Living Architecture Monitor - Green Roofs for Healthy Cities

THEGROWINGMEDIA&PLANTISSUE
FROMTHE
ACCREDITATION
SUB-COMMITTEE
session leading to the development of an
Action Plan, which in the case of Atlanta’s
Symposium included the establishment of
an Atlanta Green Roof Steering Committee
and “smart growth” strategies.
Other action items included the
exploration of potential partnerships and
a proposal for providing incentives for
green roofs in Chamblee, a smaller city
outside Atlanta, also emerged from the
event and will be discussed by the new
Atlanta Green Roof Steering Committee
after newly elected officials take office in
early 2008.
Also, the city of Atlanta is considering an
ordinance to require LEED® certification
for all public projects and any private development
over 50,000 square feet. This is
a first in Georgia, therefore an important
prospect, being that green roofs can be
used to achieve many LEED® points.
The long-term impact of the symposium is
likely to include a more directed effort toward
getting green roofs and green walls
recognized as solutions that can mitigate
and reduce many of the Atlanta’s pressing
energy and water conservation challenges.
“Green roofs offer a magnificent opportunity
to improve humankind’s relationship to
the environment and the problems of shelter
and lifesupport,” noted Gibert after the
event. “The symposium and trainings offered
by Green Roofs for Healthy Cities
provided inspiration and hope for Atlanta —
not to mention vital information — for the
future of society and our world.”
FIRSTGREENROOFPROFESSIONALACCREDITATION
EXAMPLANNEDFORCONFERENCEIN
ATLANTAGEORGIA
Behind the scenes at GRHC, the organization
continues to develop an industry-wide
Accreditation Program. To this end, we are
working with a dedicated team of subjectmatter
experts to develop the final course
in our program — Plants and Growing
Medium 401. Simultaneously, we have been
working on the development of the Accreditation
Model that would be most appropriate
to establish the Accredited Green Roof
Professional designation.
To accomplish this goal, we formed an Accreditation
Sub-Committee, chaired by Professor
Virginia Russell of the University of
Cincinnati in Ohio. The main focus for this
sub-committee was the review of a variety of
other accreditation/certification models currently
used by organizations such as the U.S.
Green Building Council, RCI, and ANLA etc.
To date, the sub-committee has concluded
that the most appropriate model for GRHC
would be one similar to the LEED® accreditation
model. This would mean an accreditation
exam would be available to a broad range of
potential candidates without any prerequisites.
The test itself will be based on the
multi-disciplinary material in our Occupational
Standards, completed over a year ago.
This knowledge is covered in GRHC courses,
which while highly recommended, will not be
a requirement prior to taking the test.
Although we have made significant progress,
there is still much work to be done. First we
must complete the development of the 401
Course for delivery at GRHC’s Sixth Annual
International Greening Rooftops for Sustainable
Cities Conference in Baltimore this
spring (April 30–May 2, 2008). Second, we
need to develop the written test and make
critical decisions regarding the maintenance
of the Accreditation designation through such
mechanisms as continuing education credits.
To assist us with the test development, we will
be working with Prometric, a company with
20 years of experience as a provider of valid
and legally defensible accreditation and certification
examinations for professional trade
associations worldwide. We will also forge
long-term relationships with a strong group of
subject matter experts, some of who were
also involved in developing the Occupational
Standards for the Accreditation program
earlier this year. This next step promises to be
a lengthy, challenging and yet fulfilling process
— the one we must take to help us reach the
critical milestone to deliver the first GRHC
Accreditation test at our annual conference in
spring of 2009.
SUB-COMMITTEEMEMBERS
Kelly Luckett, St. Louis Metalworks
Roger Schickedantz, William McDonough &
Partners
Jeffrey Bruce, Jeffrey L. Bruce & Company
Stephen Teal, Flynn Canada
Bruce McTavish, McTavish Resource &
Management Consultants
Update by Hazel Farley
Hazel Farley is director, training and accreditation,
for Green Roofs for Healthy Cities.
LIVING ARCHITECTURE MONITOR WINTER