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Sixth Annual Greening Rooftops for Sustainable Communities Conference, Awards and Trade Show 
2008 Conference Proceedings
 1
Session 2.4: Designing Specialized Green RoofsTHE 2008 TOP 10 HOT TRENDS IN GREENROOF DESIGN
Linda S. Velazquez, ASLA Associate, LEED AP, Publisher/Editor & Design Consultant and Haven Kiers, MLA, Design Editor & Design Consultant 
Greenroofs.com 
Authors’ Note: 
This is the final, updated 2008 paper reflecting the actual PowerPointpresentation we offered in Baltimore, MD on May 2, 2008. As of press time for the conferencepaper, we were still accumulating late-breaking project information and receiving feedback fromour readership with commentary. Some projects found on the 2008 Conference CD weredeleted while others were added.Would you like to revisit our 2007 Top Ten Hot Greenroof Design Trends? See here:http://www.greenroofs.com/top10hottrends.htm(Velazquez & Kiers, 2007).
Abstract
Last year we delivered the
2007 Top Hot Trends in Design: Chic Sustainability, Unique Driving Factors & "Boutique" Greenroofs 
which showcased the important, newsworthy and excitinggreenroof projects from around the world. Established but trailblazing designers, buildingowners and municipalities were highlighted along with their trendsetting projects, as were thenewcomers and visionaries who are raising the architectural standard for today's designers andstakeholders. We based our very subjective selections from our own design experience andfrom published multimedia accounts from TV, the Web, magazines, and newspaper articlesources.In 2008 we will once again deliver our fast-paced Top Ten List of case study vignettesrepresenting the very best of the new - whether they are based on traditional applications with atwist or avant-guard projects combining living roof, energy, or other green technologies. Whatare the market drivers? Which built innovative projects have informed clients and spurredadditional market interest? What type of greenroofs are clients now demanding? What are thedirections sweeping our design profession? From older, time-honored examples from which wedesigners can draw inspiration, to current conceptual, high-profile media grabbing greenroofswhich stimulate the senses, we promise another fun-filled visual cruise through the world ofvegetated roofing!
 
 
Sixth Annual Greening Rooftops for Sustainable Communities Conference, Awards and Trade Show 
2008 Conference Proceedings
 2How will we decide the 2008 Top Hot Trends in Greenroof Design? New for 2008 will be theinclusion of and interaction with the greenroof community at large – a Design Trend Survey willbe widely distributed to solicit opinions and examples of high performance and sometimesthought-provocative greenroof projects which should be recognized. We’ll register the feedbackand modify our following “working” Top Ten List for 2008.
The Initial “Working” 2008 Top Ten Hot Trends in Greenroof Design: 
10) Client-Specific Boutique Greenroofs9) Do-It-Yourself Greenroofs8) Pre-Fab Modular Homes are Fabulous7) Greenroofs as Art and Architecture6) Parks, Zoos & Botanical Gardens - Outdoor Living & Research5) Solar and Vegetative Roofs as High Performance Buildings4) Museum and Corporate Greenroofs - Setting the Example3) Luxury Green Homes, Eco-Communities & Eco-Cities2) Cool Green Schools of Higher Education1) The Influence of LEED on Government and Design Professionals
Introduction
The rise of green, eco-friendly agendas continues to proliferate across global industries andboundaries. Increasingly, green design practices and sustainable technologies are influencingarchitectural design and setting standards within the international construction industry, resultingin a variety of high performance buildings. As people become more concerned about reducingtheir carbon footprints, properties are being planned to act as models for the future and newhomes are being built to be "zero carbon" and produce no planet-harming carbon dioxide.Gearlog, 2007, says, ‘The current buzzword in the world of environmentalism is "offset." Many,if not most of us, are concerned about the environment, and while the recent exponentialincrease in coverage of topics like global warming has spurred some change on the part ofconsumers, a lot of people still aren't willing to risk even the tiniest amount of comfort, in order tohelp impede the seemingly inevitable collapse of the world around them. The idea behindoffsetting is that, while at present, it's almost impossible to lead a zero-emission lifestyle and stillbe a functioning member of modern society, there are certain actions that we can take to helpminimize our harmful contributions to our environment’.And encouraged by successful programs such as the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadershipin Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System™, the present daybenchmark for the design, construction and operation of our built environment has been raisedsubstantially from just even a decade ago.
 
 
Sixth Annual Greening Rooftops for Sustainable Communities Conference, Awards and Trade Show 
2008 Conference Proceedings
 3‘Amidst growing media interest and demand from public and private sectors, multidisciplinaryprofessionals - from architects to environmental engineers, city planners to landscape architectsand beyond - are redefining sustainability in the context of building design. We’re examining ourenvironmental impacts on the Earth from a more integrated, holistic approach and usingtechnologies which encourage energy efficient and environmentally friendly building envelopes,including the ubiquitous “fifth façade” – the rooftop’ (Velazquez, 2007).And how ecologically better, in terms of the highest and greatest ecological use of space, thanto cover these generally unused fifth façades than with living, breathing, vegetative roofs?Living roofs are true workhorses of the roofing world in that they offer such a wide spectrum ofenvironmental benefits and opportunities for Earth’s flora, fauna, and human communities – allwhile pleasing our economic, aesthetic, and psychological sensibilities, too.As such, greenroofs are fast becoming green staples of chic sustainability in mainstreamarchitecture and high performance building with a hip environmental sheen that is attractive toyoung and old. And we all know that greenroofs are vibrant and exciting alternatives to theaverage unused, hot, and often downright ugly black tar or concrete roofs that we see coveringthe world, but what and where are the new and exciting projects on the boards? In 2008 we willonce again deliver our fast-paced Top Ten List of case study vignettes representing the verybest of the new - whether based on traditional applications with a twist or avant-guard projectscombining living roofs, energy, or other green technologies. From older, time-honoredexamples from which we designers can draw inspiration to current conceptual, high-profilemedia grabbing greenroofs which stimulate the senses, we promise another fun-filled visualcruise through the world of vegetated roofing!How will we decide the 2008 Top Hot Trends in Greenroof Design? Aside from our owneditorial and experiential input, new for 2008 will be the inclusion of and interaction with thegreenroof community at large through a Greenroof Design Trends Survey. We’ll gather publicopinion and experience of the latest and greatest international greenroof design trends, tabulatethe feedback, and include it along with our own ideas for the second yearly installment of our"2008 Top Ten Hot Trends in Greenroof Design."
The 2008 Greenroof Design Trends Survey
The
2008 Greenroof Design Trends Survey 
is open-ended to allow those who thoroughly wantto participate the opportunity to do so, but brief answers are also welcome! The following actualsurvey, in quotations, will be sent out to thousands of individuals through posting onGreenroofs.com and inclusion in the January Newsletter (over 5,000 subscribers).Furthermore, to name a few, it was mailed to editors of Inhabitat, Metropolis, LAND Online,Landscape Architecture Magazine, Architectural Record, Architecture Week, USA Today, NewYork Times, Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, Environmental Design + ConstructionMagazine, Environmental Building News, Building Design and Construction, Reed ConstructionData, Urban Land, E The Environmental Magazine, Treehugger.com, Co-op America, Dwell
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