Large Scale Sub-irrigation

This is a schematic of the Solaire building in Battery Park City at the lower tip of Manhattan. It's from an article titled Putting Environmentalism on the Urban Map in The Business of Green: A Special Section of The New York Times. The other articles are also well worth reading. The lead article is To Revitalize a City, Try Spreading Some Mulch. I found this article about Chicago to be most informative.

Notice the similarity to subirrigation of an indoor plant in a container. It emulates plants-in-buildings subirrigation. It also emulates the way shrubs and trees get their water in nature.

I often read someone in a houseplant forum defensively attemting to justify drench and drain top watering by comparing it to nature. They erroneously state that plants get all of their water from rainfall. They should come to Southern California to gain a better understanding of how inaccurate that is.

Saving Water
The Solaire uses about half the water that a similarly sized building would by recycling it. Rainfall is also collected for reuse.
Rain Water System
1. Rainfall is held in layers below plantings on the 17th and 29th-floor gardens, which cool the roofs. It wicks up to keep plants watered.
2. In heavy rains excess water is stored in a tank for roof irrigation in dry weather.

New York Green Scene

Residential green building is on the move in New York. Read on at Greenscaper.

A Straw Built School

There are opportunities like this all over the country for businesses in the “plants in buildings” industry (interior plantscapers, garden centers, and florists) to make a significant contribution to youth education and gain recognition for doing so. Where is the leadership to make this happen?

It would not be a big investment to donate some plants installed in sub-irrigation and teach these kids about interior greenscaping. I know of no one doing this.

I’m looking forward to donating my plant lab to a worthy organization. This will free up time to volunteer to teach young people about the value of interior greenscaping in an urban environment.

Green Building - Points For Plants

Everyone with an interest in the interior plantscaping business or the green building movement should read this.

GreenScaper Is Here!

GreenScaper is our new companion blog. Here is what it is about. Please come and visit.

Greenscaping Versus Retroscaping Of Green Buildings

We continue to read about green buildings. The buzz about them is increasing. There is even a new LEED-certified green supermarket. This, by the way, looks to us like a business opportunity for an enterprising interior plantscaper.

We know that there are plants installed in many widely publicized green buildings even though they’re never listed in the green resources addenda. We see them in project photos such as here, here and here. Water saving outdoor landscaping and waterless urinals are frequently listed but not interior plants.

To omit plants from green building specifications is a significant omission. Although obviously not established at this time, let’s make an assumption for this discussion that there is acceptance of interior plants as environmentally green building products.

We hold the opinion that a green product can be less than green if improperly installed and maintained. We believe this is particularly true of interior plants. Our recent Greenbuilt Tour experience is an example.

We visited six facilities touted as green buildings. They all contained plants. They were all maintained with drench and drain retroscaping methods. All had exposed moist soil creating an environment for mold generation, allergy triggers and plant pests such as fungus gnats. All wasted water that did not need to be wasted.

Retroscaping also requires unnecessary weekly plant care. Two-week interval or more is all that is needed using greenscaping methods. The result is reduced vehicle use and a significant savings in fossil fuel with no loss of quality. This alone justifies the use of greenscaping.

The interior plantscaping industry needs to address retroscaping within its ranks before it can hope to be looked upon as green. Helping in this effort will be a significant activity of our new GreenScaper blog.

Another Greenscaping Opportunity

Lennox Township (40 miles north of Detroit) plans to follow LEED guidelines for its new municipal building. It will probably have grass on the roof. It would also be a benefit for township employees to have living plants inside. Perhaps a Detroit area interior plantscaper will step up to the plate with some plants and greenscaping technology.

A Greenscaping Opportunity

Here’s a column about green building from the Editorials/Opinion page of The Seattle Times. This isn’t about a high profile commercial green building like CH₂ it’s about affordable housing. We found it most interesting that the green building movement is moving into mainstream residential housing for low-income families.

Is this yet another opportunity for progressive interior plantscape professionals to get involved with the green building movement? Is it an opportunity to do some good? Is it a buzz opportunity. We think so. It appears to be an invitation presented on a silver platter. After all, what is most synonymous with “green amenities” in homes?

We would emphasize that for the plants to be truly "green" they need "green" care. We were appalled with what we discovered on our local "Greenbuild Tour" in October.

One of the tour stops was a Pardee Homes development. The array of houseplants was impressive. What wasn't impressive was that they were installed in common grow pots. The overly moist soil was covered by copious amounts of top dressing moss installed by a local retroscaper. These plants were anything but "green".

