Happy 25th Anniversary to Us!

Twenty-five years ago we published Greenroofs.com: Exploring the Ecology of Organic Greenroof Architecture. Our look and feel has changed quite a bit over the years but our message is still the same ~ we are still Connecting The Planet + Living Architecture:

Greenroofs.com Screenshot from October 28, 2024.

In September 2017 we completely redesigned our website to its current format with WordPress, which has proven very successful for our readership. We must acknowledge and thank green architect Emilio Ambasz and his LEAf (Legacy Emilio Ambasz Foundation) for a generous grant in this major endeavor.

You can visit his new Emilio Ambasz Virtual Museum.

Read the About Us section for more, but in a nutshell:

Greenroofs.com is a dynamic interactive website, online media company, vibrant social network, and comprehensive resource Connecting the Planet + Living Architecture promoting People, Projects & Solutions.

Our Vision is to inform and engage. Our Mission is to connect people.

Here are a few screenshots of evolving formats over the years:

Our logo has evolved, too! With this original format we basically just copied my entire paper, shown here from May of 2002.

This was the purely academic version of Greenroofs.com, designed to be a living research document.

But the website evolved to better reflect the needs and desires of our ever growing readership:

In May 2003 we updated our format to a more newsy, commercial feel with a new tag line ~ Greenroofs.com: The international greenroof industry’s resource and online information portal.

All of the various “chapters” in my original paper above became Greenroofs101. Our many other exclusive features included The Greenroof Projects Database, where your case study became a part of our international database of greenroof projects; The Greenroof Directory, where you could search to locate greenroof professionals and materials; Guest Features, Advertiser Press Releases; my occasional column Sky Gardens ~ “Travels in Landscape Architecture,” offering a unique perspective of my world; the Top 10 List of Hot Trends in Greenroof & Greenwall Design to showcase the important, newsworthy and stimulating projects from around the world with our Design Editor Haven Kiers and me inaugurating the series in 2007 through 2016 (I’ve been flying solo since); in 2007 we added greenroofs.tv as our video channel devoted to greenroofs and greenwalls from Greenroofs.com and across the globe; The Student Forum, a place where students involved with greenroof pursuits could chat, post projects and papers, and make contacts with other students and companies; ResearchLinks which shared university studies; and we even had a Discussion Board (it later became Forums) until the spamming just grew to be too much to control.

During this period we stated:

“Our Goal is to inform, promote and inspire the earth friendly technology of organic greenroof architecture through the interchange of ideas, projects, news, travel, research & market studies.

We are committed to the earth friendly technology of organic greenroof architecture, and recognize that each reader, project, and perspective is unique. Our Mission is to facilitate information, and as “The Greenroof Industry Resource Portal,” Greenroofs.com serves an important role as the information database and clearinghouse for the greenroof movement worldwide.”

Also from 2004 to 2017 we engaged (sometimes threatened) the following cherished professional colleagues to write for us as Contributing Editors on and off – in order of coming on board:

Ed Snodgrass as our Plant Editor who penned “Ask Ed” (2004); Christine Thuring (now PhD) as our Student Editor who contributed “Green Roofs on the Curve” and “Christine’s Ramblings” (2004); Kelly Luckett as our Roving Exhibitor (2005) who then became The Green Roof Guy (2008); Patrick Carey as our Architecture Editor who wrote “A View from the Sky Trenches”(2005); Haven Kiers as our Design Editor who wrote the occasional column “Chic Sustainability” and co-wrote and co-presented the “Top 10 List of Hot Trends in Greenroof & Greenwall Design” series with Linda from 2007-2016 (2005); Ralph Velasquez as our ASTM Editor (2005) who then became the Sustainable Roofing Editor (2008) and then upgraded to produce the Perspectives from the Green Boardroom (2011); Dr. Bill Retzlaff who contributed the G.R.E.E.N. Research Report (2006); our beloved Caroline Menetre as our Student Intern who combined her years of experience in advertising and editorial publications to help us grow the Greenroofs.com Projects Database and applied her graphic magic to the Sky Gardens Blog, our Greenroofs & Walls of the World™ Calendars, and to our 2011, 2013, and 2015 Virtual Summits among other projects (2008, who passed away in 2016); George Irwin as our Green Wall Editor (2008); Christopher Wark as our Energy Editor (2010); John Shepley as our Green Business Editor who contributed “Sustainable Business Insights” (2011); Kevin Songer as our Tropical Green Roofs Editor (2012); Jörg Breuning, the Green Roof Patroller (2013); Joy Schmidt who wrote “On the Road with the Green Roof Lady” (2013); Steven L. Cantor as our Landscape Editor who presented a series of photographic essays on the High Line in 2013-2015, “A Comparison of the 3 Phases of the High Line 14-Part Series” along with other exclusives (2013); Kevin Falkerson and Kerrie Lee Cole who produced The Symbiotic Report (2014); and Marc Grañén of PhytoKinetic, our first bilingual contributor with articles in both English and Spanish (2014).

