video of the week

what's new
November 2008

• The Sustainable Sites Initiative Draft 2008 is open for comments.

• LEED for Neighborhood Development 2009 is open for public comment.

• Groundwork Sheffield announces new online resource.

• See Ralph's latest Sustainable Roofing Technologies article "Green in Tough Times?"

• Learn about Environment Agency and their new Green Roof Tool Kit.

• See our newest Guest Feature from the UK.

• Read Linda's post about the World Green Roof Conference in London.

• George talks about Maintenance for Green Walls.

• Ecoroof grants and more available from the City of Portland!

• Read our Guest Feature about Greenroofs in Bali.

• Read about the City of Chicago Climate Action Plan.

• Affiliated FM offers new green insurance coverage for greenroof replacement and accredited green consultant costs!

• New DIY Green Roof Guide is available for sale.

in the news
upcoming events

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

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

2008: Green Roofs for Healthy Cities Design 101, 201, 301, 401, Green Walls 101 Courses, & Symposia, North America

November 19-21: Greenbuild International Conference and Expo, Boston, MA  

November 20-21: 1st National Conference on Modelling of Filtration Processes, Wrocław, Poland

November 25: Green roofs - Basic principles and design, London, England

December 1: Deadline for submission of Extended Abstracts for The Second International Conference on Counter-measures to Urban Heat Islands (SICCUHI), Berkeley, CA                             >>more     

news links

HOK's Bill Hellmuth: On top of the world
Washington Business Journal, by Deborah K. Dietsch
November 18, 2008

College Park, MD. "...When opened next spring, the 385,000-square-foot complex will become the research park’s first silver-rated project in the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environment program. The offices, where meteorological data will be analyzed, will overlook planted roofs through floor-to-ceiling windows providing abundant daylight..."                                   >>more

How Ford Lost Focus
Mother Jones, by Fara Warner
November/December 2008 Issue

Dearborn, MI. "...Bill Ford's—indeed, the company's—greatest environmental accomplishment has been the Rouge factory overhaul. The rebuilt plant has one of the world's largest living roofs, plus solar cells and skylights to reduce lighting costs. Rouge now serves as a benchmark for Ford's other factories; overall the automaker has reduced energy use by 30 percent and trimmed emissions from its manufacturing facilities by 39 percent since 2000, boasts John Viera..."                               >>more

Taking farming downtown
Sarasota Herald-Tribune, by Margaret Lowman
November 17, 2008

The World. "Hurricane Katrina was a sobering example of urban dependency on a complex system of deliveries for food and services; when interrupted, people can literally starve or face life-threatening health catastrophes...New solutions to the challenges of feeding urban populations with fresh produce include creative green architecture...Another scenario envisions a farmers market on the ground floor, with a tower of diverse crops in multiple floors overhead..."                                  >>more

Five diverse designs presented for UB's new $107M law school building
Daily Record, by Robbie Whelan
November 16, 2008

Baltimore, MD. "...Ayers/Saint/Gross, also a local firm, presented the most conventional of the designs: a boxy, vertically oriented building that emphasized open facades, ventilation and natural lighting. The building would also include roof gardens and potentially use geothermal energy sources; it would be certified as LEED-gold..."                               >>more

Mapping the future of water supply
The National, by Gretchen Peters
November 16, 2008

Tempe, AZ. "..Though much of their work is focused on the western US and Arizona in particular, the centre is attracting the attention of desert communities around the world, including in the Gulf. In October, it was awarded the Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz International Prize for Water, a biannual cash award from the environmental research centre at King Saud University in Riyadh...that programme would not work as well in desert climates, where the lack of moisture means roof gardens would have to be watered..."                               >>more

Latest Technology in Green Roofs in Golden Gate Park
MyMotherLode.com, by Joan Bergsund
November 16, 2008

San Francisco, CA. "...The seven layers of varying materials weigh 2.6 million pounds, including the soil and plants. The 1.7 million plants were selected, planted in 50,000 trays made of coconut husks and installed months before the building was open to the public. When they were installed upon the roof, the trays were tightly packed to assure the plants would not slide or give way to forces of gravity. The trays are bio-degradable and will simply mesh with the growing medium in several..."        >>more

O-Tower next generation tower with fusion of engineering and technology
AME Info, by Staff
November 15, 2008

Dubai, UAE. "With this extreme in height and the incorporation of wrap around garden terraces, views of apartments can be further enhanced...Along with the use of vegetated infill panels and automatically louvers system on the façade, it can effectively help to reduce heat gain and save energy to the building..."                                   >>more

MSD awaits EPA go-ahead for green projects
Business Courier, by Dan Monk
November 14, 2008

Cincinnati, OH. "The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency might be cooking up a $1 billion turkey for Hamilton County taxpayers this Thanksgiving...The sewer district proposed green remedies to deal with up to 14 billion gallons of rainy-weather overflows in the county each year. The green improvements would use rain gardens, restored wetlands and green roofs to keep storm water out of..."         >>more

In Big Oil Country, a Green District Sprouts
CoStar Group, by Andrew C. Burr
November 14, 2008

