Community gardens raise property values

Wisconsin has been at the leading edge of the aquaponics movement for quite some time and their state's resume keeps getting more accomplished. The Aquaponics Innovation Center, is not even a year old, but they've received almost 3/4 of a million dollars to study aquaponic systems. 

-Ohio doesn't have the resume, Canton is hoping to change that. They have a $150 million dollar agri-business energy project design to bring 1,300, some of those in the aquaponics field.

-Over 1 million trees have been planted in New York City, more than any other city in the world. Here's how they did it.

-I haven't seen many articles of this type, but this landscape architect is wondering whether we need to start favoring xeriscapes and the "beauty of drought", or at least less water dependent creations, if landscape architecture is going to reflect the realities of a future, thirsty world.

-A fully automated growing system has just hit the market, on the low end the farm cube takes only 6 weeks to grow 200 pieces of your favorite vegetable.

-The UK has a brand new pop-up cafe, called Stroud Food Surplus Cafe, which sells "surplus food", food from restaurants that's perfectly fine, just past the expiration date.

-Two important studies came out last one. One quantifies how much land would be needed to feed Seattle, a city of about 650,000 people, 58 kilometers. Urban food crops, at the maximum, could fill 4% of the city's food needs.If you've been following the blog you know feelings towards community gardens have been changing, positively, over the last few years. Some towns/cities are still a bit reluctant. That should change with the first report indicating neighboring property values rise by as much as 9.4% points within five years of a garden's opening and the gardens can lead to increases in tax revenues of about half a million dollars per garden over 20 years.

The World's Greenest Building - The Bullit Centre

Seattle's Bullitt Center: The World's Greenest Office Building from EarthFix on Vimeo.

Ladies and gents, meet the Bullit Center, the greenest building in the world. (As of this blog post at least, you know how quickly the title changes hands!)
It's built to mimic natural processes and has basically everything you could imagine in a green building (for example, it's energy and carbon neutral and independent of municipal water and sewage systems!), hence it saving the city of Seattle $18.5 million dollars over the building's lifespan. Which is 250 years!!!

The video will blow your mind!

New Jersey Adopts Horticultural Therapy Resolution + World's Largest Vertical Farm

If you're in St. Louis or Washington State there are a couple of ways to make your voices heard to support living architecture/green infrastructure in your cities.

Write to your legislators to support Bill 228 (in St. Louis, to incentivize urban agriculture) and call (1-800-562-6000) in Washington State to support a much bigger measure, $100 million in general obligation bonds. The latter seems to be, at least partially, inspired by Seattle's green infrastructure successes.
One more piece of legislation to consider supporting. Texas House Bill 1306 would reduce the amount of property tax a homeowner would have to pay if they engaged in urban agriculture.

-Speaking of legislation, one already adopted is the most comprehensive Horticultural Therapy Resolution (by New Jersey) to date. What does it mean? I am not sure, but perhaps a funding stream for horticultural therapy projects? We can only hope!

-The biggest news of the week (in my book) is the first Canadian school (and, I think, North American...correct me if I am wrong) to get an working urban farm! In a unique partnership between the school board and local not for profit, the kids have a place to learn about farming and get some fresh food!

-In the winter I passed through Chicago's O'Hare airport and had no idea something so cool was growing there. A demonstration vertical farm, almost 1000 square feet of aeroponics, provides herbs and vegetables for three airport restaurants.
Chicago also will boast the world's largest vertical farm...for now. 90,000 square feet on Chicago's South Side!

-What do you get when "The Plant" meets "Plantagon"? A lovely vertical farming facility where Manchurians are treated to a venture that educates communities about sustainable food production. 

Urban agriculture + green infrastructure = a new term...Edible Infrastructure!

The urban agriculture movement has taken a strong hold in Hong Kong, so much so we have globe trotting videographers stopping in to check out what's going on.


A Tale of Two Rooftops from The Perennial Plate on Vimeo.


California's first public orchard opened last week in Los Angeles. Fallen Fruit was heavily involved in bringing the project together. The article lists New York, Boston and Madrid as other cities experimenting with edible landscaping. Don't forget Seattle (where they call it a "public food forest"), Toronto and London!!!

Hmm...I think I am ready to coin a new term. How about Edible Infrastructure or Edible Architecture to describe using edible plants specifically to meet all of your green infrastructure needs?

