Green Roof and Fire Resistance...

Brian stumbled across this video prepared by LiveRoof for their prevegetated modules showing a test to determine flammability of green roof plant material and components. Exposed to flames for 10 minutes, the plant material in direct contact with the fire burned without spreading to adjacent planting.

LiveRoof also has a video on their channel showing a wind test, subjecting the tray system to 110 mph winds for a 2 hr. period with no plant upheaval from the high speed winds.

Making Sprawl cheaper for developers...

Who knew that design fees were a primary reason that developers of sprawl were having such a hard time getting projects off the ground? Now, through SiteOps, civil engineers can cut construction costs and presumably design fees by finding the most efficient way to lay out sprawl!

Maybe instead of trying to figure out which parking layout is the most effective for a limited-use big box store, they should consult designers of mixed use 'places' that provide flexibility, adaptability, and hold their value for the long term. A guy can wish, can't he?

Seattle and stormwater...

High Point HopeIV project in West Seattle with green street/ bioswale planting strips

Seattle is in the process of updating their stormwater code by requiring green infrastructure such as green roofs and bioretention. New regulations as proposed would reduce the square footage of impervious area to 2,000 and any land disturbing activity greater than 7,000 sf "would be required to implement green stormwater infrastructure to the maximum extent feasible."

As is usually the case, the Pacific Northwest is setting the standard for green infrastructure.

New York's Golden Age....

I'm a sucker for historic Black and White photos of cities and stumbled on this gallery at Life that I thought some might enjoy. There are some fantastic images of signature architecture as well as life in the city.

Sitephocus September 09 update...

We uploaded photos from Brian's recent trip to the LA area about a week ago. The following is a batch of images from the full upload.

Sitephocus.com

Mission Meridian Village streetscape view in South Pasadena

Santa Monica
One Colorado streetscape scene with outdoor dining cafes
The Third Street Promenade



Miscellaneous shots in Santa Monica


Pasadena
Old Town Pasadena intersection with cyclist

Del Mar Station, a Transit Oriented Development adjacent (and actually over) a Light Rail line.


Paseo Colorado mixed use development/ lifestyle center

A Good Read - A Walk in the Woods....

Not the AT, but you get the idea

This book may be dated for some, but thought I'd go ahead and recommend A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson. The book chronicles Bill's attempts and experiences of hiking the Appalachian Trail. Filled with humorous analogies and interesting characters and places on the trail, the book has some great sections of narrative on the modern American landscape.

From historic and current information on the National Park Service to stories of bewilderment that someone might actually walk a mile to Kmart AND end up worse off than had he hiked 20 miles on the trail, Bryson continually references the auto-dependent society we've become and the sameness the American landscape has become due to that dependence.

With today's current infrastructure discussions of deferred maintenance and the ever-increasing costs, I was surprised that back in 1997, the NPS had a repair backlog of $6 billion dollars. I'm beginning to sense a theme that future generations will be bearing the brunt of our misinvestments.

urbanSHED International Design Competition

courtesy urbanSHED

For those interested in competitions, here's something that might be of interest...

From urbanSHED:

urbanSHED International Design Competition challenges designers to conceptualize a cutting-edge sidewalk shed to protect pedestrians, improve the pedestrian experience– and make New York City even more attractive for generations to come.

Sitephocus feedback survey...

We've previously sent out this feedback survey for our subscribers and update list to help guide us as we look to improve sitephocus.com through new features and our photography. If you're interested, take a few minutes to go through the survey and let us know your thoughts. Feel free to take the view that you're already a subscriber or what would make sitephocus more appealing to your or your office.

Sitephocus feedback survey

Additionally, if you're interested in being on our monthly update email list, drop me a line at cwhitis sitephocus.com.

more Webcasts...

Following on the theme of webcasts, Harvard GSD as quite a few archived from past presentations and thought it might be of interest to some...

Green Infrastructure Webcast....

Bioswale at the South Waterfront, Portland, OR

Our office recently viewed a great webcast put on by the EPA that provides good background info on green infrastructure and stormwater. The first half is by Steve Wise at the Center for Neighborhood Technology in Chicago. Tons of links and info in his section. The second part is a look at the future Long Range plan in Philadelphia and their goals for green infrastructure and stormwater.

Webcast

Also, if you're looking for CEUs, you can get a certificate at the end of the presentation.