Inside Urban Green

Revolutionizing Urban Agriculture, One Sub-Irrigated Planter At A Time on Ecocentric | Food, Water and Energy Issues

It was oh so nice to see this very supportive piece by the forward looking folks at Ecocentric. There will be many more Slippery Slopes in the future.

via www.ecocentrism.org

As you may have noticed, Ecocentric bloggers have a soft spot for cool stuff on roofs. I’m certainly no exception. Since visiting Brooklyn Grange during its momentous transformation from tar beach to productive urban farm, I’ve been obsessed with excited to see additional examples of successful rooftop agriculture. So when a coworker forwarded an invitation to an event at Slippery Slope Farm, I cut out of the office, hopped on the bicycle and pedaled over to Brooklyn at a pace best characterized as maniacal. After ascending sweat-soaked from the sweltering sun-baked streets, I was graciously welcomed to the rooftop oasis featured in the slideshow above. Read more...

An Academic Greenscaping Opportunity

 

The University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee is trying to make this new dorm the first LEED gold rated residence hall in the state. It evidently has, or is going to have, an edible garden on the roof that will supply the cafeteria. I suspect this is in the future because although the roof garden appears in the video there is no sign of vegetable gardening. In fact, it looks like there is a sedum green roof and a rather traditional lawn and patio garden.

Knowing what I know about our land grant institutions there is little or no chance that the edible garden will utilize any form of sub-irrigated planter system (SIPs). There are thousands of dorms across the country that present golden opportunities to teach young people about the many benefits of modern SIPs urban agriculture. Few, if any, are seizing the opportunity.

MIT is one example of urban gardening modernity in the U.S. that I have blogged about. They have a campus EarthBox garden. In my view, the McGill Edible Campus in Montreal is the finest example of modern campus gardening anywhere in the world. Do you know of any other dorms or campuses that have SIPs gardens? 

Green Dorm: UWM students move-in to new green dorm - WITI

WITI-TV, MILWAUKEE - Moving day has arrived at UW-Milwaukee, as students are about to start the new school year later this week. Some lucky students are moving in to what looks to be the state's most unique dormitory. Cambridge Commons is the university's newest dorm and designed to reduce the environmental impact of the building. The dorm has a rooftop garden and the food grown is used in the cafeteria. The dorm also has two classrooms where some professors will teach classes instead of having 50 or more students drive to campus. The university is trying to make it the first LEED gold certified residence hall in the state.

The Color Green Is Still Atop Toyota Roofs

The Bloomberg Administration may favor white roofs but green roofs are still alive at Toyota in Japan. Amsterdam urban planning organization The Pop-Up City explains.

Incidentally, did you know that Toyota also has a floriculture business?

via popupcity.net
Website: Toyota Greenification Business

Today I stumbled upon some of Toyota’s so-called ‘greenification’ mission. Initiating several projects such as the Roof Garden Corporation, the Japanese car brand aims to contribute to the improvement of the urban environment. 

White Roofs Versus Green Roofs In New York City

In May 2009 I attended a Drum Major Institute panel discussion titled Green Roofs: From Concrete Jungle to Urban Oasis. The featured speaker was Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, the "green roof mayor of America".

One of the things I most remember about the event was the presentation by Carter Strickland who was representing the Bloomberg administration. You might say he threw a big bucket of whitewash on all of the green in the room. I had not heard about "white roofs" but that was most definitely his advocacy and that of the mayor's office.

In context of that event, this post by David Roth of the GreenBuildingsNYC blog was most interesting. Apparently we will see more of New York City rooftops in black and white rather than green. Oh well, Woody Allen will probably like it. 

via www.greenbuildingsnyc.com

Where Have All The Flowers Gone: Why Have Green Roofs Not Caught On In New York City?

At first glance, green roofs seem to offer one of the most thorough and aesthetically pleasing marriages of green building form and content in the entire pantheon of green building techniques.