Green Roofs - Living Architecture Monitor - Winter 2009 - (Page 4)

FROM THE FOUNDER WHEN IS A GREEN ROOF REALLY “GREEN” UNDERSTANDING THE ROLE OF CONTEXT AND LIFECYCLE s I write this, we’re in the throes of preparing to head to Atlanta for our 7th Annual Greening Rooftops for Sustainable Communities Conference,Awards and Trade Show from June 3-5, 2009 (you can get all the details from www.greenroofs.org and the agenda insert). Last year’s conference in lovely Baltimore was our biggest and best yet – and Atlanta is shaping up to top it, so I hope to see you there. In addition to the conference and all of the other things we do here at Green Roofs for Healthy Cities to promote the widespread adoption of living architecture, there is a lot of thinking around what it means to be “green.” A Of course, one of the longstanding challenges of being “green” is really knowing if ones actions are green or not – and our organization is no exception. We are proud to now offer our valued members a digital version of the Living Architecture Monitor (lam) in a move that will help reduce our resource consumption – building on our move 18months ago to switch to fsc-certified paper containing post-consumer waste – while also improving our outreach. Some actions, such as this, are obviously “green,” but as soon as one begins to evaluate specific products, the nature of green can become very clouded very quickly; best intentions can actually result in less than optimal environmental, health and safety outcomes. Comparing the environmental attributes of a product and making informed choices are complicated by the fact that one must look at the lifecycle of a product (i.e. all of the inputs and outputs associated with it from primary resource extraction through to manufacture, use, reuse and recycling). A great example of this is the move to electric vehicles. Reducing the burning of gasoline by using electric cars is environmentally friendly, yes, but what about the production of electricity. If we generate more coal-fired emissions to fuel up our urban fleets, we may just be substituting the burning of one fossil fuel for another. The generation of electricity also requires water resources. Essentially, energy is water, and water is energy. A study by National Renewable Energy Laboratory entitled, Consumptive Water Use for U.S.Power Production (Dec. 2003) found that thermoelectric plants utilize 0.47 gallons/kWh and 18 gallons/kWh for hydroelectric plants. This means that water 4 LIVING ARCHITECTURE MONITOR WINTER http://www.greenroofs.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Green Roofs - Living Architecture Monitor - Winter 2009

Green Roofs - Living Architecture Monitor - Winter 2009
Contents
From the Founder: When is a Green Roof Really "Green"?
Strata - People, Products & Projects: Funding for the Green Infrastructure Foundation (GIF)
An Integrated Approach to Green Roofs
On the Roof with...
Project: A Green Wall for Wildlife
Research: Green Roofs and Local Temperature
Turning Your Roof into a Water-Saving "Living Oasis"
Feature: Water & Georgia
GRHC Update: GHRC Professional Development Calendar
Accreditation Exam Subject to Stringent Standards
Welcome New Corporate Members
On Spec: Change We Can Believe In

Green Roofs - Living Architecture Monitor - Winter 2009