Six Star CH2 In Melbourne

Sewerage water and vines are energy saving features of CH₂ a most interesting green building in Melbourne, Australia. They also contribute to making this a better environment for the people working inside the building.

Be sure to watch the video of architect Mick Pearce. He says a lot in a short time.

Notice the Bamboo palms (Chamaedorea seifrizii) behind him. We wonder if they are eco-friendly, dry soil surface, water conserving palms or is someone foolishly drenching and draining them.

While researching this project, we surfed in to the website of Hansen Yuncken, builders of CH₂and looked through their portfolio. This is a healthcare facility. We noticed the Dracaena Janet Craig and decided to look closer. We've been in the business too long.

This is a big file so don't open it without a broadband connection. Scroll down and check out the lower leaves on the Dracaena. Oh, if we could just reach in there and check out how this plant is watered. Of course you would never guess what we think.

Update: Here is detailed information about the building and how it works from the City of Melbourne website.

Man On A Mission

Let's hear it for Stanley Tigerman. Maybe they need some help from an interior plantscaper. Step right up if you're in Chicago!

Excerpt: Despite all of these features, McCarrell said, the design aspect that impressed him and city officials the most was a series of gardens on the third and topmost floor of the facility.

Tigerman said these gardens would be grown in greenhouses using two methods: hydroponics and traditional gardening. What would make the gardens unique, he explained, is that mission residents would attend to them, just as some mission residents work in other positions at Pacific Garden.

Tigerman proposes that the mission residents will grow organic tomatoes that could be sold to restaurants and retailers.

“It’s one thing to teach in the secular sense; it’s quite another to do,” Tigerman said. “Instead of warehousing people, the greenhouse is an attempt to bring these people back into society by giving them jobs.”

Green Buildings For People And Hopefully Plants

Here's an excellent in-depth article about green building from The Economist. If you want to catch up on the status and history of the green building movement this is a worthwhile read.

We have no doubt that the green building movement will have a significant impact on how plants are used inside commercial spaces. In our opinion the interior plantscape industry needs to move ahead to modernize its maintenance practices to stay in step with the trend.

Plants are green, but all too often their maintenance is not. Out of date methods waste water and gasoline.

Excerpt:Green is good

But things are now changing, as green architecture moves into the mainstream. In the spring of 2003, Toyota completed a 624,000-square-foot office complex in Torrance, California, that received a LEED gold rating, thanks to the inclusion of features such as solar cells to provide up to 20% of the building's energy needs. Also last year, Pittsburgh opened the doors on its 1.5m-square-foot convention centre, the largest building to be awarded a gold LEED rating so far. The USGBC says nearly 1,700 buildings in 50 states are now seeking LEED certification and 137 have been constructed and certified so far. And America's General Services Administration, which oversees all non-military government construction, recently decreed that all new projects and renovations must meet the minimum LEED standards.

In Britain, meanwhile, 70 office buildings constructed during 2003, representing 25% of the total by floor area, met the BREEAM standard. Similar standards have been adopted in New Zealand, Australia and Canada. In China, the Beijing Organising Committee of the Olympic Games aims to host the first zero-net-emissions games, which will include constructing all buildings and sports venues using green-architecture principles.

Green Building For People And Plants

This is all about "green building" in every sense of the word. The word is conservatory. We've had two excellent articles stashed away. Here they are for your Sunday reading and dreaming.

Some call them sunrooms or solariums, the Brits call them conservatories. We like this traditional name because it sounds more residential, more homelike, than greenhouse. Solariums and sunrooms sound like a place only for old people.

While they may be synonyms, our perception is people and plants live in conservatories while only plants live in greenhouses. Your favorite chair is waiting for you.

Excerpts:

From the UK: In the UK, where our weather is less then reliable, their popularity is easy to understand - they let us bring the outside in, giving us a chance to enjoy the great outdoors from the luxury and warmth of a great indoor space - all year round.

From the US: In England, he says, "one of every five homes has some kind of greenhouse. ... They've grown up with them, they know how to do it. That's not true here — greenhouses are not part of our gardening history. But we're getting started on a new adventure here."

LEED Existing Buildings

PAW newsletter comment posted yesterday - Numerous LEED professionals suggested that we might want to lobby the LEED EB (Existing Buildings) committee rather than CI as EB deals more with "ongoing" operational efficiencies--in particular air quality.

This is the U.S. Green Building Council web page with information about LEED-EB (pdf file).

LEED Commercial Interiors

The U.S. Green Building Council has announced LEED-CI (pdf file) a new rating system for commercial interiors. LEED is an acronym for Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design.

Where does interior plantscaping fit in to this green building rating system? Read this status report from PAW.

