In celebration of honoring Earth Day 2015 and our planet’s ecology through healthy, regenerative design, we are highlighting each of the 23 awesome videos from our 30+ spectacular speakers from Greenroofs.com‘s Greenroofs & Walls of the World Virtual Summit 2015 ~ Connecting the Planet with Living Architecture: People, Projects & Design, running through May 31st.

Our hope is that by familiarizing you more with each presentation and its particular benefits, you will be enticed to join us during our wonderfully easy-to-navigate online Virtual Summit!  And, along with the speakers’ input, I will identify 5 Key Learning Objectives or “takeaway” bullet points that each video presentation provides to participants.

Today we are spotlighting our Keynote presentation “Biodiversity in the Sky – How Green Roofs Can Be Designed as Wild Life Refuges” from the engaging Dr. Stephan Brenneisen, greenroof and biodiversity expert and head of the Green Roof Competence Center at Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW) in Wädenswil, Switzerland.

Aramis and I have known the gentle but passionate Stephan for many years, and had the pleasure of romping around the city of Basel as well as the beautiful countryside back in 2005 with him during a conference he organized.

Basel, Switzerland. Dr. Stephan Brenneisen “conducts research and advises on green roof policies and designs as the head of the Green Roof Competence Center at Zurich University of Applied Sciences.

A member of the collective UG LAB, he is a true leader and pioneer in the green roof field for over 15 years, Stephan has opened many doors in the green roof world and challenged how we think of green roof biodiversity. Continuously without fail, he has demonstrated his ingenuity and critical thinking about ecosystems, urban greening, substrates and how we interact in our world. A well known international speaker and a true educator he is dedicated to sharing his knowledge through teaching, writing and cutting edge research. He also has created a successful model for policy and green roof implementation in Basel and Zurich and is constantly creating new green solutions for improving our urban habitats.”  ~ Read his complete bio here from the VS2015.

Biodiversity has been a leading topic here at the Virtual Summit.  You will benefit from these 5 Key Learning Objectives as Dr. Stephan Brenneisen shares on the subject of why and how we can design to be very biodiverse, for ecological purposes:

1) What kind of species can benefit from green roofs? Why species need to be mobile or flying, such as spiders, grasshoppers, and snails; learn about his “Green Roof Process-Correlation Model”;

2) What kind of ecosystem is a green roof?  Reasons why the more growing media substrate (and more water holding capacity) you can give on a greenroof, the greater the opportunities for biodiversity;

3) What kind of green roof design is beneficial for urban wild life? How we need to learn from natural habitats of similar conditions to recreate micro habitats on greenroofs for various animal species;

4) Background: Status of green roofs in Switzerland/Basel based on rare beetle and grasshopper species that have been established on greenroofs and how to encourage these species of wildlife through design measures;

5) Size of greenroofs and metapopulation aspects: How large does the greenroof need to be, how many individuals does a population need to be stable to encourage reproduction of particular species?

Watch the 25:57 video presentation “Biodiversity in the Sky – How Green Roofs Can Be Designed as Wild Life Refuges” now playing at the Greenroofs & Walls of the World Virtual Summit 2015.  If you have not yet registered (only $49 or 25), please do:

Registration fee:

$49 – special discounted pricing;

$25 for students/faculty and government professionals

All Video Presentations, Q & A Transcripts, & Exhibitor Booths are On Demand +
Networking Live 24/7 through May 31, 2015

Earn CEUs including 10 GRP CEUs.  Register here.

Registration Open through May 31st for the Greenroofs.com Virtual Summit 2015

We hope you will support our work!  Please remember that these video presentations will not be made public for at least one year.

Happy watching and participating,

~ Linda V.

Learn more about these awesome video presentations and their 5 Key Learning Objectives at the Greenroofs & Walls of the World Virtual Summit 2015:

“A Green Building Should Look Green, Which Means Hairy!” by Dr. Ken Yeang.