By Linda S. Velazquez
Greenroofs.com Publisher

We are 2 months away from the 4th Annual Grey to Green Conference on Green Infrastructure and Climate Change presented by Green Roofs for Healthy Cities (GRHC) and just under 1 week away from their Early Bird Registration!

Held in Toronto, ON on June 1 – 4 at Ryerson University’s Department of Architectural Science, Grey to Green 2016 is about helping us understand the value of green infrastructure (bioswales, green roofs and walls, urban forests, etc.) as an important tool in the fight to both mitigate against and adapt to climate change.

As a Media Partner once again of the 2016 Grey to Green Conference, Greenroofs.com is pleased to share more info with you from GRHC:

Highlights

June 1: Training courses including rooftop agriculture, green wall design, advanced green roof maintenance, low impact development course, and an introduction to green infrastructure.

June 2, 7:00 pm – 10:00 pm: Networking on the Lake at the Amsterdam BrewHouse Evening Reception – sure to be lots of fun!

June 2-3: Experience more than 60 expert speakers – see the full agenda online at www.greytogreenconference.org.  By the way, I’ll also be speaking this year at Grey to Green where I’ll be presenting the “Top 10 Green Infrastructure Eco-Agents in a Climate-Changing World.”

June 4: Tour Toronto’s fantastic green infrastructure projects.

And, the Green Infrastructure Ontario Coalition is going to release a ground breaking, first time study on the status of the urban forest in the Greater Toronto Area during the event, and the Canadian Minister of Energy and Climate Change, Glen Murray, has confirmed his participation as a keynote speaker.

Most importantly for now is for you to take advantage of the Early Bird Discount which ends on April 7 to save up to $100 off on the Delegate Pass!  With the Canadian/American exchange rate, Americans can expect a savings of 30%.  (Of course, the exchange rate is subject to change.)

“The 4th Annual Grey to Green Conference is about living green infrastructure and its ability to provide tangible, scientifically proven solutions to the challenges of climate change, particularly in cities. We are in the solutions business! Green roofs, green walls, bioswales and urban forests can help us mitigate greenhouse gas emissions by reducing energy consumption directly in buildings and indirectly by reducing the urban heat island effect. Green infrastructure can also be designed to capture and retain huge volumes of stormwater in a ‘treatment train’ from the roofs, to the walls to the streets and so on. This helps us reduce the risk of flooding, which is costing billions in insurance claims. Green infrastructure also provides new opportunities for us to produce food, in and around buildings.

“Living green infrastructure has so much to offer us in terms of mitigating and adapting to climate change, and it is all but ignored by provincial and federal policy makers who are poised to spend billions and billions of public dollars on grey infrastructure alone in the coming months, and little to nothing on green infrastructure. Together we need to work to change that.” ~ Steven Peck, GRHC

If you haven’t already, make sure to read the Sky Gardens Blog post “Living Green Infrastructure is at the Heart of Grey to Green 2016” by Steven Peck.

Investment in living green infrastructure within our communities will help us mitigate and adapt to climate change and to stimulate much needed employment for a broad range of professionals, and Grey to Green 2016 highlights this goal.

For more information visit their website at www.greytogreenconference.org.

~ Linda V.