#FBF: Biodiversity in the Sky by Dr. Stephan Brenneisen

In today’s Flashback Friday #FBF we are taking a look back at the Keynote Video “Biodiversity in the Sky – How Green Roofs Can Be Designed as Wild Life Refuges by Dr. Stephan Brenneisen” from our 2015 Greenroofs & Walls of the World™ Virtual Summit.

Yesterday Aramis posted How Basel, Switzerland Jumpstarted a Green Roof Revolution in Europe via TimeOut. Called out was the work of Stephan Brenneisen, PhD and team including colleague Nathalie Baumann from the Zurich University of Applied Sciences Wädenswil (ZHAW).

We felt we should further highlight the excellent example Basel has provided over the years by featuring this wonderful video! Coming in at 26:03, “Biodiversity in the Sky” is relatively compact yet offers great, specific information for the ecologically-minded researcher, designer, and all-around living architecture stake holder.

Image: Stephan Brenneisen

“Thanks to green roofs new ecosystems can be designed to be applied on buildings. A so far unused space in the sky of cities can host birds, butterflies, bees and other insects – habitats for urban wildlife and giving us the chance to be close to nature. Research results show what design principles should be followed to create green roofs as tools to support urban biodiversity.” ~ Stephan Brenneisen, PhD 2015 Greenroofs & Walls of the World™ Virtual Summit

Biodiversity was a leading topic at our 2015 Virtual Summit and we were very happy to have had Dr. Stephan Brenneisen join us as a Keynote.

Image: Stephan Brenneisen

In his video, Stephan addresses habitat issues and: What kind of species can benefit from greenroofs? What kind of ecosystem is a greenroof? What kind of greenroof design is beneficial for urban wild life? Plus, he provides a background on the status of greenroofs in Switzerland/Basel and talks about the size of greenroofs and metapopulation aspects.

“Biodiversity in the Sky – How Green Roofs Can Be Designed as Wild Life Refuges” is truly fantastic, packed with tons of information on a variety of Stephan’s research in Switzerland on 16 test sites in the Basel area.

Stephan Brenneisen is a true leader and pioneer in the green roof field for about 19 years. More about him:

Stephan did his PhD Geograph studies on how different green roof substrate depths influence biodiversity and continues to actively promote the design of green roofs for biodiversity.

Image: Stephan Brenneisen

Watch above or you can also see it on the Greenroofs & Walls of the World™ Virtual Summit 2015 Playlist, where all of the Greenroofs.com’s videos are publicly available on our GreenroofsTV channel on YouTube, free of charge.

Love the Earth, Plant a Roof (or Wall)!

By Linda S. Velazquez, ASLA, LEED AP, GRP
Greenroofs.com Publisher & Greenroofs & Walls of the World™ Virtual Summits Host