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 the individual presentation “Greenwalls in Middle Earth” by the understated but extremely affable Graham Cleary, GRP, and “Chief Rake” – or principal – of the multi-award winning Natural Habitats, a major design/build and maintenance landscape company in New Zealand.

New Zealand is much lauded for its lush beauty and myriad of natural landscapes from soaring rugged mountaintops to rolling green hills to the glimmering depths of its lakes and seas – and we had the wonderful opportunity to visit Auckland and the area by invitation from Graham and his lovely wife, Lucy, last October after the World Green Infrastructure Congress 2014 in Sydney; I spoke at at a private function for Natural Habitats and it was just awesome!

We also had been familiar with Natural Habitat’s wonderful living walls, and have featured a few as our “Projects of the Week” – and while in Auckland we got to see firsthand a wide variety of their greenwalls, including green screens, installed across the city.

 Auckland, New Zealand. “Graham founded Natural Habitats in 1978 in Auckland as a fledgling design build company under the mentorship of the city’s then only landscape architect.

Graham has worked on and led many outstanding landscape projects in the South Pacific, including resorts, golf courses, commercial projects and exquisite private estates and homes. Under his leadership, Natural Habitats has grown to be the leading provider of integrated landscape management within Australasia. Graham demonstrates coherent leadership of multi-disciplinary teams in order to achieve the innovative, high quality outcomes for which Natural Habitats is renowned.

Graham is also at the forefront of thinking on the use of natural systems to mitigate urban development issues. He plays an essential role in Natural Habitats’ pioneering green roofs and wall technology within New Zealand. Graham has served as consultant and advisor to numerous landscape design and environmental groups. He is a founding member of Landscaping New Zealand, an accredited Green Roof Professional, an executive of Green Roofs Australasia, an associate of KEA, part of the Great Barrier Trust, and a member of Forest & Bird and of the Native Forest Restoration Trust.“ ~ Read his complete bio here from the VS2015.

You will benefit from these 5 Key Learning Objectives as Graham Cleary shares on the subject:

1) Natural Habitats was the New Zealand pioneer in greenroof construction. Learn about their inception, influencers, vision and design philosophy resulting in the potential of landscaping at the highest level with greenroofs in the 1990’s – later turning them on their side with greenwalls; talk about return on investment for developers;

2) Starting in 1994, they constructed the first greenroof in New Zealand with the Quay West Roof Garden in Auckland, enabling Quay West to add an additional four levels of building to its development for spending a little over $100,000 – which equated to an additional $4 million in real estate value; talk about plants and growing media;

3) All native plants were used for the new public 23-square meter greenwall in Civic Square in Wellington with a 2-day installation which was greatly received; many other living wall projects are mentioned;

4) At the exclusive, award-winning development The Parc in Auckland, average inward-facing apartment sales prices were able to be raised by about 25% due to the large semi-intensive greenroof, a private sanctuary with lush landscaping, expansive lawn areas, and pool;

5) The importance of positioning greenroofs and walls in marketing; as an example, he talks about One Central Park in Sydney, setting the benchmark in Australasia. Its branding is huge – leaders want to be associated with something new and green, to set them apart and we can do this smartly and cost effectively with greenroofs and greenwalls.

Watch the 7:41 video presentation “Greenwalls in Middle Earth” by Graham Cleary 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.

“Biodiversity in the Sky – How Green Roofs Can Be Designed as Wild Life Refuges” by Dr. Stephan Brenneisen.

“Green Roofs to New Cities” by Dr. Diana Balmori.

“A Higher Purpose – Benefits to Human Health and Education through Green Roofing” by Elizabeth Hart.

“Beyond Extensive and Intensive: Defining the Comprehensive Green Roof” by Molly Meyer.

“Biosolar Roofs” by Nathalie Baumann and Dusty Gedge.

“From Passive House to the Cold North—How Vegetative Envelope Components Impact Buildings” Panel with Dr. Bob Cameron, Dr. Allen Lee, Dr. Karen Liu, and Chris Wark.

“Greening Rooftops in Alberta: People, Place + Projects” by Kerry Ross.

“Greening the World Inside and Outside” by Mark Paul.