Pearland, TX. "...Features like man-made wetlands, renewable power, green roofs and stormwater retention and reuse systems are being planned for, and where possible, implemented now to create a solid base of LEED points that will pave an easier path for individual buildings to achieve certification later on..."                  >>more

Time to think even greener
Chelsea Now, by Staff
November 14, 2008

New York, NY. "...Green roofs are another novel way to improve our environment. P.S. 41 is fundraising for one on its W. 11th St. building. It certainly would help if the city and local elected officials..."          >>more

Holmes targets elite buyers with new eco-project
Calgary Herald, by Emma Gilchrist
November 14, 2008

Alberta, Canada. "...Holmes Homes are intelligently designed with environmentally superior materials, have a 75- to 100-year lifespan, provide excellent indoor air quality, utilize solar hot water heating and -- the icing on the cake: accessible green roofs..."                                       >>more

Stormwater retention should be consideration for green roofs
Daily Commercial News, by Korky Koroluk
November 14, 2008

Toronto, Canada. "We’ve all heard by now of the benefits of green roofs — how they can save some of the energy that would otherwise go to heating and cooling, how they can be used to create park-like spaces for building staff, how they can contribute greatly to stormwater retention and management. All true, of course, but there can be a lot of variability in that last category - stormwater retention..." >>more

McDonald’s Plans To Build ‘Green’ McDonald’s In North Miami
NBC6.net, by Jeff Burnside
November 13, 2008

North Miami, FL. and Chicago, IL. "A McDonald’s golden arches are about to turn green in North Miami...A McDonald’s in Chicago near company headquarters is the first green prototype opening in August...It features a front counter made of recycled detergent bottles, bamboo ceiling, recycled glass windows, permeable concrete and even vegetated rooftops..."             >>more

See video, too.

Bidding for Swank K-9 Condo Starts at $15000
WNBC, by Elizabeth Bougerol
November 13, 2008

New York, NY. "...That's just the starting auction price for the ultra-mod pooch pad designed by architect William Pedersen, mind you. Who knows what the final number will be? The Observer reports that the abode, currently on display at the West Village's One Jackson Square sales center, boasts "undulating 'wave-like' topography" and "planted 'green' roof"..."           >>more

Raising the (green) roof on the new Butler
The Daily Princetonian, by Leah Samaha
November 13, 2008

Princeton, NJ. "...Students will also have the chance to monitor the green roofs this spring through ENV 340: Environmental Challenges and Sustainable Solutions. This course will be taught by PEI Undergraduate Lab director Eileen Zerba and will focus "on environmental challenges and sustainable solutions related to interrelationships between constructed and natural processes," including the advantages of green roofs..."                              >>more

Animal shelter gets new home
Turn to 10.com, by Staff
November 13, 2008

Providence, RI. "The Potter League for Animals unveiled its new, state-of-the-art facility Thursday...Green design techniques were used to construct the new building, which has a “vegetated” roof."        >>more

See video, too.

Mount Tabor: Park yard, nursery to air design plan
OregonLive.com, by Rebecca Koffman
November 13, 2008

Portland, OR. "The city of Portland will host an open house 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at coffee shop Gigibar, 5941 S.E. Division St., to show the preferred design for the new facility at Mt. Tabor Central Yard and Nursery — the central mainten-ance, dispatch and support facility for Portland parks. The plans by Opsis Archi-tects feature green-building elements such as solar panels and eco-roofs..."    >>more

Photo Essay: Sustainable Neighborhoods in Malmo
WorldChanging, by Adele Peters
November 12, 2008

Malmö, Sweden. "On the roof in Malmo, Sweden, at the International Green Roof Institute. Faced with a rundown 1950s housing development, the city decided to make it an eco-neighborhood in the 1990s, and built several green roofs..."      >>more

Up on the roof
Mississauga News, by Radhika Panjwani
November 12, 2008

Ontario, Canada. "...The green roofs can help change all of that.” The lightweight, low cost, green roof has been installed on many buildings around the world including the Ford..."                                        >>more

Green housing on B Street denied by council
The California Aggie Online, by Jeremy Ogul
November 12, 2008

Davis, CA. "...Designed by Davis architect Maria Ogrydziak, the project included a number of environmentally friendly features, including green roofs - flat roofs with landscaping to reduce..."               >>more

Graduate students' research foundation for local building's 'green ...
TCU Daily Skiff, by Melissa Hawkes
November 12, 2008

Fort Worth, TX. "...Jon Kinder, an environmental studies graduate student, decided to pursue "green roofs" as a research project and was joined by fellow classmate David..."                       >>more

Gassing Up Green
Plenty Magazine, by Jennifer Acosta Scott
November 12, 2008

Dallas, TX. "...Good to Go, if Nikolas’ vision is realized, will be built to silver LEED standards, using only energy-efficient LED lighting and mostly renewable building materials. The carwash will have a vegetated roof and a water reclamation system using only..."                    >>more

Update on DC's Stormwater Management
Washington Post Blogs, by Ann Posegate
November 12, 2008

