Green Roofs - Living Architecture Monitor - Spring 2012 - (Page 14)

CONFERENCES HIGHLIGHTS CITIESALIVE CHICAGO: CITy Of CHICAGO GOES TO SPACE fOR GREEN ROOf DEVELOPMENT USING NASA IMAGERy TO DEfINE GREEN ROOf SPECIfICATIONS by: MICHAEL bERkSHIRE yOU CAN’T MISS IT! by REbECCA bLACk I n October 2012, the City of Chicago will be co-hosting the 10th Anniversary of the CitiesAlive conference. This will give Chicago the opportunity to celebrate and share the knowledge and experience gained during the last decade while becoming a leader in the North American green roof movement. One of the most recent projects undertaken by the City of Chicago has been an assessment of the number, square footage and health of green roof projects that have been completed within the city limits. Since the introduction of policies and incentives starting in 2004, Chicago has been only estimating the number and square footage of green roofs that were planned or built. These estimates have been partially verified by the annual green roof provider surveys that have been conducted by Green Roofs for Healthy Cities. Starting in the fall of 2011, the City purchased satellite imagery from NASA to rectify this situation and determine exactly how many green roofs have been built. The assessment was also intended to provide a square footage total and an index of the relative health of the existing green roofs. Specifically, Chicago purchased high-resolution (50cm), pan-sharpened, ortho-rectified, 8-band multi-spectral aerial images provided by Digital Globe’s Worldview-2 satellite. The images were ortho-rectified to provide the highest level of accuracy. The ortho-rectification process accounted for topographic relief, lens distortion and camera “tilt”. An 8-band multi-spectral image was selected over a traditional 4-band multispectral image to more accurately assess vegetation conditions. Chicago was the second city to use this cutting edge multi-band and multi-spectral imagery. The investigation identified 359 green roofs totaling nearly 5.5 million square feet, verifiably placing Chicago as the number one green roof city in North America. The portion of the assessment analyzing the health of the vegetated roofs will be completed over the next few months. I urge all of you to attend the 10th anniversary of CitiesAlive in beautiful Chicago to be the first to hear the completed results of the green roof assessment, to experience many of the green roofs identified through this ground-breaking study, and to learn more about the City’s accomplishments in adding green to its urban landscape. See you in October! Michael Berkshire works in the Housing and Economic Development department for the City of Chicago. He led an interdepartmental team that developed the Chicago Sustainable Development policy. Michael is currently a member of the Board of Directors for the Illinois chapter of the USGBC. W ord on the streets (and rooftops) of Chicago is heating up as the buzz builds around this year’s 10th Anniversary of CitiesAlive. Taking place ‘where it all began’ ten years ago at the Congress Plaza Hotel, this year’s green roof and wall conference, co-hosted by the City of Chicago, is shaping up to be extraordinary. The CitiesAlive programming committee received a record-breaking number of submissions this spring, and with registration online featuring new value-added registration packages for our delegates, we’d like to champion the top reasons you should not miss this milestone event… PHENOMENAL PROGRAMMING In-depth profiles of trailblazing legacy green roof and wall projects, delivered by the best in the sector, celebrate and build a legacy of outstanding performance. Don’t miss the opportunity to drive and develop new industry standards, a core deliverable of the 10th anniversary conference. fANTASTIC & fUN NETwORkING EVENTS Build relationships at fantastic and fun daily networking events showcasing the hot Chicago market. Every year connections are made, and new business is done, at the only national event dedicated to the development of the green roof and green wall industry. INDUSTRy TRADE SHOw Effectively reach your target market and showcase your products and services to the LIVING ARCHITECTURE MONITOR / SPRING 2012 / 14

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Green Roofs - Living Architecture Monitor - Spring 2012

Green Roofs - Living Architecture Monitor - Spring 2012
Contents
From the Founder
Seen & Heard
Bookshelf
Special Thanks
On the Roof With…
Innovation
Urban Agriculture Summit in Toronto August 15th – 18th
Citiesalive in Chicago Oct 17th – 19th
Policy and Standards
We Asked Experts Their Opinions on Modular or Loose Laid Green Roof Systems, Check Out What They Said
I Guess Size Really Does Matter! — Growing Media Insights
Eleanor Mckinney Taking Austin by the Horns
New Industry Products
Green Roof Falls Flat in New York City
Green Roofing Leader Shows Industry What They’re Made Of! Tremco Incorporated
Plant Profile
New GRP’s
Professional Calendar
New Corporate Members
GRHC Buyers Guide
On Spec

Green Roofs - Living Architecture Monitor - Spring 2012