The Editors in Minneapolis at the 2007 Greening Rooftops for Sustainable Communities Conference – now CitiesAlive. L to R: Kelly Luckett; Ralph Velasquez; Aramis Velazquez; Linda Velazquez; Trish Luckett; Patrick Carey; Christine Thuring; Ed Snodgrass; Dr. Bill Retzlaff.

We added George Irwin, upper right, to our editors here in Baltimore in 2008.

L to R: Caroline Menetre; Patrick Carey; Haven Kiers; Linda & Aramis Velazquez in Vancouver, B.C. in 2010.

We very much appreciated all of their contributions, and some still find time to send us the occasional article.

On May 25, 2008 we converted my Sky Gardens column into Sky Gardens ~ where cool green meets lofty blue, a blog about greenroofs, the living roofs community, and awesome sustainable design in general:

“Cool green?” Cool green architecture, cool green people, cool green environments, etc.
“Lofty blue?” As in sky high spaces, places, ideals, and ideas ~ you get the picture.”

Sky Gardens screenshot from August 8, 2010

With 2017’s complete redo, we had no need for an individual “blog” any more.

Trailblazing with the first online conference within our industry in 2011, we followed with four more Greenroofs.com biennial Greenroofs & Walls of the World™ Virtual Summits in 2013, 2015, 2017 & 2019.

Our inaugural Virtual Summit in 2011. Graphic work by Caroline Menetre on both plus 2013.

The 2015 Greenroofs & Walls of the World™ Virtual Summit Expo.

The Mission of our Virtual Summits has always been to inform, share, and create a global social media experience for learning and networking via the power of the Internet. Due to the pandemic and global proliferation of online events, we decided not to hold one in 2021 and have been in a holding pattern since.

Our Beginning: What, Where, When, How & Why?

It all started when I decided to go back to school in 1996 and get a Bachelor’s of Landscape Architecture at the University of Georgia (UGA). In retrospect, after having raised a beautiful family with Aramis, this is hands down the best thing I ever did for myself. Hard work and long drives from Alpharetta to Athens, Georgia for four and a half years aside, I can honestly say that I enjoyed almost every single day, knowing I was purely doing this for me.

I continued my career as a Delta Flight Attendant (I retired in 2012 after 33 years) while attending UGA flying on the weekends and in fact this is the reason I started researching greenroofs – because I kept seeing them while flying to Amsterdam, Hamburg, Frankfurt, and Stuttgart to name just a few European cities. So, I personally “discovered” greenroofs in 1997 and the Why resulted from wondering why we, as students of landscape architecture weren’t yet learning about this fascinating, ecologically sound, design possibility? I was hooked.

I started taking notes and asking my professors about this technology. Most had only a vague idea of what greenroofs entailed and almost all data online was in German. One British professor referred me to a 1993 book by The London Ecology Unit (Jacklyn Johnston and John Newton) “Building Green: A Guide to Using Plants on Roofs, Walls and Pavements.” And then I read Landscape Architecture Magazine’s May 1998 article by J. William Thompson which spurred me on to conduct the original UGA research paper that eventually turned into this website. I took Mr. Thompson’s advice to “seek out the most up-to-date information available and to become a leader of greenroof technology.”

And so the How was cemented: I figured I’d may as well receive credit for all this research, so as a fifth year undergraduate student in the spring of 1999 I conducted an Independent Research Study on greenroofs, with the late Professor Darrel K. Morrison, FASLA as my advisor. Over 75 pages later, “Greenroofs: Exploring the Ecology of Organic Greenroof Architecture” was produced. In my Acknowledgements section but still relevant today I recognized:

“Charlie Miller, P.E. of Roofscapes, Inc. has been very helpful in providing me with so much of his greenroof stormwater research and information.
Tom Liptan, ASLA, has shared his thoughts and personal experiences with me and provided me with many of my initial leads.
Katrin Scholz-Barth, environmental engineer, has been very open to assisting me with engineering tips and plant selection for my Senior Project.
Dr. Michael Krebs, Sales Manager and Walter Hussong, Civil Engineer at Optima in Tornesch, Germany, were very hospitable during my visit to their headquarters in March 1999. They provided me with invaluable insight from the tour of the offices.
Kevin Burke, AIA, of McDonough + Partners has assisted me greatly by providing me with background information regarding their Gap Headquarters project as well as manufacturer product information and comparison studies.
Dr. Jeffrey C. Luvall of NASA’s Global Climate and Hydrology Center at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama sent me a ton of fascinating information on the urban heat island situation.
A special thanks goes to a professor of landscape architecture at the University of Georgia, Kwesi DeGraft-Hanson, for encouraging my interest in greenroofs.” ~ Linda S. Velazquez, 1999

Afterwards Aramis asked me what we should do with all of this information that had consumed my life for months, and suggested sharing it online as a website. Sure, I said. How about a name? he asked. How about Greenroofs.com? And bingo, the fledgling website was born, published in late October, 1999.

