Vancouver’s Mayor Gregor Robertson and activist Majora Carter visited the Alexander Street Green roof (now known as Strawberry Fields) in 2009. Majora and Gregor were on the roof as part of the Strathcona Business Improvement Association’s Sustainability 2.0 conference. Majora Carter is the founder of Sustainable South Bronx and the Majora Carter Group, which created the first waterfront park in South Bronx in 60 years, created a successful green collar job training and placement centre, and has fought for environmental justice neighbourhoods as part of their “strategy to move under-performing communities into a healthy and productive economic conditions.” You can watch her amazing 2007 TED talk here.

Photo credit: Jim Park at Eclipse Awards

Though local restaurant owners told me the green wall had been built by the municipal government, there was no information posted about it’s design or purpose. It was likely built as part of Mexico City’s Plan Verde. According to the municipal government website, Mexico City has plans to attack the issues of air quality, water scarcity and climate change though a series of ambitious projects. Green walls and roofs are one aspect of the plan, but the idea has been controversial because of the high cost of green roofs. Plan Verde also includes plans for new bus and subways lines and extensive bike pathways.

The plants were in what looked like heavy duty nursery containers attached to the wall. They were watered daily via a hidden irrigation system.

The wall was really surprising in the heart of a city renowned for it’s smog, but the people working and eating around it didn’t show much curiousity, and no one seemed to know why it had been built in a small back alley near Avenida Cinco de mayo and Calle Palma. It’s too bad that the Mexico City government hasn’t put any signage near the green wall, as it would be a great opportunity to educate people about sustainable technologies. However, it looks as though environmentalist’s worry that Plan Verde would be stymied by “lack of public outreach” could be valid.

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Alexander Green Roof

Mulch blowing the growing media two stories up

I had to rake the growing media out. The media is a mix of organic matter and lightweight aggregate.

Shoveling the growing medium

Here is the roof mid-planting. Parts of this green roof are six inches deep, so we can grow plants that have deeper roots than sedums, such as Irises and Fescues.

Alexander roof during planting

Alexander Street roof in summer 2008

The roof was quite old, and in order to make the building more energy efficient, Eclipse Awards replaced the bitumen roof with a white roof  (thermoplastic polyolefin [TPO]). Instead of absorbing sunlight and heating the building, like a black roof does, white roofs reflect sunlight back into the atmosphere, and they don’t transfer nearly as much heat into the building. This should help Eclipse Awards save substantially on their cooling costs in the summer. The three skylights will let in natural light, which will also help save energy and money.

In addition, Eclipse Awards wanted to add a small green roof to act as a demonstration for other businesses that might want to adopt this technology. The first step was to build the frame and line it with a drainage layer:

Alexander in progress

Three rows of berries at the YWCA

Berry guard

Mason Bee Condo

The YWCA is part of the Mason Bee Vancouver project. The garden provides a home for Blue Orchard Mason Bees, a native, non-aggressive species which pollinated the rooftop garden and surroundings all summer.