Are you are interested in the key impacts of green roofs and walls—what they are, how impacts can be predicted, what factors affect performance, and how performance compares to predictions? Then you cannot miss the “From Passive House to the Cold North—How Vegetative Envelope Components Impact Buildings” Panel Session with Dr. Bob Cameron, Dr. Allen Lee, Dr. Karen Liu, and Chris Wark video from our Greenroofs & Walls of the World Virtual Summit 2015 ~ Connecting the Planet with Living Architecture: People, Projects & Design above or on our VS2015 Virtual Summit 2015 playlist on our GreenroofsTV channel on YouTube.

It’s been almost a year since we concluded our third Greenroofs & Walls of the World Virtual Summit, and as promised, we are now releasing the 23 videos from our 30+ international speakers to the general public.

The panel discussion will lead to some conclusions about how vegetative envelope components could influence the wider development of residential and commercial buildings based on the Passive House and Zero Net Energy concepts.  Four experts will share their knowledge of these topics through brief presentations followed by a lively discussion.

Moderator Allen Lee leads a wide range of studies related to energy efficiency and technologies.  Bob Cameron brings to the panel information from a study comparing replicate buildings that allowed measurement of the effects of different green building components on energy use, comfort, wastewater treatment, and food growing.  Karen Liu shares her extensive knowledge of the impacts of green roofs and how they depend on climate differences, seasonal variations, and other factors.  Chris Wark draws upon his broad experience in the analysis of green roofs, development of green roof systems, and systems thinking related to Passive House design.

Robert “Bob” D. Cameron, PhD

University Park, PA, USA. Bob spent more than two decades directing the global environmental programs of a Fortune 30 multi-national conglomerate. In the late ‘70s in collaboration with NASA, he designed, permitted, and constructed the first constructed wetlands to treat wastewater from the natural gas industry. Working on every continent except Antarctica, Bob designed award winning environmental programs based on sustainability concepts. Later as President of his own corporation, he de-engineered historic buildings destined for the wrecking ball, which he then relocated and reconstructed with green architectural features.

Pursuing a life-long goal, he recently earned his doctorate from Penn State University at the Center for Green Roof Research. His thesis entailed the invention and construction of a functional architectural system to attenuate wastewater pollutants while reducing a building’s energy use and providing a platform for urban agriculture. Currently, Bob has an appointment with the Department of Landscape Architecture at Penn State University and teaches collegiate courses and conducts research on greenroofs, livings walls, constructed wetlands, aquaponics, and artificial islands while also managing Eco Applied Technologies, a consulting firm for commercial, residential, and industrial applications. He has lectured on sustainable technologies around the world and in 2013 he literally circumnavigated the globe while working on environmental issues in numerous countries, including teaching environmental engineering for several months at a Chinese university which culminated in the design and construction of a living wall with the students. See the 2:45 video of his early work at Penn State “Robert Cameron investigates biofilters to clean dirty water.”

Publisher’s Note:  Read his March 2015 Guest Feature “An Integrated Biofilter System to Contribute to Net Zero Architecture While Providing Decentralized Wastewater Treatment” here on Greenroofs.com.

Amy Chomowicz (Organizer)

Portland, OR, USA. Amy Chomowicz is the Program Administrator for the Sustainable Stormwater Management Division and the Ecoroof Program, City of Portland Environmental Services. Amy has worked in the water quality and watershed restoration fields for 23 years and worked on her first ecoroof project in 1997. Prior to that, Amy worked in energy conservation and renewable energy.

Accepted by Amy Chomowicz, the City of Portland received a 2013 Green Roof Leadership Award for Municipalities from the International Green Roof Association (IGRA) at the 2013 International Green Roof Congress.

Publisher’s Note:  Amy came up with this idea for the panel and had intended to spotlight greenroofs and walls and their energy implications.  Once she realized that prior work commitments wouldn’t allow her to participate, she continued to help organize it and invited Allen Lee, PhD to moderate instead. By the way, you can hear from Amy and her colleagues from Bureau of Environmental Services at The City of Portland, Oregon in their presentation from our inaugural Virtual Summit 2011 in “The Portland Ecoroof Program” A Cross-section of the Green Roof Movement in Portland, Oregon, USA.”

Allen Lee, PhD, LEED AP (Moderator)

The roof of a family housing project in Portland, OR.

