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Grey to Green Virtual Conference

Green Roofs for Healthy Cities (GRHC) is excited to announce the Grey to Green Conference, to be held virtually on June 22 from 10am – 4:30pm and June 23 from 10am – 6pm est.  Cost: $175 USD for one day, or $349 USD for both days. © Green Roofs for Healthy Cities The goal of this virtual green infrastructure conference is to help inform the current policy debate by making the case for a rapid and significant increase in green infrastructure investment in our COVID-19 recovery. Grey to Green will feature a variety of sessions including standard panel discussions and ask an expert sessions. The conference will also have virtual networking so you can catch up with other attendees and share insights on green infrastructure. It will also include a Future Proof Design Jam, where a select number of attendees will reinvent six real urban spaces in Canada through the lens of green infrastructure. Admission to the Future Proof Design Jam is FREE for all 2 Day Conference Registrants, but space is limited. Speakers include: • Peter Kindel, AIA, RIBA, ASLA, on the tenets of Biomorphic Urbanism and illustrates how these design principles can restore natural systems while enhancing the human experience. • Cecil Konijnendijk, Director, Nature Based Solutions Institute, will be presenting on the evidence-based guidelines for greener cities: the case of the 3-30-300 rule. • Henry Gordon-Smith, Founder & CEO of Agritecture, on exploring the Role of Urban Food Production in future-proofing our cities. • Jennifer Bousselot, Ph.D., GRP, Assistant Professor of Horticulture, Colorado State University, will be at the ask an expert session to discuss everything and anything related to agrivoltaics.

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Cities Alive Conference again in life: October-16-19th in Philadelphia

CitiesAlive 2022 Call for Proposals & Call for research Papers now open! Submit your Proposal by Saturday April 30, 2022 CitiesAlive 2022 have officially launched their Call for Session Proposals and Call for Research Papers! They welcome all interested parties to submit a proposal for a 30, 60, or 90 minute Session Proposal (general presentation, not research specific), or a 10-30 minute Research Presentation (must include abstract to be peer reviewed by a panel of qualified CitiesAlive Advisory Committee academics). Submissions are due by April 30th, 2022. You are invited to review the submission process and related criteria for submitting by clicking here. CitiesAlive® is back in 2022 in Philadelphia at the DoubleTree by Hilton – Philadelphia City Center. The conference will be held from Sunday October 16th to Tuesday October 18th, with an additional day of tours on Wednesday October 19th. The theme of this year’s conference is Green Infrastructure & Water in a Changing Climate. Water is critical to the health and resiliency of our communities. Over the last several years, Philadelphia has become a green infrastructure leader through creative policy solutions that work to create vibrant community spaces while managing stormwater. In 2011 the Philadelphia Water department implemented a plan to invest $1.2 Billion over the next 25 years. CitiesAlive® 2022 is a multi-disciplinary conference, bringing together the best designers, product manufacturers, researchers, and policy makers in the field of living architecture and green infrastructure. Attendees will hear from leading-edge designers, discussing their innovative approaches and newest projects. We will be highlighting progressive policies and showcasing the latest research. Join us in shaping a better, more resilient future. For more information visit www.citiesalive.org Marketing and Promotional Opportunities Brochure 

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The Green roof Association of Switzerland will celebrate their 25th Anniversary on June 22nd

