Nov. 3, 2009, Vancouver – Green Roofs for Healthy Cities (GRHC) has selected the British Columbia Institute of Technology Centre for Architectural Ecology to conduct leading edge “green wall” research.

GRHC has also announced that BCIT will be the official academic co-host for Cities Alive, the 8th Annual Green Roof and Wall Conference to be held in Canada for the first time in Vancouver from Nov. 30 to Dec. 2 in 2010.

The green roof on the new convention centre facility in downtown Vancouver.

“Green walls have enormous potential to improve the health and well being of people by providing aesthetic benefits, filtering air pollution, reducing energy use, cutting greenhouse gases and managing stormwater,” said GRHC founder and president Steven Peck. “We are very pleased to be working with BCIT on this research, and delighted to have them as our academic co-host for Cities Alive, our eighth Annual Green Roof and Wall Conference.”

Maureen Connelly, director of the Centre for Architectural Ecology, said the grant “will allow our Centre to investigate irrigation and rainfall inputs and the runoff outputs of the living system in order to integrate living walls into the whole building water re-use systems. Additionally, the Centre will examine the rainwater interception of green facades and their capacity to shield the building envelope.”

John English, dean of BCIT’s School of Construction and The Environment and Chair of the local Cities Alive host committee, said his group “is looking forward to inviting researchers, designers and policy makers from around the world to Vancouver in 2010. We can showcase B.C.’s contributions to the global effort to develop green buildings.”

BACKGROUND

• Green Roofs for Healthy Cities is a non-profit industry association with a mission to increase awareness of the economic, social, and environmental benefits of green roofs and green walls and other forms of living architecture through education, advocacy, professional development and celebrations of excellence.

• BCIT’s School of Construction and the Environment (SOCE ) is a highly regarded educational facility focusing on the natural and built environment.

• BCIT’s Centre of Architectural Ecology began its mission in 2002 when a stakeholder workshop identified barriers to the emerging green roof industry in B.C., and agreed upon the importance of research and partnerships. The Centre conducts groundbreaking research.