Despite what the creative grant writers of the Los Angeles public orchard say, I am not sure how the orchard is edible art...but it is definitely a place ripe for an ecopsychological experiment. Do public orchards or fruit trees in general make people feel differently about their municipality and life?

Late 2012 GILA roundup!

Normally during late December, early January there is precious little to relay. Not this year!!! Dig in...

-The best news is a creation of a biological concrete by researchers in Spain. It's being tested in Belgium right now and may be on the market sometime soon!

-An intrepid entrepreneur has taken the plunge to live their dreams by opening a new urban agriculture farm supply store in Providence, Rhode Island. There may only be five of these, at most, on the entire continent!

-If you're looking to break into the green infrastructure/living architecture (GILA) fields Front Range Community College in Colorado just launched an urban agriculture management class to provide students with the knowledge and skills to start their own urban farms. And there are internship opportunities in Washington D.C. as part of the Anacostia Watershed Society's green roof management team.

-And for those with an insatiable green roof appetite, a study detailing how various plants perform on unirrigated green roofs in subtropical (American) climates hit the web in early December. Researchers say four species survived at least two growing seasons without any losses: Graptopetalum paraguayense, Malephora lutea, Manfreda maculosa, and Phemeranthus calycinus. Six species experienced varying levels of mortality: Bulbine frutescens, Delosperma cooperi, Lampranthus spectabilis, Sedum kamtschaticum, Sedum mexicanum and Nassella tenuissima. Five species had no survivors: Dichondra argentea, Stemodia lanata, Myoporum parvifolium, Sedum moranense, and Sedum tetractinum.

-In permaculture news around the world there were two fascinating articles released concerning Islam and permaculture and the development of the permaculture movement in Poland.

-Lastly Seattle announced an additional 185 community gardening plots will be made available to residents.

State of the green roof movement in North America

In light of recent discussions in Toronto and Montreal, I thought that we could take a look at the state of the green roof movement around the world, starting with North America. In about a year we'll take a look at the list again to see what has changed. 

My rating system:

*** = green roof guru

** = green roof supporter

* = green roof newbie

Feel free to let me know your thoughts!

Austin - 

In the Southern United States Austin has been a true green roof pioneer. Starting with a white paper jointly produced by their water protection, conservation and planning departments in 2007, they have experienced slow, but constant growth. Incentives are offered in Austin for the installation of green roofs, however not in the form of direct grants. They still have three more years left in their implementation plan, so I would say the future looks bright in Austin. Although their current mayor is up for re-election. And we all know how important political support for your cause is. 

**

Chattanooga -

Talk about late breaking news, on Monday came the first signs they will begin offering credits to developers.

*
Chicago - 

What can you say about Chicago? It's green roof cred is rock solid. In 2001 Mayor Daley jumps in, sedums a' blazin', and they haven't looked back.

Don’t get me wrong, it would be great if they still gave cash incentives, let’’s hope they do with Rahm Emmanuel at the helm. Ahhm...Rahm?

**1/2

DC -

Get your cash!!! One of the latest big cities to join the party, they offer a very generous $5/square foot, up from $3. Let’s hope in 3 years time it jumps to $8. We can hope, can’t we?

**1/2

Louisville - 

We've got some good signs coming from Louisville. Last fall incentives for developers were agreed to, which is a great start.

*

Milwaukee -

Since 2003 Milwaukee has steadily increased support for green roof (and of course, urban agriculture). Tom Barrett is your man with a plan, but with his entry into the gubernatorial race, if he wins, what happens in Milwaukee?

**

Minneapolis -

Add a green roof and you can receive up to a 50 percent credit (aka reduction) in your stormwater utility fee. Sweet!

**

New York City -

After a comparatively slow start, New York City has gotten serious about green roofs and green infrastructure quickly. A comprehensive green infrastructure plan and $187 million dollars over the next three years with perhaps $2 billion more over 20 years speaks volumes.

The green roof tax abatement is up for renewal this year, but I feel good about its extension considering the city is building “green” playgrounds now and the mayor put a green roof on his foundation. 

***

Philadelphia - 

In 2010 Philadelphia began offering a tax credit for businesses willing to install a green roof, great move!

**

Portland - 

The city is synonymous with green and for good measure. Their program started in 2008 and has been going strong since, installing over 100,000 square feet in 2011 alone! 

