Living Architecture Daily

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

August roundup - green roofs, urban agriculture, green architecture

As the east coast hurricane leaves us and we bid adieu to the end of August, here are a few more stories which caught my eye:

-Faith based groups have often lead the way in change. In Madison, Wisconsin the Holy Wisdom Monastery is the undisputed leader.

-St. Lawrence University has just launched Canada's first Sustainable Local Food Certificate for this fall.

-Here's a fantastic article about what President Obama can do to help fight the recession utilizing urban farming.

-What is the capacity of NYC for urban crop production, green roofs and what are the potential benefits of urban agriculture in NYC? Columbia University's urban design lab has the answers.

And lastly, there are a couple of ways for North Americans to get involved in their city with living architecture.

-In Montreal a working group needs 15,000 signatures on a paper petition by Nov. 8 to have a public consultation on the state of urban agriculture in Montreal.

-If you are an Atlanta resident you can help design an urban farm.

Sunday, August 28, 2011

New green roof book

Just finished a new book by Nigel Dunnett, Dusty Gedge, John Little and Edmund C. Snodgrass. Bringing together pioneers from both sides of the pond, Dunnett and Snodgrass alone have perhaps 10 books between them before they decided to write "Small Green Roofs" - Low-tech options for greener living. This is another must have for the library of every living architecture professional, but if you are new to the green roof world and perhaps want to install small green roof on your home, whether it be by a professional or yourself, this is the book to have. Chock full of examples, explained in terrific detail, many of these roofs could be easily replicated. And what's more, small roofs are rarely highlighted on green roof blogs, websites, magazines or in newspapers. I guess the logic goes, if it's only a few feet big, will it be interesting to the rest of us? Will it increase readership or sales to the media outlet? I am glad the author's decided to write the book because every roof is someone's pride and joy and everyone deserves to have a green roof if it's possible. And one has many options if they are open to the possibilities. Check it out today!

Another cool book is Green Architecture - An Asian Perspective. This is the first time I have seen an entire book on video. This a little about green walls on page 98.

Thursday, August 25, 2011

2011 Summer Music to Garden playlist

Last year I compiled a list of songs to garden to and heard that a few people like it. So here's year 2...

Green Day Sassafras Roots
Elvis PresleyGreen Grass of Home
Simon & Garfunkel Scarborough Fair
Stone Temple Pilots Wicked Garden
They Might Be GiantsC is for Conifers!
Itzhak PerlmanAntonio Vivaldi: The Four Seasons, Autumn

And if you want to find a few more songs to listen to, here's a list of songs, some of themI have never heard of.

Let me know what new tunes you dig up!

Monday, August 22, 2011

Will food prices lead to unrest?

-Predictions of social unrest in 12-24 months as a result of food prices.

-This story has been widely bounced around the net. But foraging on unused or vacant land made a
big splash in the NY Times. What's amazing to me are the details of the story, like 1 in 50 homes in Atlanta have been foreclosed. Or, one positive aspect of this misfortune, in Oregon officials offer property that has been seized for back taxes to community and governmental organizations for gardens.

-In a fantastic application of permaculture, food grown in school gardens is used in the preparation of South African school lunches.

-600 local governments, representing one-fourth of the U.S. population, have signed on to the Climate Resilient Communities program by ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability USA. Chicago is using green roofs as a part of their strategy for resisting climate change.

-If you're looking for some of the best bills in the last year check out Connecticut’s HB 6399: Setting a Path towards a Green Economy. Hopefully the task force can devise great ways to create even better green jobs.