Lecture: Is the Grass Really Greener?

Kaarin Patterson | Oct 28, 10:45 AM | digg del.icio.us

New York's Urban Green Council is sponsoring a lecture and discussion about the cost/benefits of promoting green roofs in urban areas and challenges in the implementation on a citywide scale. This event is for Tuesday, November 2 and unfortunately there is an admission price, great deal if you have student status.

Here's the UGC's description:

November 2nd: Is the Grass Really Greener?

Green Roofs have been touted as the solution to various environmental issues, including the urban heat island effect, storm water overflow and promoting increased biodiversity in the urban environment. White Roofs (reflective roof coatings) and Blue Roofs (rooftop stormwater retention) are less expensive, less complicated alternatives that target some of these same issues but come with their own set of long term performance issues.

Question: Given limited financial resources to address energy efficiency, the heat island effect, stormwater management, and urban biodiversity should government agencies and building owners prioritize green, white or blue roofs? This highly regarded panel includes designers with direct experience installing the systems under discussion, academics whose research has focused on green roof performance, and policy experts who have grappled with implementation of incentives or mandates related to green roofs.

Signe Nielsen, Principal, Mathews Nielsen

Leslie Hoffman, Executive Director, Earthpledge

Dr. Stuart Gaffin, Associate Research Scientist, Columbia University

Dr. Hashem Akbari, Professor, Department of Building, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Concordia University

Craig Silvertooth, Executive Director, Center for Environmental Innovation in Roofing

Moderator:
Laurie Kerr, Senior Policy Analyst, NYC Mayor's Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability

This link has details about tickets and location:

http://joinus.urbangreencouncil.org/site/Calendar?view=Detail&id=102601