Excerpt from Plants At Work (PAW) newsletter of November 24, 2004 - LEED Effort Status

The new LEED-CI, approved last week is the third rating system developed by the USGBC serving all aspects of the building including owners, occupants, interior designers and architects.

Except for the term "organic landscaping" under the Innovative in Design section, plants have yet to be directly incorporated into the language of the LEED rating system.

We are currently researching the projects that HAVE utilized plant programs for Innovative credits to secure endorsements and broaden our appleal. Meanwhile, our 'grass roots' voice has been heard and recorded! As a matter of fact all of our comments were posted directly on the USGBC site until this final draft was approved on November 17th.

Consistently the USGBC suggests that the best arena for interior plants to glean LEED points is under the Innovative sections of the application. Last week at the USGBC's annual GreenBuild Conference, Plants at Work presented a white paper and poster titled "Authentically Green Interiors: Optimizing Natures Technology," based on information from the Genzyme Center.

Numerous LEED professionals suggested that we might want to lobby the LEED EB (Existing Buildings) committee rather than CI as EB deals more with "ongoing" operational efficiencies--in particular air quality.

We again encourage you to utilize the Plants at Work poster, presentation and research binders and actively participate in your LOCAL USGBC chapters. It is critical that we all play an active role at the local level in order to reinforce national efforts educating and influencing the USGBC. See the link below for a nearest chapter.

Nearest chapter

Green Building News

Interior Business reports on Plants At Work (PAW) participation at the annual International Facility Management Association's (IFMA) World Workplace Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah in October.

Next stop is GreenBuild International Conference and Expo opening today in Portland, Oregon. It is produced by the U.S. Green Building Council.

Excerpt: The council has faced down critical decisions about purity versus further expansion, recently opting to deny trade associations membership for fear of pressures for what insiders call "greenwashing" -- fashioning a camouflage of eco-sensitivity without the performance.

GreenBuilt Tour

We went on the San Diego GreenBuilt Tour 2004 yesterday. The tour was well organized and extremely informative. We thank and congratulate San Diego Earthworks, producers of the tour. We learned much and thoroughly enjoyed the time spent and the friendly people we met.

Every one of the sites we visited had an impressive array of sustainable building features and products. Every one also had interior plants. Every one also had moist soil created from drench and drain top watering. This was true of both professionally maintained and owner maintained plants.

While we have no way of scientifically measuring the consequences of this moist soil, it was most certainly contrary to the intent and spirit of green building. How can we have waterless urinals, boards made from sunflower seed hulls, xeriscaping and yet have interior plants capable of producing molds, insect pests, and wasted water?

It’s easy, because there is little or no consumer education about the potential hazards of drench and drain watering. It is little understood that the soil surface remains dry at all times with measured sub-irrigation. Neither molds nor fungus gnats can survive in this dry soil environment.

This excerpt is from "Indoor Air Pollution: An Introduction for Health Professionals" Co-sponsored by: The American Lung Association (ALA), The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), and The American Medical Association (AMA) U.S. Government Printing Office Publication No. 1994-523-217/81322, 1994 [EPA 402-R-94-007, 1994]

Excerpt: While decorative foliage plants may be aesthetically pleasing, it should be noted that overdamp planter soil conditions may actually promote growth of unhealthy microorganisms.

There is an ongoing effort by Plants At Work to get interior plants included in the LEED rating process. This is a worthy and justifiable objective but misses the mark if it does not include the process of maintaining them. The green benefits of plants disappear if the plant care process is brown. That is what we observed yesterday.

San Diego Greenbuilt Tour

On Oct. 23, San Diego EarthWorks will host the fourth annual GreenBuilt Tour, a self-guided tour of homes and businesses.

Here is a tour map with photo links below. We see indoor plants in these photos and wonder how many of them are 'greenscaped' and how many are watered by environmentally unsound drench and drain methods.

We'll take the tour and you can be sure we'll be proselytizing about greenscaping.

Green-Building Event

Here's news about another building in Arizona. It's an icon of a very different sort.

Green Building Tours

The City of Santa Monica is offering two green buiding tours. The Commercial Green Building Tour registration has closed. The free self-guided Green Home and Landscape Tour on Saturday, October 2, 2004; 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.is still open for registration.

The Santa Monica Environmental Programs Division website contains a wealth of green information. Scroll down to the EPD Sitemap.

A Green, Green Building

The new Genzyme HQ building (with 18 indoor gardens) in Cambridge, MA has generated much publicity. A recent PAW newsletter linked to this article with a video clip worth viewing. Check it out. How would you like to work in an environment like this?