On 22 June 2022, SFG will celebrate it’s 25th anniversary with a full-day event on current topics of building green. Help shape the future – plan, debate, discuss common myths; the cityscape of tomorrow; and how climate resilience and human well-being can be improved. The SFG-jubilee event on 25th of June will be an opportunity to connect European Green roof activities. The networking event with WGIN, EFB and national representatives of several organizations will focus on current trends in Green infrastructure in Switzerland. The ecosystem services of green infrastructure and green buildings help us to tackle current and future challenges such as biodiversity promotion, urban heat island, air and quality of life and to actively shape the green city of the future. Join the discussion to shape the future! Speakers include: • Raphael Lanz, Mayor of Thun • Claudia Moll, deputy chairman of Thun, Head of Section Landscape Policy, Federal Office for the Environment FOEN. • Conrad Amber, nature-thinking author, consultant, photographer from Dornbirn. • Beat Kohler, Grand Councillor of the Canton of Bern and chief editor of the trade journal “Erneuerbare Energien” • Markus Weibel, Head of Stadtgrün Thun • Jürg Grossen, Member of the National Council, President green liberals and swissolar • Martin Vinzens, Head of section Settlement and Landscape, Federal Office for Spatial Development ARE • Hanspeter Latour, Nature with Latour • Nathalie Baumann and Anke Domschky, Research Group Green Space Development, Institute for Environment and Natural Resources, ZHAW • Daniel Bärtschi, Head of Agriculture and Food at Quantis Switzerland, President Agricultura Regeneratio and author • Nicolas Disch, Project Manager Green City of Zurich, Funding Programmes Biodiversity and Vertical Greening • Stefan Herfort, Head of Nature and Landscape Protection City of Lucerne • Stefan Oberholzer, Head of the SFOE Research Programme Photovoltaics, Federal Office of Energy ARE Further informationSave the date flyerRegister now

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Green roofs featured in Portuguese-speaking media

© Getty Images The director of Instituto Cidade Jardim and Brazilian WGIN board member, Sérgio Rocha, participated in an interview for the channel Um Só Planeta (One Planet) published in early April. Together with the researcher Priscila Stark, they presented to readers and listeners of the Portuguese language the case study of the city of Munich, talking about the historical roots and the evolution of this technology that is changing for better the urban climate of European cities. Um Só Planeta brings together the stories of journalists from 21 brands of Globo companies that are committed to writing a new future for the Earth. Valor Econômico, O Globo, Extra, Época, Época NEGÓCIOS, Galileu, Marie Claire, Quem, Crescer, Casa e Jardim, Globo Rural, Small Business & Big Business, AutoEsporte, TechTudo, Vogue, Casa Vogue, GQ, Glamour, CBN participate , Rádio Globo and BH FM. Read here Listen here

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EU chapter

Smartly combining green infrastructure and solar installations can transform Europe’s built environment

Solar panels on a green roof with flowering sedum plants. ID: 1984038584 The European Solar Rooftops Initiative presents a unique opportunity to maximize the impact for cities and citizens promoting the combination of green infrastructure and solar installations on every rooftop and impervious surface where it is economically and technically feasible. The energy crisis, exacerbated by the tragic invasion of Ukraine, has shown how serious Europe’s energy dependence on Russia’s natural gas and oil is. European Governments and the international community are now working on short- and medium-term solutions to increase energy security. These include, among others, plans to diversify energy supplies, the very bad idea to reopen nuclear plants and return to coal, and the excellent idea to boost renewable energy sources. Investing in energy efficiency and renewable energy should have been our governments first political priority for energy security for decades. With the recent release of REPowerEU, a Joint European Action for more affordable, secure and sustainable energy, the European Commission recommends deploying 420 GW of solar capacity by 2030. As part of this effort, the Commission “will present in June a communication on solar energy with the aim of helping unlock solar energy’s potential as a major renewable energy source in the EU. Based on an analysis of the state of play of solar energy across the EU, the solar strategy will propose a European Solar Rooftops Initiative, which will identify barriers, propose measures to accelerate the roll-out and ensure that the public can fully reap the benefits of rooftop solar energy”. The European Solar Rooftops Initiative presents a unique opportunity to maximize the impact for cities and citizens promoting the combination of green infrastructure and solar installations on every rooftop and impervious surface where it is economically and technically feasible. Biosolar installations, which combine green roof and solar energy technologies together, would change our urban environment. Individual homes, building blocks and local energy communities would satisfy their energy needs with solar energy produced on site or nearby. Green roofs and other forms of vegetation would increase urban biodiversity. From an energy perspective, by reducing stormwater runoff and urban heat island effect, green roofs could also significantly decrease the energy required to treat rainwater and cool our cities while also increasing the production efficiency of rooftop solar installations by anywhere from 5 to 15 per cent. Green roofs also provide the ability to ballast racking systems for solar panels without any roofing penetrations. And because green roofs protect the underlying waterproofing, extending its life expectancy beyond 40 years, there is no need to remove solar panels and reroof in the future. Citizens would support biosolar installations. Property value would increase, home and cities would be more beautiful, more energy performant and healthier place to live in. And health and wellbeing in the difficult times of COVID pandemic are a top priority for individuals and communities. Read the full article Living Architecture Monitor (LAM) is a quarterly publication first published in 1998. It features in-depth interviews with leaders in the green building movement, opinions, research, and green roof and wall project profiles.

