Green Roofs for Healthy Cities North America (GRHC)
Organization Background and Objectives
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n 1999, Green Roofs for Healthy Cities, a small network consisting of public and private organizations, was founded as a direct result of a research project on the benefits of green roofs and barriers to industry development entitled "Greenbacks from Green Roofs" prepared by Steven Peck, Monica Kuhn, Dr. Brad Bass and Chris Callaghan. Green Roofs for Healthy Cities - North America Inc. is now a rapidly growing not-for-profit industry association working to promote the industry throughout North America. In 2004, Green Roofs for Healthy Cities became a formal industry association registered as a not-for-profit 501(c)(6). It is managed under contract to the Cardinal Group Inc., the firm that originally established the organization, and run by an independent board. Our Board Members include:
Board of Directors
- Chair: Jeffrey Bruce, Jeffrey L. Bruce & Co. LLC click here for bio
- Immediate Past Chair: Peter Lowitt, Devens Enterprise Commission click here for bio
- Treasurer: Paul Sheehy, Tremco Canada. click here for bio
- Secretary: Dan Slone, McGuire Woods LLP click here for bio
- Chair, Corporate Members Committee: Oscar Warmerdam, Sempergreen USA
click here for bio
- Chair, Policy Committee: Hamid Karimi, Ph.D., Government of the District of Columbia click here for bio
- Chair, Research Committee: Dr. Bill Retzlaff, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville click here for bio
- Chair, Green Infrastructure Foundation: Michael Krause, Kandiyohi Development Partners click here for bio
- Chair, Technical Standards Committee: David Yocca, Conservation Design Forum click here for bio
- President: Steven Peck, Green Roofs for Healthy Cities click here for bio
Our Mission
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reen Roofs for Healthy Cities’ mission is to increase the 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.
Although the current market does not value many of the tangible public and private benefits of green roofs and walls to their full potential, we are striving to facilitate changes that will bring these technologies to the forefront of high performance restorative green building design, implementation and maintenance. The development of the green roof and wall market requires that we:
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Research the public and private building and community-wide benefits of green roofs and walls in various cities and climate zones across North America.
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Develop and provide value added products and services to our membership base.
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Engage a wide variety of stakeholders and educate the general public on the many social, economic and environmental benefits of green infrastructure.
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Establish cost effective public policies to recognize the public benefits and fund the widespread implementation of green infrastructure thereby helping to reduce the higher upfront capital costs associated with green roof and wall technologies.
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Develop professional training and accreditation courses to facilitate excellence in green roof and wall design, implementation and maintenance.
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Facilitate the international exchange of information on policies, products, science and research.
Our Products and Services
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reen Roofs for Healthy Cities and its members are dedicated to developing the market for green roof and wall products and services in North America. To achieve this goal, Green Roofs for Healthy Cities:
- Markets the goods and services offered by our Corporate and Individual members and works to raise the profile of its non-profit and government members.
- Develops consensus on key training and accreditation requirements, and develops and delivers courses, such as Green Roof Design 101, which support our Corporate members through product samples and descriptions in our course materials and participants manual.
- Generates project referrals for its members – directly and indirectly through our website on an ongoing basis. In addition to a Corporate Members' directory, our website features a searchable database of Individual members, which tracks their professional development, profiles projects and helps generate project leads.
- Gathers data on industry size and composition from Corporate members.
- Presents Awards of Excellence to celebrate the most integrative green roof and wall projects in North America and to recognize a champion in the public service for their support of the industry.
- Organizes CitiesAlive, an annual green roof and wall conference and trade show. CitiesAlive 2010 took place in Vancouver, British Columbia, from November 30th to December 3rd, and CitiesAlive 2011 will be held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from November 29th to December 3rd. The conference is co-hosted by the local city, which helps to develop supportive policies for market development.
- Offers Conference proceedings showcasing the policy, project and research information presented at our Conferences via the Living Architecture Academy.
- Collects and publishes technical data on green roof and wall performance and project, policy, and industry developments in the Living Architecture Monitor™, our quarterly magazine. Provides discounted advertising for Corporate members.
- Facilitates business-to-business networking and joint ventures.
- Acts as a catalyst to establish research and demonstration projects and promotes comprehensive approaches to green roof and wall research and cost-benefit analysis at the local government level, in part through our Research Committee.
- Promotes the development of supportive green roof public policies through our Green Roof Symposia in partnership with local governments and other stakeholders while providing opportunities for Corporate members to display goods and services.
- Establishes positive working relationships with related professional associations in North America and internationally such as CaGBC, USGBC, ASLA, RCI, AIA, US Composting Council for cross promotion of events and continuing education.
- Provides general information on green roofs and walls to the public through media relations and by visiting related trade shows, such as the ASLA Annual Meeting, Greenbuild, and the AIA National Convention.
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