An exclusive of Greenroofs.com, we’re now in our  third year of publishing the “Greenroofs of the World™” 12-Month Wall Calendar series.   The 2010 version is now available  and it’s filled with beautiful living roof projects and even more green building events from around the world than the previous last two years.  

I thought it might be interesting to some of you to learn about the design process, why and how we choose the highlighted projects – the ideology behind the product, which is our first.   Although I’ve been wanting to write a book (or two) for the last nine or so years, prior to the calendar all our “products” have been intellectual property offerings.   And as you probably know, all of the information on Greenroofs.com is free and  without subscription, following an open source philosophy of information sharing.

I  had  been wanting to do a calendar for years as it was an obvious add on to The Greenroof Projects Database as well as complimentary to our Upcoming Events  section where we list conferences, workshops, presentations, etc., from around the world.   So, voilá!   2008 marked the first year of the Greenroofs of the World™ 12-Month Wall Calendar series.   How do we select our featured projects?    From our website Sponsors, which is the highest level of advertising we offer on Greenroofs.com.   It’s our way to highlight fabulous examples of sustainable roof design and thank these  companies who back us up  by marketing their ecologically friendly products and services with us.   Each chooses their desired month on a first come, first serve basis.   I ask for two of their favorite projects each along with several shots each.   Then the fun starts!   I try and represent different types of greenroofs, sizes, and geographic locations within the U.S. and the world – and of course, the quality of the photo is a huge factor.    This is what is most time consuming!   We include a short description under each photo, and do our best  to list all major designers/manufacturers of record, including the Sponsor.

As you know, greenroofs can be used at any scale, and in the past our smallest featured  vegetated roof came in at 52 sf here in Atlanta, Georgia (2008), and the largest was  a whopping 765,000 sf in Zaragoza, Spain (2009). For 2010, Calendar projects range from 1,000 sf in Manhattan, New York to 113,000 sf in Minneapolis, Minnesota, see below:

In addition to displaying eye-catching greenroofs, we also desired an eco friendly product, and I feel like we do create a truly eco-chic calendar!   Our 11″ x 18″ full-color glossy 12-month wall calendars are printed on 50% recycled paper with 25% post consumer waste using soy inks.   We use The Messenger Press  of Carthagena, Ohio where Randy Heitkamp does a great job of printing  excellent quality work – and we recommend him highly.

This year we decided to go global, and you can purchase the 2010 Calendar on Amazon.com as well as from us directly.   But I will say that you’ll save money by ordering through us at only $12.95 each, with free shipping in the contiguous U.S. and Canada (contact us for international shipping rates).   And there are quantity discounts, too.

The 2010 Greenroofs of the World™ 12-Month Wall Calendar will make a great inexpensive  Christmas/Holiday gift or stocking stuffer (well, if you have a really wide stocking!) for all you greenroof aficionados out there.   See  our Press Release here, where you can view each project highlighted in The Greenroof Projects Database.   And find out the details for ordering here.

 Happy Holidays!   ~ Linda V.