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CitiesAlive Virtual 2021

The rapid deployment of green roofs and walls is paramount to addressing climate change and preparing our communities for the negative extreme weather impacts which are already taking lives and costing billions in damages. In response to the ongoing COVID 19 Pandemic, Green Roofs for Healthy Cities, Green Infrastructure Foundation, and the World Green Infrastructure Network have teamed up to bring you CitiesAlive Virtual 2021, combining outstanding world class speakers with cutting edge emerging professionals. CitiesAlive® Virtual 2021 is a multi-disciplinary conference, bringing together the best designers, product manufacturers, researchers, and policy makers in the field of living architecture and green infrastructure. Attendees will hear from leading-edge designers, discussing their innovative approaches and newest projects. We will be highlighting progressive policies and showcasing the latest research. Join us in shaping a better, more resilient future, as we emerge stronger from COVID-19 pandemic. More information here.

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EU chapter

Renaturing our cities for climate action and citizens’ wellbeing – Open letter to the EU Commission

Boosting the uptake of green infrastructure through new EU rules on buildings’ energy performance can lead the way for decarbonised, healthier and more biodiverse buildings and cities, 36 organisations representing industry associations, companies, universities, think tanks and NGOs, wrote in an open letter to the European Commission. “The built environment is a core area of the Union’s decarbonisation efforts in the next ten years. We believe that green infrastructure, with the support of the right legislative framework, can play a key role both for climate mitigation and in supporting urban areas to adapt to a changing climate”, write the co-signatories. They underline that with urban population projected to further grow in most European regions, investing in the switch from grey to Blue-Green Infrastructure must be a priority to renature our cities, reduce their carbon footprint and improve the health and wellbeing of their residents. The 36 organisations call on the Commission to introduce in its proposal for the revision of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) mandatory provisions for the integration of green infrastructure in new and renovated buildings. In particular, they recommend to: Systematically integrate green infrastructure in a new Zero Emission Building standard and require combination with solar renewables installations (bio-solar roofs) such as solar thermal and/or photovoltaic energy; Require commercial and public buildings, undertaking renovations, to install green roofs and walls in combination with solar renewables installations (bio-solar roofs) such as solar thermal and/or photovoltaic energy; Require Member States to provide incentives for large residential buildings occupying a land surface of 400m2, and more, and undertaking renovations to install green roofs in combination with solar renewables installations (bio-solar roofs) such as solar thermal and/or photovoltaic energy. European citizens will support these actions, as the recent lockdowns stressed the importance of access to nature and green spaces for people’s mental and physical health and general wellbeing, the letter states. With the right legislative framework, we can make nature and green areas accessible to all by installing vegetation on billions of square meters of roofs and impervious surfaces which would be otherwise unused. Read and download the full letter here Note to the editor: The European Commission is expected to present a proposal for the revision of the EU Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) in December 2021.

