Living Roofs
HERE’S ANOTHER ONE FROM THE VAULT: two video clips of David Miller, mayor of Toronto, inviting delegates to the Cities Alive conference on green infrastructure technologies last month. In the first video clip, he lists the various ecological initiatives that the municipal government has implemented over the last several years, explaining why he believes that Toronto is leading the world in fighting climate change. In the second video clip, he talks about the new Green Roof bylaw that city council enacted back in May. I hope you don’t mind the odd colouration of the video; the room was very dark, because while he spoke, he was screening a series of slides, so I had only a small colour spectrum to work with. In any case, I certainly hope that his enthusiasm for the environment will translate into many more green roofs across Toronto! Here’s hoping!
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!
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!
IN HONOUR OF Toronto City Council Bylaw PG25.3, we present the third blog in a series about green roofs. Meet Malcolm Wells: octogenarian eco-architect, artist, author, and time-traveller. Yes, you heard me correctly: time-traveller! How else could one possibly account for his beautiful and brilliant designs? They are not of this era, they are evidence of a large leap forward in human evolution. If people immediately and permanently cease all destructive activity, then perhaps in seventy-five or a hundred years, the earth would return to itself and reclaim the rooftops of our man-made structures. The genius of Malcolm Wells is that he has the super-human ability to see through the misty sands of time and envision entropy a hundred years hence.
Continue reading about Recovering Civilization One Roof at a Time
IN THE CURRENT political climate, there is a tendency to herald every baby step taken in the general direction of sustainability as a giant leap for humankind. Sure, it is important to give positive reinforcement to young children when they achieve even modest accomplishments. But we are not children! We may be acting like spoiled children, despoiling the environment for our own short-term convenience, without a thought for the long-term consequences. But we have the mental acumen of full-grown adults, and we can no longer claim ignorance of the ecological emergencies in this day and age. So let’s be a bit more humble about our tiny triumphs and encourage each other to strive higher. Let’s not compare ourselves to ecological laggards — but to environmental visionaries like Freidensreich Hundertwasser.
