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Each week you can expect to learn What’s New here on Greenroofs.com through our “This Week in Review” video. Here is the transcript from March 16th, 2012 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 March 16th, 2012 on GreenroofsTV.
– Our project of the week is the Soleil @ Sinaran built in 2011 in Singapore. These 36-story twin towers offer trendy professionals and young couples a 50 meter lap pool, two spa pavilions and eight entertainment pavilions – all are covered with extensive greenroofs. They also have themed lounges and expansive sky gardens, with gymnasiums on the 20th floor of each tower. The Soleil @ Sinaran has been awarded the BCA Green Mark Gold showing collaborative effort on its part to achieve sustainability in the built environment.
Elmich’s greenroof system contributed substantially to the condominium’s green initiative and the 1,150 square meter greenroofs give the condos a resort-like ambiance while protecting and prolonging the waterproofing membrane on the rooftops and mitigating Singapore’s urban heat island effect. The Elmich Greenroof is both lightweight and easy to install and was the ideal system for this project. Elmich Greenroof is comprised of a VersiDrain ® 25P water retention and drainage layer, a geotextile filter layer and EnviroMix ® GR – a primarily inorganic soil-less lightweight planting media – and drought-tolerant plant species that require little or no maintenance.
– To learn more about the Soleil @ Sinaran, click on our project of the week photo on our homepage (or on the above photo).
– Greenroofs & Walls of the World™ Virtual Summit 2011 Video
– Watch our Greenroofs & Walls of the World Virtual Summit 2011 Episode 14: “The Work of ATVBrasil” by Joao Manuel Linck Feijo.
And find the rest of the videos in this series on our GreenroofsTV page and/or our greenroofsTV YouTube channel.
– Plant Connection Installs Living Wall That Helps Patients Heal.
– Joblinks
– Roofmeadow is now hiring a Project Field Specialist and a Landscape Designer in Philadelphia, PA.
– The American federal government spends about $500 billion per year on services and products and about almost half of it is allocated to use services and buying products from small businesses in America. Did you know that you can now search for opportunities to install and maintain “green roofs?” If you have business in our industry, you might be asking yourself if the American federal government wanted your products or services. There aren’t any charges to register or join up and the procedure to be part of it is pretty simple.
– The Society of Environmentally Responsible Facilities (SERF) announced this week it’s launched into the Chicago market. The East Lansing, Michigan-based green building certification organization brings affordable, streamlined and accessible environmental certification to the metro’s building owners, managers and developers. As part of SERF’s Chicago launch, it is certifying two Chicago buildings: the office portion of the iconic 330 North Wabash building, and the Norcon Construction headquarters. Additionally, the organization established a Chicago office and appointed a regional director to oversee operations and outreach efforts for the region.
– Green Roofs for Healthy Cities (GRHC) and The Horticultural Society of New York (HSNY) are pleased to announce the return of the popular Green Roof Boot Camp training series to New York City, from March 22nd to the 25th. This event will include a tour of the NYC Parks & Recreation Department’s greenroof laboratory on Randall’s Island – a unique opportunity to examine over 25 different greenroof systems side-by-side. The Parks Department’s 29,000 square foot greenroof is one of the only projects in the country to feature such a vast array of different systems. You can read about this project in depth in the June 2011 Guest Feature Article by Artie Rollins and John Robilotti from NYC Parks and Recreation – see our Archives section.
– Over at Sky Gardens, check out Linda’s latest post: Greenroofs & Walls of the World Virtual Summit 2011 Episode 14: The Work of ATVBrasil
-From March 3rd through April 22nd: is The Orchid Show – Patrick Blanc’s Vertical Gardens, in The New York Botanical Gardens, New York.
– March 16th-25th: is the National Home Show, in Toronto, Canada.
– March 20th: is Reinventing the Connecticut Garden Lecture, in Wilton, CT.
– March 20th-21st: is Water & Environment 2012, CIWEM’s Annual Conference, in London, England.
– March 20th-22nd: is Ecobuild 2012, in London, England.
– Also March 20th-22nd: is the North/East Roofing Contractors Association’s Convention & Trade Show in Mashantucket, CT.
– March 21st-25th: is the San Francisco Flower & Garden Show, in San Mateo, CA.
– And March 23rd: is the Low Impact Development (LID) Expo 2012, in Sarasota, FL.
– “In the News“
– A News Release from AHS.org says “The American Horticultural Society has announced the winners of its annual book awards.” Each year, the American Horticultural Society recognizes outstanding gardening books published in North America with its annual Book Award. One of those is “Small Green Roofs” by our greenroof colleagues Nigel Dunnett, Dusty Gedge, John Little and Edmund (ED) C. Snodgrass, one of our contributing editors here on Greenroofs.com.
Judge Greg Williams says its “a real trailblazer because it is the only in-depth guide to do-it-yourself green roofs, with plenty of case studies to build confidence and provide ideas for homeowners.” Another judge, Fiona Gilsenen was impressed with the authors’ “approach, ethos and emphasis on using green roofs to encourage biodiversity, plus making it doable in a wide range of places.” Congratulations, guys! Check our greenroof bookstore for more info on this book and other greenroof and greenwall related books and magazines.
– Jennifer Maloney of the Wall Street Journal talks about what’s “Fun for Kids, Good for the Waterways.” She says New York City has enlisted trees, greenroofs, and massive tanks in its effort to reduce the untreated wastewater that overflows the city’s waterways each year and now it’s looking at schoolyards. The city’s Department of Environmental Protection is developing a plan with the national non-profit group, Trust for Public Land, to build up to 10 green playgrounds that will capture the first inch of rain in every storm.
Five proposed schoolyards in Brooklyn and Queens are going through soil tests and if they are picked, will be transformed into public playgrounds with features like rain barrels, raised gardens, porous pavers and an under-layer of gravel that holds water during a storm then seep gradually into the ground. A recent project, at P.S. 164 in Borough Park, Brooklyn, served as a pilot of sorts for the new initiative, because it includes some of the same rainwater-retention features, including a greenroof. The first few new playgrounds should be open to the public by the end of next year.
– To learn more about these stories and new ones posted daily, go to our In the News or Newslinks section of our website.
– Send us your green articles, videos and images to editor@greenroofs.com and share your greenroof or greenwall 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 March 16th, 2012 on GreenroofsTV. I’m Anjuli Velázquez and I’ll see 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.
