DC Council Chair Participates in Ceremony WASHINGTON, April 26 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) dedicated the new green roof on its Washington, D.C., headquarters today. The Honorable Linda Cropp, Chair of the District of Columbia City Council, participated in the ceremony. Also on hand were Steven Peck, president of Green Roofs for Healthy Cities, an organization that promotes the green roof industry throughout North America, and Michael Van Valkenburgh, FASLA, the landscape architect who led the design process. Nancy Somerville, executive vice president and CEO of ASLA, and Dennis Carmichael, FASLA, president of ASLA also offered remarks. "Landscape architects are leading many green roof projects across the U.S. and abroad, so it's only fitting that ASLA provide a demonstration project on this sustainable technology that can cure so many urban ills," said Somerville. "We hope to provide a catalyst for more green roof development in Washington and beyond." "This project will be a highly visible demonstration of the many practical benefits of green roofs for communities, for building owners, and for tenants," said Carmichael. "For the city of Washington, ASLA's green roof will help clean the air and bring us closer to compliance with the federal Clean Air Act, which in turn will release more transportation funds to the city. It will reduce and clean stormwater runoff, which sometimes overwhelms our infrastructure and eventually flows into the Chesapeake Bay. It will reduce the urban heat island effect, which can be a serious problem in the summer and will even restore a tiny part of the biohabitat for birds, insects, and plants. On a practical level for ASLA, it will increase our property value, lower our building's energy costs, and provide an amenity for our staff and a nice view for our neighbors in taller buildings around us. Can you imagine the cumulative effect if other, larger downtown Washington building owners join us in this effort?" To help track these environmental effects, ASLA has installed monitoring equipment on the 3,300-square-foot roof and will track stormwater runoff, water quality, and air temperature to compare with data from the conventional roof on the building next door.
