Green Living Event @ Millstone Farm

I went to a great event held recently at Millstone Farm in Wilton, CT.  Millstone is a local farm "whose mission is to operate in a sustainable manner". They provide ingredients for some of the best restaurants in the area - including one of my favorites, The Schoolhouse at Canondale. It's a beautiful place, and they're doing great things in terms of community outreach. If you live in the area and haven't visited yet, do so while it's nice out!

The event was essentially the unveiling of the relationship between Green Living Technologies, a pioneer in green roofing products, and The LaurelRock Company, a local landscape contractor.  LaurelRock will be the new exclusive distributor, installer, and maintenance company for GLT's products, which include their patented green roof panel system and the "living wall" system.

As a designer, seeing the green roof panel system was thrilling.  It's lightweight, durable, easy to install & maintain. Finally something I can suggest to clients with full confidence!  When I was working on large scale commercial projects, there was definitely a high demand for this type of product, except installing a green roof was not nearly as easy as this product now makes it.

While already a big success in cities and in the commercial market, it will be interesting to see how GLT's products translate to the residential market outside the city, where clients can just plant in the ground instead of on their roofs or walls.  So, as a designer, I'm wondering how I would "sell" this product to my clients here in Fairfield County.  As George Irwin, the founder of GLT, pointed out, "you could write a dissertation on the benefits of green roofs", but homeowners need to see direct, tangible results in order to even consider installing a green roof.

One way to do this would be to have an energy modeler run the numbers for the homeowner. If they see a direct pay-back in energy costs in the near future, then clients will be easily persuaded.  LaurelRock will also have to prove that the installation and maintenance of the system is simple and unobtrusive.  From the event at Millstone, I have confidence in the product and LaurelRock. Convincing clients might be trickier, but I do think they'll end-up selling well.

Besides the energy (and therefore money) saving benefits to green roofs, as a designer I would present this to my clients as an aesthetic decision.  As seen in the photo below, where roofs are visible from interior spaces, a green roof system can completely alter views.  Goodbye concrete, hello green!

Another product that Green Living Technology presented at Millstone Farm is the "living wall" system.  Check out how it can transform a space (or in this case a facade) and can be filled with edible plants!

It is a versatile product that has large-scale commercial uses, but can also be easily adapted to smaller-scale residential use.  It can be used indoors or out, can be virtually any size you want it to be, it can be mounted on casters to easily roll around, and it has also been adapted to a freestanding unit.  For rocky landscapes or properties without a lot of space for gardening, this unit can be placed almost anywhere and can be moved around to maximize sun exposure.  Watering the plants is simple and can be done by manually filling-up the top water tank, or it can be attached to an irrigation system for a larger installation.

Heads-up to my clients that I'll be bringing up the topic of green roofs and walls now that I know there are simple, innovative solutions out there!

For more information on the event, see articles here and here.