Portland, OR, USA. Allen Lee, Ph.D., is an executive director in the Energy Services Division in Cadmus’ Portland, Oregon office. He has more than 25 years’ experience in energy and environmental research and leads a wide range of studies related to energy efficiency and technologies. His management and technical expertise includes demand side management, energy services, codes and standards, green buildings, externalities analysis, and renewables. He has managed more than 60 energy program evaluations and a comparable number of other projects.

He has conducted research on the energy and environmental impacts of green roofs for more than 15 years. He co-developed the original green roof energy analysis module for DOE’s EnergyPlus building simulation model. Dr. Lee has a PhD in policy analysis from the RAND Graduate School, a master of science in aerospace engineering from the University of Southern California and a bachelor of science in engineering from Caltech.

Allen publishes widely on energy issues and has presented papers and made presentations at numerous conferences. He is a co-author of “Residential Efficiency Crossroads: Opportunities for the Future.” Besides being a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Accredited Professional, he is a member of the Association of Professional Energy Managers and the Association of Energy Service Professionals (AESP).

Karen Liu, PhD

Toronto, Canada. Dr. Karen Liu is a Product Manager for Bonar Xeroflor GmbH. Karen has been conducting green roof research since 2000 when she was a research officer at the National Research Council in Ottawa. She has also led the green roof research team at British Columbia Institute of Technology in Vancouver, BC.

Karen established the first North American field facility dedicated to green roof research and conducted several field studies across Canada to study the climate sensitivity of the technology. She now focuses her work on research and product development at Xeroflor. Karen received her PhD from the University of Toronto, Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry.

Publisher’s Note:  Read her November 2015 Guest Feature “Designing Green Roofs for Stormwater Management Technological Advances Offer Low-Weight Options.”

Christopher G. Wark

Thermogram of a Passivhaus building, with traditional building in background.

New York, NY, USA. Christopher Wark has 26 years of multidisciplinary engineering experience providing technical and analytical support for manufacturers, universities and national labs. For the past 12 years, he has focused his efforts on technical solutions in building design and is currently an Associate with BuroHappold Engineering, managing the Analytics group in their New York office.

In 2002, Chris established SHADE Consulting/Green Roof Innovations with his wife Wendy. With SHADE, Chris developed and marketed several innovative modular eco-roof systems, a roof system heat transfer and cost computer program, and conducted green roof system heat transfer analyses for 5 major cities and organizations. In 2010, he developed a modular planting system in partnership with Guiyang Chuangjia High-Tech Accelerator Co. LTD in Guiyang, China.

Chris has also been involved in other thermodynamic related work at Caterpillar Inc., Lawrence Livermore National Lab and two private research laser development companies. He has presented at numerous conferences, has several articles published on a wide variety of engineering topics, and has had the privilege of working directly with several universities, including Stanford’s Center for Integrated Facility Engineering (CIFE) program.

Chris holds Bachelor’s and Master’s of Science degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Washington State University where his graduate work focused on thermodynamics, fluid dynamics and combustion. He has also been a contributing editor, the Energy Editor, with Greenroofs.com since 2011. Download Chris Wark’s complete 32-page Green Roof Energy Series (PDF, 2011). ~ VS2015

Read about the “From Passive House to the Cold North—How Vegetative Envelope Components Impact Buildings” Panel Session with Dr. Bob Cameron, Dr. Allen Lee, Dr. Karen Liu, and Chris Wark video’s 5 Key Learning Objectives which I identified for participants of the Virtual Summit 2015.

We welcome your input and suggestions to make our Greenroofs & Walls of the World Virtual Summit 2017 more accessible, interactive, and a just better all around global social media experience!

~ Happy watching,

Linda S. Velazquez, ASLA, LEEP AP, GRP
Greenroofs.com Publisher

~ Also enjoy these released videos available now from our Greenroofs & Walls of the World Virtual Summit 2015 ~ Connecting the Planet with Living Architecture: People, Projects & Design:

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

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

“The Greenroofs.com 2014 Top 10 List of Hot Trends in Greenroof & Greenwall Design + a Look into 2015″ by Linda Velazquez and Haven Kiers.

“Greenroofs.com’s VS2015 Opening Address from Linda Velazquez.”

Promos:

The Greenroofs & Walls of the World Virtual Summit 2015 Speakers.

Invitation to the Greenroofs & Walls of the World Virtual Summit 2015.

VIRTUAL SUMMIT 2015 teaser from Groncol.

Small Scale Green Roofs at the Virtual Summit by Dusty Gedge and John Little.