follow in their footsteps.
– To learn more about these stories and new ones posted daily, go to our In the News or newslinks section of our website.
– Send us your green articles, videos and images to editor@greenroofs.com and share your greenroof or green wall info with the world!
– Make sure to keep up with everything Greenroofs.com by following us on Twitter, liking us on Facebook, being a member of our network on LinkedIn, and subscribing to our greenroofsTV channel on YouTube!
– This has been This Week in Review for February 3rd, 2012 on GreenroofsTV. I’m Anjuli Velázquez and I’ll see next week!
*This week’s episode is sponsored by The Greenroof Directory, brought to you by Greenroofs.com.*
Did we miss something? We’d love to hear from you!
~ Linda V.
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