THIS WEEK THE GREEN APPLE team helped to build a Living Wall at the infamous Gladstone Hotel in downtown Toronto. The installation was part of a two-day training session with Green Living Technologies, a leading North American manufacturer and distributor of Living Roof and Living Wall systems. GLT has hand-picked Green Apple to be their preferred partners in the Greater Toronto Area. So now it’s official: starting in 2010, Green Apple will be designing and building both Living Walls and Living Roofs for our ecologically-minded clients! If you’re interested in having a Living Wall or Living Roof in your own home, give us a call to make a meeting… and let’s discuss it over a pint at the Gladstone! [...] Continue Reading…
Tags: GLT, living roofs, living walls, Toronto
HERE’S ANOTHER VIDEO THAT we shot at the Cities Alive conference. In this clip, Alan Darlington, Adjunct Professor at the University of Guelph, discusses the results of his research on a number of local Living Walls, to test how effectively they filter out Volatile Organic Compounds, or VOC’s, in enclosed areas. By the end, the walls had performed so well that they exceeded even his own expectations. By combining the science of biofiltration with the floral artwork of Patrick Blanc, Darlington has pioneered a kind of vegitecture, a truly holistic system for human housing. Bravo! [...] Continue Reading…
Tags: Cities Alive, living walls, video
WHEN WE ATTENDED THE Cities Alive Conference on Living Roofs and Living Walls, one month ago here in downtown Toronto, we made the effort to videotape some of the lecturers. Ever since that time, we’ve been pretty busy building our very own Living Wall at the Green Apple offices. But now that the Living Wall is up and running — and looking very beautiful, I might add — we’re able to upload some more of the footage that we filmed at Cities Alive, for your viewing pleasure. Here is a brief clip of Dr. Brad Bass speaking about his scientific studies into the potential energy savings of living roofs. Enjoy! [...] Continue Reading…
Tags: Cities Alive, energy, green roofs, living roofs
IN JUST A FEW WEEKS, political bureaucrats and environmental activists from all over the world will converge on Copenhagen, Denmark, in an attempt to come to agreement on major changes in the way that we treat the living planet and all of our relations. There isn’t a whole lot that we can do from our isolated outpost here in Toronto to affect the negotiations that will be going on at the conference. But we’re sending lots of positive energy to the true friends of the Earth who will be speaking for all the other species that do not have a seat at the table. [...] Continue Reading…
Tags: activism, California, politics, trees
DO YOU THINK IT’S just a coincidence that the Green Apple Living Wall went up exactly twenty years to the day after the Berlin Wall came down? Neither do I, there must be mystical significance to that fact. Let this Living Wall be a powerful symbol for health and equality and freedom, and let it be the cornerstone upon which we build new ecological lives. May we be reminded of relations with the plant kingdom, and may we honour and love them as we honour and love ourselves. Amen! Now, here is a slideshow video of John, Victor and Bob putting up the Green Apple Living Wall. This is how we do it, baby! The accompanying musical track is the instrumental for the song “Be”, by Common. Enjoy! [...] Continue Reading…
Tags: Bob, John, living walls, Victor, video