Greenroofs.com, a Family Affair

Our adult children have been instrumental in creating the Greenroofs.com experience:

Ari Velazquez was the original programmer of the Greenroofs.com Directory and the Greenroofs.com Projects Database. He was the lead designer for the new 2017 Greenroofs.com website and is the ongoing developer and programmer of the Directory and Projects Database, and assists in the daily operation and maintenance of the entire site.

Anjuli Velazquez was the Associate Producer of our greenroofs.tv page, the greenroofsTV channel on YouTube, and the Sky Gardens ~ Greenroofs of the World™ WebTV series. She also wrote, filmed and produced our weekly “This Week in Review” video series which ran from 2010 to 2012 on greenroofs.tv.

Anjuli wrote, filmed and produced “This Week in Review” for two years where she highlighted people, projects, and happenings. See the entire Playlist.

Joseph Velazquez was the Greenroofs.com Director of Media and produced short videos including the “Project of the Week” and “Company of the Week” series, including the voiceovers. Joey also oversaw the development and final product of the Keynote Speakers and Panel Conversation videos featured in the Greenroofs & Walls of the World Virtual Summits. From 2008 – 2010 he directed the Sky Gardens ~ Greenroofs of the World™ WebTV series.

Aramis Velazquez is the CEO (Chief Everything Officer) of Greenroofs.com, LLC and handles all the news and operations. His joke is that he does whatever else I don’t want to do! In 2017 Aramis took over the production of the Featured Project videos from Joey, including the voiceovers.

Our Vision for the Future

As an online news media and marketing company Greenroofs.com serves two important markets: our readership base and industry product and service providers. Since 1999 our world of living architecture has grown by leaps and bounds, escalating to include living walls, interior greening, sky farms, bridges and terraces, sponge parks, and so many more types of green infrastructure. And we have evolved to meet our field of sustainability’s needs and desires for continued information.

We want to continue growing Greenroofs.com with your support, particularly in these areas:

Greenroofs.com Projects Database

The Greenroofs.com Projects Database has been the driving force behind our website from the start, and we continue to compile case studies to promote the living green architecture community and marketplace. In my original 1999 paper I had sections for World Case Studies and North American Case Studies, with about 20 in total. Compare that to now with 1,813! This is just a drop in the global bucket, and we continue to encourage everyone from stakeholders to fans to organizations to partner with us and grow this free online resource – Submit Your Projects.

Greenroofs.com Directory

Of course, as we are not a non-profit, our revenue base depends on our advertisers in the Greenroofs.com Directory, some who’ve been with us from the very beginning. We greatly appreciate all our supporters throughout the years and invite you to visit the Directory to find people and companies to assist you with your next project.

Greenroofs & Walls of the World™ Virtual Summit?

People have asked us whether we might consider producing a new Greenroofs & Walls of the World™ Virtual Summit. As important as physical conferences are, the proliferation of international events makes it impossible to attend them all in terms of time and money. At a fraction of the cost of a physical conference and none of its carbon footprint, participants have an incredible opportunity to virtually meet and greet awesome experts and practitioners. To encourage a truly global experience, our desire has been to embrace the entire greenroof and greenwall community with all of the related trade associations and organizations participating and sharing revenue along with us. We strived to create an atmosphere where we all could benefit financially from this unique conference form – although now with Zoom, etc., it really isn’t so novel anymore.

So, the answer is: We’re open to the idea ~ we’ll see.

Should we organize another?

Greenroofs.com YouTube Channel

Our greenroofs.tv Channel was rechristened the Greenroofs.com YouTube Channel and we invite to visit where you can peruse our 542 videos. Subscribe to watch including playlists from our Featured Projects, most of our Virtual Summits, Hot Top 10 Lists, Companies of the Week, This Week in Review, special exclusives such as by Emilio Ambasz, and other popular videos from around the world.

To wrap up, we’ve met so many wonderful colleagues along these 25 years, many of whom have turned into best friends ~ and are always open to meeting new ones!

We here at Greenroofs.com are passionate about advancing the industry and invite you to share your own vision and publish your work with us: Write, Submit Your Projects, join our Greenroofs.com Network group on LinkedIn, & Advertise in our Directory.

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

By Linda S. Velazquez, ASLA, LEED AP, GRP
Greenroofs.com Publisher & Sky Gardens Studio Principal