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How green roofs can help cut emissions from buildings, save energy and benefit householders | Webinar

The Renovation Wave strategy adopted by the European Commission in October 2020 requires the EU building stock to reduce its emissions by 60% and its final energy consumption by 14% by 2030. Urban green infrastructure is listed among the seven key principles for building renovation, while in the conclusions the Commission outlines its vision to turn the building stock “from a carbon source into a carbon sink”. This webinar, part of the EU Sustainable Energy Week Extended Programme, provided insights on the benefits of green infrastructure in terms of energy efficiency, water management, and citizens’ wellbeing and discuss their role in the decarbonisation of the EU building stock. The session also addressed the upcoming revision of related EU policies, starting from the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD), and assessed the opportunity of integrating green infrastructure in the EU legislative framework. Date and time: Tuesday 19 October 2021, 10:30 – 12:00 AGENDA Welcome and moderation Katarzyna Wardal, EU Public Affairs Manager, Knauf Insulation Setting the scene: green infrastructure and buildings in the EU policy framework Brigitte Jacquemont, Policy Officer, Energy Efficiency: Buildings & Products, DG Energy, European Commission Bio-solar roofs: how green roofs can save energy and increase solar PV performance – download the slides Thomas Gretschmann, General Application Engineer, Optigruen Save energy and costs for municipalities by retaining and detaining storm water Stephan Beerends, Director Trade, Sempergreen Greener and healthier buildings to benefit households João Gonçalves, Director of Innovation, Housing Europe Q&A Concluding remarks Marta Weber Siwirska, President, Polish Green Roofs Association; Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Science The EU Sustainable Energy Week (EUSEW) is the main EU policy conference on clean energy. It brings together public authorities, private companies, NGOs and consumers to promote initiatives to save energy and move towards renewables for clean, secure and efficient power.

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Webinar Innovation for future-proof cities

12 OCTOBER 2021 Sempergreen Academy is organising her first webinar with the topic “Innovation for future-proof cities – effective climate adaptation strategies to counter urban flooding”. In this webinar meteorologist Roosmarijn Knol and Dr. Anna Zakrisson (Green Roof Diagnostics) discuss both the causes and possible solutions to the sometimes devastating effects of climate change. The importance of climate-resilient cities We can no longer deny it. The negative effects of climate change are becoming more frequent and more severe. This year we’ve seen the flooding of many cities, followed by the destruction of infrastructure and even loss of human life. It is therefore of great importance that our cities are made climate-resilient as soon as possible. How do you design a future-proof city? In the free webinar Roosmarijn Knol, meteorologist at Infoplaza, explains the causes of flooding from a meteorogical viewpoint. Followed by Dr. Anna Zakrisson, Vice President of European Affairs at Green Roof Diagnostics, who will present various scientific solutions in terms of sustainable urban planning and climate-adaptive architecture. One of these solutions, for example, is the collection of rainwater directly where it falls, instead of it ending up in an already overloaded sewer system. The free webinar is open to everyone, including policy makers, municipalities, urban planners, developers and architects, who wish to make their city climate adaptive. Date: Tuesday 12 October 2021 Time: 13:00-14:00 CET Language: English Sign up for the free webinar here. About Sempergreen Academy Sempergreen Academy arose from Sempergreen’s mission to create a greener and more liveable world. The sharing of knowledge is an important part of achieving this goal. We can’t move forward without the right information in the right place. That is why Sempergreen has decided to partner with experts to share insights and extensive knowledge regarding green solutions and other related topics through Sempergreen Academy. Sempergreen is worldwide market leader and producer of green roofs and living walls. About Green Roof Diagnostics Green Roof Diagnostics provides unbiased, scientific research for the green infrastructure industry. Recognizing a lack of rigorous, verifiable methods for evaluating green roof and urban stormwater infrastructure performance, the Green Roof Diagnostics team has combined extensive experience in engineering, scientific research methods, and industry best practices to develop innovative, reputable testing protocols specifically adapted to urban infrastructure projects.

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