Our current climate demonstrates the need for strong local economies and resilient solutions. Urban agriculture is a productive form of green infrastructure that supports local economies, creates jobs, improves access to fresh produce, and increases biodiversity. GRHC brings together urban and rooftop agriculture experts to share the benefits and challenges around urban agriculture to advocate for green roof and policy implementation and drive the industry forward.
Gain a holistic understanding of green roof substrates and the hydrological impact of productive green roofs with Jeremy Wright from Zinco Canada. Learn how agrivoltaics are redefining urban agriculture with Jennifer Bousselot and explore the compelling case study with Roxanne Miller of the award winning IGA's rooftop farm project - the first grocery store rooftop garden in Canada!
Admission fee: $50 USD
Approval for 3 credits from AIA CES, and GRP credits
Approval for 2 credits from LA CES
Sponsored by
| Time EST | Speaker | Topic | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 1:00pm | Eric Durnford, Director of Business Development, Green Roofs for Healthy Cities | Introductory Remarks | 1:10pm | Jennifer Bousselot, Ph.D., GRP, Assistant Professor of Horticulture, Colorado State University | Introduction to the Future: Rooftop Agrivoltaics The trends from agrivoltaic research under field conditions show that the solar panels benefit from the cooling effect provided by evapotranspiration from the cropping system. Reciprocally, the crops benefit from the partial shading provided by the panels, especially if semitransparent solar panels are deployed to allow additional light to reach the plants. If the trends that exist in research where green roof systems and solar panels are combined can be used as an example, the growing conditions under the solar panels will provide a more protected location for horticultural crops to be grown |
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| 1:35pm | Jeremy Wright, MASc, Business Development and Project Manager, Zinco Canada Inc | Productive Green Roofs and the Opportunity for Water Re-use
This presentation will look at current research being conducted by the Ryerson Resilience Engineering Lab and ZinCo Canada on the productivity of green roof substrate to support vegetable production, as well as the evapotranspiration rates of vegetables in a green roof system. Generate a holistic understanding of green roof substrates, and the hydrological impact of productive green roofs. |
2:00pm | Max Meighen, Founder of Avling Brewery and Serviette Magazine | Avling Brewery Rooftop Farm: Case Study
This presentation will discuss the sustainability and circularity of the Avling Brewery Green Rooftop farm. |
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| 2:25pm | Q&A |
| 2:40pm |
Break |
| 2:55pm |
Roxanne Miller, Directrice SOPRANATURE® Canada |
Award Winning IGA Duchemin's Rooftop Farm: A Case Study
| This presentation will provide an overview of different economic and operational models of open rooftop farming. It will include a review for opportunities for revenue generation and important design principles. The Award Winning IGA's rooftop farm is one of the first supermarkets in Canada to sell produce grown on its own roofs. The first store to use an irrigation system with water recovered from its dehumidification system and measure 25,000 square feet, it’s the largest organic garden on a supermarket rooftop. She will discuss how it came to be and what is needed to produce, harvest and sell all the great products grown on this urban agriculture green roof. Learn how this great project came to be and what it implies to produce fresh local food on a roof. 3:20pm |
Mark Winterer, Director of Operations, Recover Green Roofs, LLC |
Why on Earth Grow Vegetables on a Roof?
| Learning topics discussed will include: Practical applications of rooftop farms. Cost implications of building and maintaining a rooftop farm. How to identify the drivers behind the desire to create a rooftop farm. If the driver for constructing a rooftop farm is profit, how do you structure the project to achieve that goal? If the driver behind the rooftop farm is not profit, what goals are you trying to achieve and what structures must you put in place to achieve them? 3:45pm |
Steven W. Peck, GRP, Hon. ASLA, Founder & President of Green Roofs for Healthy Cities |
The Economics of Successful Rooftop Farming
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This presentation will provide an overview of different economic and operational models of open rooftop farming. It will include a review for opportunities for revenue generation and important design principles. Learn about how to make rooftop farming economically sustainable. Learn about different revenue strategies. Learn about design objectives that support revenue. 4:05pm |
Q&A |
| 4:20pm |
Break |
| 4:30pm |
Panel Discussion with Roxanne Miller, Jeremy Wright, Jennifer Bousselot, Steven Peck, Mark Winterer, Max Meighen, David Yocca, Henry Gordon-Smith and Michelle Lalonde |
Discussing opportunities and constraints associated with accelerating the adoption of urban agriculture projects. | |