Sustainable, Green Design

Shannon, I think Kevin Perry from Portland is an excellent speaker on urban storm water management. He has spoke at the last two ASLA Annual meetings and I have heard only good things about his presentations.

Ed Snodgrass is your guy if you want someone to talk about green roofs. He is also a great presenter and has written some awesome books.

Not only is it a chagrin inducing policy, it isn’t abnormal, discourages grey water system establishment (and other green ideas) and flies in the face of the idea that, since our streets are often undermined anyway and subject to mains fracture by vibration from traffic, where are the futuristic ideas gone for saving all our rainwater with pierced paving, road medians and the like with underground cisterns free from topsoil heave and vibes? Too often, storm water management means coping with surplus water so that the main street doesn’t have cars floating along it and they are confined, along with baby buggies, dead dogs, etc. to backway watercourses. Storm water saving and purification is a better phrase, maybe, together with storm water delay; limiting the degree or percentage of property frontage that can be paved over for parking so that the sponge facility frontages that used to exist – even roads with verges and medians (and trees) – is regained or retained as far as is possible. Block paving companies need to understand they cannot pave the universe but, concrete strips and/or pierced paving/hardened areas with softer ground around that are better for the environment. They can then tell clients but won’t do it unless constrained to do so. Since Basiljet built the sewers under London, as a result of the Members of Parliament ceasing to be tolerant of the smell from the River Thames, there seems to have been no real advances and, indeed, London’s sewers – including it’s many undergound rivers – now need a new Mr. Basiljet as the old works are in a dilapidated state that no amount of readymix can remedy. Sorry, rant over – lol

Luv n Lite
Les Ballard

Shannon, another suggestion for your “green theme” next year is Michael Furbish of Furbish Company Sustainable Building. Very knowledgeable about green roofs and green walls, especially on the construction and maintenance end of things.

Sounds like you have some great things planned for this year though, good work!