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 “Pollinators on the Parapets” by the very personable Angie Durhman, GRP, a real go-getter from AD Greenroof and previously Tecta America.  We’ve actually known for many years, while she was still a master’s student in horticulture at Michigan State where she studied green roof plant performance and environmental sustainability.

Angie wrote a September 2004 Guest Feature article about her research on Greenroofs.com – you can see it in archives here: Encompassing the Whole Program: Michigan State University.

Angie has been at the forefront of greenroof implementation and design for years now, and has been an excellent model for female leadership in our field, especially from the “dark arts” side of roofing (funny, since her degree is in horticulture – that’s how well-rounded she is!).  She has numerous greenroof projects from across the U.S. under her belt, and she is a true team player.

Minneapolis, MN, USA. “Angie Durhman runs an exclusive green roof consulting firm based in Minneapolis, AD Greenroof. They focus on design assistance, contractor oversight, and promoting GREENFORMATION(R), a customized maintenance program for existing green roofs. In the course of her 13 years in the industry, Angie has been involved in over 400 projects of all sizes across the country. She received the GRP designation in 2009 and is often sought to present on sustainability topics to a variety of audiences.“ ~ Read her complete bio here from the VS2015.

You will benefit from these 5 Key Learning Objectives as Angie Durhman shares on the subject:

1) Definition of pollinators (honeybees, butterflies, native bees, among others) and problems they have been facing over the last few years (such as pathogens, pesticides including neonicotinoids, loss of habitat and more); discussions on a wide range of research; irrigation;

2) Pollinator needs are identified and just a few are nesting sites, clean water sources, and pollinator sources; native bee flight categories; expanding corridors;

3) Evaluation of desired plant species, native as opposed to cultivated, and cultivars’ morphology; a large selection of specific plants are cited; texture; source from neonicotinoid-free nurseries;

4) How to design greenroofs to encourage pollinators on the roof; asking for more structural dead load capacity early on to accommodate greater growing media depths; discussion on the importance of maintenance plans; ask for a greater design palette than just succulents; 

5) In-depth case study: Over 2 acres of semi-intensive greenroofs on 2 areas on a building outside of Omaha, Nebraska in an agricultural community; roof plan; build up of material layers; bermed areas; had 70 lbs of dead load to play with; tight construction schedule; seeded (coverage for long & short term) and hand strewn sedum cuttings, plugs, natives, forbs and grasses; irrigation system; bees are loving the blazing star, and Monarch larvae are eating the milkweed; weed issues and discussion; maintenance.

Watch the 25:28 video presentation “Pollinators on the Parapets” by Angie Durhman 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.

“Greenwalls in Middle Earth” by Graham Cleary.