**1/2

Seattle -

It appears Seattle had an incentive program back in 2007. Then in 2009 changes were made to Seattle's building code opening the door for developers to get credit for installing green roofs. Then the green roof momentum slowed. Not sure what is happening now. 

*1/2

And last but not least, one small but committed municipality...a 30-45 minute drive from the centre of Vancouver, Port Coquitlam has it’s very own green roof bylaw. 

**

"Reverse" farming + the first American public food forest

-Over the years urban has almost become synonymous with concrete, tar and glass. Stormwater, often consider by some to be a necessary evil of built environment, is being treated in some ingenious ways across North America. On a smaller scale as functional art and now, on a larger scale in Los Angeles, incorporated into a park and wetland.

-In major urban centers city officials are finding other ways to use public lands to get people involved in enjoying their community. Seattle is the first to open an edible landscape and community park. Yes, a seven acre permaculture food forest open to all and space for community workshops as well.
And why not, if you can, let someone pick a tomato while waiting for the bus.

So you're done foraging for the day and your refrigerator is already full. Which things absolutely have to go in the fridge and which don't? Although refrigeration technology goes back almost 900 years, humans have been storing things without it for much longer than that. There's a ton to know, and contribute to, the unrefrigeration movement.

-I just made that up, "unrefrigeration", as I did "reverse farming". But, I am not really sure what to call it when you're from the fungal kingdom (traditionally known as a "lower life form") and using species from more highly evolved kingdoms, plants and animals, to bring you to food and even raise food for you.

New York City law makes green roofs, urban gardens and greenhouses easier, other cities make it harder

Big news this week out of New York City, as City Council passed giving access to more land for urban gardens and to make it easier to build rooftop greenhouses.

Is New York now in the lead for greenest city in North America? We know they take their green seriously, they take it even more seriously in Uganda. How about a fine or imprisonment if you don't report how many animals you own?

Detroit's first commercial farm is finally getting started! It's 1/1000 of the size they wanted, but it's a start. The law needs to be changed to allow more farming in Detroit, Philly and elsewhere. And this article outlines some of the challenges.

What's a p-patch?

-A community minded org in Seattle, Urban Farm Hub, has created a blog plotting all of the urban agriculture sites in Seattle. One question...does anyone know what a p-patch is?

-An eco-lodge in Ethiopia is looking for a cook for it's permaculture kitchen.

-The Telus building in Vancouver will be LEED Platinum, which I think is a first for a building in Canada, and also provide vegetables to local restaurants. I hope Telus works with local entrepreneurs to farm the site!

Living Architecture wish list for 2010

There are a few things I hope:

-That Detroit officials, make like Seattle, and seize the opportunities that have been handed them.

-Speaking of Seattle, it was great that 2010 was the year of urban agriculture. C'mon Seattle, make this the DECADE of Urban Agriculture!

-The new mayor of Toronto, Rob Ford, wears green with pride this holiday season, in 2011 and beyond. This includes, first and foremost, keeping the Green Roof Bylaw, a truly progressive and groundbreaking piece of legislation on the books. Some developers have threatened going elsewhere because of the bylaw, but really, how many of them will not cash in on the condo craze in Toronto and, in the worst case scenario, choose the cash-in-lieu of option. Some protested that the bylaw was too weak, now with a change in administration it looks like it could be viewed as good politics. I believe that Toronto is unique in it's collective commitment to the environment and the bylaw and other incentives definitely helps Toronto differentiate itself from other municipalities in North America.

verticiel on the air + west coast living architecture crawl

I should probably have a weekly post featuring all the cool things cities have planned. But first tune in to the Green Majority radio show (CIUT 89.5 FM) Friday, February 12 at 10:30 am as verticiel Inc. drops by to talk about green roofs and Toronto's new Green Roof Bylaw.

On to the west coast, last week the City of Seattle proclaimed 2010 "Year of Urban Agriculture". Looks like they have a slew of activities planned so far.

On to Portland, where we get a primer on where to get urban agriculture and permaculture supplies.

Further south in San Fran, in two weeks the American Institute of Architects, San Francisco chapter (AIA San Francisco) will present an exhibition highlighting vertical gardens in all their splendor.

There's a call for papersfrom the Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development (JAFSCD) focusing on best practices in urban and peri-urban agriculture. Up to 2,500 words so don't get verbose!

And last but not least, we'll head to the mountains to spotlight Green Roofs Utah. I'll have to introduce myself, like a good neighbor should!