Washington, D.C. "...What pollutants are the raindrops carrying into your local stream or river? Do they warm up from the heat-absorbing pavement over which they travel? Will they enter the nearby reservoir and become your drinking water? What if there were more parks, forests, gardens, and green roofs to absorb them, or what if they landed on permeable..."         >>more

Taking the LEED
Oak Brook Business Ledger, by Sherri Dauskurdas
November 11, 2008

Wheeling, IL. "...“When we began our branch project, we had not heard of LEED. But we did want a green roof on our new building,” said Dan Loundy, vice president of business banking. “We discovered green roofs were often incorporated into LEED buildings and through research found that LEED is a good measurement tool and a good check list for things we could do that would further improve the design, energy conservation and comfort...”           >>more

In search of an urban plan
Grist Magazine, by Ryan Avent
November 10, 2008

Seattle, WA. "...Designers are wonderfully creative people, and the conference was littered with ideas for ecological city systems, green roofs and walls and floors and roads, buildings covered with algea and windmills able to provide positive power to the grid, and so on...I felt that the world's designers, in reveling in the functional strangeness of their creations, missed the point of it all...Designers must try and build a mass market for affordable, attractive, emission-reducing technologies..." >>more

DM applies 'Green Roofs' initiative on its buildings
AMEInfo, Press Release
November 5, 2008

Dubai, UAE. "Dubai Municipality has embarked on an initiative called 'Green Roofs' during the Green Dubai Forum, which was held recently...Eng. Hussain Nasser Lootah, Acting Director General of Dubai Municipality, said the Municipality has launched the initiative in line with the law on the application of green building specifications in Dubai...He said the Green Roofs project aims at transforming the roofs of all buildings and houses in Dubai to cultivated space, where the water dropped out of air-conditioners should be used for irrigation of plants..."                     >>more

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features

November 16, 2008
greenroof project of the week

Where in the Greenroof World?
The Greenroof Projects Database!

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Sustainable Roofing Technologies Column

Green in Tough Times?
By Ralph Velasquez

Dear Readers,

What I love about adversity is that during those times, the cream will rise to the top. What, what are you saying?Well, it has been my observation over my 30 years in the building industry, that when times are good and money flows most easily, then even the sloppy, poor quality, unethical and downright horrible products, businesses and business strategies thrive. It seems that money covers a multiple of “sins” and much is overlooked, not much different than what we see in the financial markets today. BUT, when times get tough and the money gets restricted, then these type of businesses begin to fail and fall out of favor and the better run companies with superior solutions and good value, not only survive but often thrive.

Why does this phenomenon occur? It occurs because money is tight and more “valuable.” so purchasers look more closely and more carefully at what and from whom they will purchase to fulfill their needs. With resources scarce, we want to be more sure than ever that our limited resources are spent wisely and with good solid companies who will be around and will respond to any concerns we may have. Further, the competition increases and the good companies, again with solid offerings who have not cut corners during the flush times, are better positioned to respond to this increased competition...     >>more

Sustainable Business is Good Business.

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guest feature articles

Sustainable Head-Quarters:
The West Midlands Fire and Rescue Authority
By Frances Carroll, Chartered Landscape Architect of Moore Environment
Photos Courtesy Frances Carroll, unless otherwise noted

The West Midlands Fire and Rescue Authority Bio Roof facing west from the southeastern corner.

The West Midlands Fire and Rescue Authority’s (WMFRA) new Regional Head-Quarters in Birmingham, England, completed in May 2008 appears to be a triumph for sustainable development.  The new HQ development is located on a 4.34 acre site at Vauxhall Road, close to the centre and east of Millennium Point Birmingham.  Built on a ‘brown field site’ - formally a disused Cooperative dairy - it now houses over 7100 m2 of office space plus a dedicated educational facility.

An ‘Excellent’ BREEAM Rating

By incorporating sustainable construction practices the development met one of its key objectives: the achievement of an ‘Excellent’ BREEAM rating.  These include a combined rainwater harvesting system, (supplying water to the toilets) and the construction of a new green/brown roof so called because the design evolved from an original proposal to include an ornamental ‘green’ roof and the introduction of a ‘brown’ roof once the client learnt such a roof was more likely to enhance bio-diversity...                                 >>more  

Relaxing Villa Santai, the First Greenroof in Bali ~
the eco-friendly greenroof project in Bali, Indonesia, incorporating water retention, recycling and conservation methods
By Victor Sinclair
Graphics Courtesy Victor Sinclair

Eco-friendly and gorgeous in Lovina, North Bali.

Bali, the famous tourist destination of southeastern Asia, is suffering from a lack of sufficient electricity and water deficiency. Electricity cuts for the local populace are the order of the day. The government of Bali, together with PLN, the state electricity company, focus on supplying electricity to areas frequented by tourists, or regions with an increasing expatriate populace.

Villa Santai is situated in the hills behind Lovina, North Bali, in a region that is notorious for the scarcity of its water in the dry season, beginning in May/June until October/November. Lake Berantan, one of three lakes in the mountains, is the source of the water for the springs in this region. The lake’s water table is steadily sinking (3 m in the past years) and already over 60% of the natural springs are now dry. Along the coastal areas the water is pumped up from the ground water table..."    >>more

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