Each week you can expect to learn What’s New here on Greenroofs.com through our “This Week in Review” video. Here’s the transcript from September 2 and August 26, 2011 from our daughter, Anjuli – click on the photo below to see the video, or here.  Enjoy!

– Hello, I’m Anjuli Velazquez and welcome to This Week in Review for September 2nd, 2011 as well as for last week, August 26th on  GreenroofsTV.

– Project of the Week

–  Our project of the week this week is the  extremely cool 8 House built in 2010 in Copenhagen, Denmark.  And our project of the week last week was the Duke University Ocean Conservation Center built in 2010 in Beaufort, North Carolina.

–   The 8 House is a 61,000 square meter bowtie-shaped mixed-use building of three different types of residential housing and 10,000 square meters of retail and offices which make up Denmark’s largest private development. It stacks its lively urban neighborhood into horizontal layers of typologies connected by a continuous walking and cycling path up to the 10th floor which creates a three-dimensional urban neighborhood where suburban life meshes with the energy of a big city. Two sloping green roofs totaling 1,700 square meters are strategically placed to reduce the urban heat island effect as well as provide the visual identity to the project and tying it back to the adjacent farmlands towards the south. The architects wanted to design a “long, coherent house with immense differences in height, creating a strong inflow of light and a unique local community with small gardens and pathways that channel your thoughts into mountains in Southern Europe and memories of a childhood home.”

–   The Duke University Ocean Conservation Center houses a lecture hall, teaching laboratory and commons area and uses geothermal pumps for heating and cooling, solar panels for hot water and photovoltaic rooftop panels to convert sunlight into electricity. Local building materials, like yellow southern pine and Atlantic white cedar and recycled wood, are used throughout the 5,600-square-foot center. In 2008, the Ocean Conservation Center was awarded Gold LEED certification by the U.S. Green Building Council and in 2009 was awarded a Green Building Wood Design Award from Woodworks. The extensive green roof was installed in 2010 over the low-slope portion of the Energy Star roof and is a Xero Flor pre-vegetated extensive system, with specialized components to secure the green roof from high wind coastal exposure. Living Roofs worked with Xero Flor America and Frank Harmon Architects to design the green roof system and the irrigation which is supplied by a rainwater catchment system.

To learn more about the 8 House,  click on our project of the week photo on our homepage and to learn more about the Duke University Ocean Conservation Center, type in project ID number 1155 in our Projects Database.

“What’s New“

–  Industry News

–   We’ve released our agenda, our international speaker line-up and the trailer for the Greenroofs & Walls of the World™ Virtual Summit 2011!  Held on September 27th & 28th, we have some simply awesome professionals speaking who are all passionate about what they do!  Check out the press release for all of the highlights for this ground breaking event or head on over to virtual.greenroofs.com and watch our exciting trailer that was really fun putting together, read our agenda, and learn more about our speakers. While there, you can pre-register for the event by September 9th and be eligible to win an Apple iPad2!

–   Make sure to read new columns from three of our contributing editors:   The Green Wall Editor George Irwin’s latest is “Green Wall Deception, Death of a Green Wall”¦“ where he gives personal opinion about the potentials for failure.

–   Energy Editor Chris Wark’s latest is: “Consider the Source.” It’s a very classy response to an inaccurate article about the so-called benefits of greenroofs in the June 2011 issue of the ASHRAE Journal.

–   And enjoy the article “I am excited about the Greenroofs & Walls of the World™ Virtual Summit 2011“ from our Sustainable Business Insights Editor, John Shepley, about reducing your carbon footprint.   He cites our Virtual Summit as just one example of “Awareness.”

–   Over at Sky Gardens, check out Linda’s latest posts:  “Greenroofs.com’s “˜This Week in Review’ on GreenroofsTV: August 19th, 2011“ and our GPWs (8 House and Duke OCC).

– “Upcoming Events“

–   September 7th-9th: is the National Roofing Contractors Association (NRCA) 2011 International Symposium: Emerging Technologies and Roof System Performance in Washington, D.C.

–   September 9th: the Early Bird Registration and contest period for your chance at winning the first of 2 iPad2s ends for our Virtual Summit 2011.

–   And September 27th & 28th: of course is the Greenroofs & Walls of the World™ Virtual Summit 2011 – Connecting the Planet + Living Architecture: People, Projects & Design, held online around the world!

–  Check out our homepage for more Upcoming Events!

– “In the News“

–   Tyler Falk of SmartPlanet, reveals “NYC’s urban agriculture potential.” He shares some interesting insights in a new report from the Urban Design Lab at Columbia University’s Earth Institute that explores New York City’s urban agriculture potential. The report showed nearly 5,000 acres of empty land that would be sufficient for farming throughout the five boroughs, and that urban agriculture can have a huge impact on food security in neighborhoods where fresh and healthy produce is needed the most with help from more city farmers. He found some more interesting information in the report like how urban farms equal green infrastructure, and that rooftops are numerous in New York City but are not being utilized enough for urban agriculture and more. Check out the full article for more information and a link to the complete report: “The Potential for Urban Agriculture in New York City.”

–   Stephen Totilo of Kotaku, talks about “The Coolest Things in Nintendo’s American Headquarters (And One Uncool Thing).” Well the only “uncool thing” he says about the headquarters is that they don’t “let visitors take pictures of the best parts of the building.” When you walk into the headquarters of Nintendo of America in Redmond, Washington, you have to sign an electronic waiver promising you won’t bring firearms, will keep any Nintendo secrets you hear to yourself and won’t take any unauthorized pictures. There are a few spots you can take some photos, which he did, so be sure to read the full article check to them out. The Nintendo headquarters was awarded Gold LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council in May of 2010. Among other eco-friendly additions, they have bamboo floors on each level, daylight sensors near the windows that dim or brighten interior lights based on the natural light in the room, heat and motion sensors in the many conference rooms, and there’s a 75,000 square foot Sedum living room to top it all off.

– To learn more about these stories and new ones posted daily, go to our In the News or newslinks section of our website.

– Have something you think we should know about and post on 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 September 2nd and August 26th, 2011 on GreenroofsTV.  I’m Anjuli Velazquez and I’ll see you 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.