Green Infrastructure – Assets and Benefits – 8/1/09

A poster was presented by Dr Adam Bates that looked at the way that green roofs can help to mitigate the effects of climate change. The day of seminars was organised by Natural England  and was held at the BVSC; it included a wide variety of talks on the future of sustainable infrastructure construction.

RIBA/RICS green roof presentations and tour of the Fort Dunlop green roof – 8/10/08

A presentation was given by Dr Adam Bates that introduced green roofs, aimed to justify the installation of green roofs and discussed the trade-offs associated with different types of green roofs. This was followed by a presentation by Liam Foster of Hyder Consulting that discussed the various environmental advantages associated with green roofs. There then followed a tour of the Fort Dunlop Sedum mat green roof. The event was organised by the RIBA and the RICS, and well attended by around 20 architects and chartered surveyors.

Birmingham Climate Change Festival green roof tours – 3&4/6/08

Two lunch time green roof tours were put on for the nine-day Birmingham Climate Change Festival. The first (rainy) tour (3/6/08 ) was organised by CABE and RIBA West Midlands, led by Dr Adam Bates and comprised visits to: an intensive green roof at The University of Birmingham, the university brown roof research facility, and the BVSC brown roof. Twenty people, who were mainly architects, from the following companies came on the tour: Friends of Cannon Hill Park, Arthur Amos Associates, Yapp Design, John Dutton Architects, University of Birmingham, SVSMO Sustainable Moseley, Peter Poon Architects, CABE, RIBA West Midlands, and Birmingham City Council.

The second tour (4/6/08 ) was organised by CABE and RIBA West Midlands, was led by Dr Adam Bates and Dr Stefan Bodnar (Birmingham City Council) and comprised visits to: a combined acid heathland/Sedum matt green roof at the Alexander Stadium’s new Gymnastics and Martial Arts Centre and the Fort Dunlop Sedum matt green roof. Twenty five people, from the following companies came on the tour: Atkins, Lloyds TSB GPM, Exeter City Council, Birmingham City University, Birmingham City Council, DTZ, CABE and RIBA West Midlands.

 

The festival also included a display showing a photograph of the BVSC brown roof.

Midlands Environmental Business Company (MEBC) green roof tour – 23/4/08

Organised by the MEBC and Dr Adam Bates of the University of Birmingham, led by Adam Bates and sponsored by Alistair Moseley from the WSP Group.

 

 

 

The day included an introductory talk on green roofs, a visit to the Fort Dunlop Sedum matt green roof, a visit to the University of Birmingham’s brown roof research facility, and a visit to the Birmingham Voluntary Service Council’s (BVSC) brown roof. Attendees ranged widely and included aggregate suppliers, planners, environmental consultants, engineering consultants and representatives from industry. Overall, twenty four people attended the tour from the following twenty one companies: Alfa Aggregates Products, Birmingham City Council, Warwickshire County Council, Sustainable Procurement Ltd., Jaguar Cars Ltd, Globally Local, Environment Agency, WSP Buildings, WSP Environment & Energy, WSP Group, Stuart Guy Consulting, EBC Ltd., Arcadis AYH, Lister Associates, Wardell Armstrong LLP, Marley Eternit, MEBC, Land Rover, Arup, BCC, and BBEM.

 

 

Tour of the University of Birmingham brown roof research facility - 7/8/07

This was part of a tour organised by Rosemary Coyne (then of the Eastside Sustainability Advisory Group) that aimed to make architects aware of the advantages of using green roofs. The University of Birmingham sub-section of the tour consisted of a quick look at an old turf intensive green roof on campus, followed by a tour of the University of Birmingham brown roof research facility.

Actions to combat climate change and benefit biodiversity in an urban environment – 25/7/07

Organised by Land Care Associates, the University of Birmingham, Birmingham and Black Country Biodiversity Action Plan, The Wildlife Trusts (WT), and Natural England, and held at the University of Birmingham.

This was a one day seminar that included tours of the Fort Dunlop Sedum matt green roof and the University of Birmingham brown roof research facility. A wide range of speakers gave presentations on green roofs and the wider urban environment, particularly focusing on their role in combating climate change. The speakers were: Dr Stefan Bodnar (Birmingham City Council), Dr Jon Sadler (University of Birmingham), Dr Nigel Dunnett (The Green Roof Centre, Sheffield) and Dr Rossa Donovan (then with the University of Birmingham, now at White Young Green Consultants). Attendees included landscape architects, planners, environmental consultants and ecologists.

Tour of the University of Birmingham brown roof research facility as part of ‘What makes green roof affordable’ – 20/3/07

This was part of a two-day workshop organised by Rosemary Coyne (then of the Eastside Sustainability Advisory Group) in partnership with Hyder Consulting, The green roof consultancy and LivingRoofs that made the business case for green roofs. The University of Birmingham sub-section of the tour consisted of a short introductory talk by Dr Adam Bates, a quick look at an old turf intensive green roof on campus, followed by a tour of the University of Birmingham brown roof research facility.

Green Roofs and Biodiversity Seminar – 15/11/06

Organised by Land Care Associates and the University of Birmingham and held at the University of Birmingham.

This one day seminar mainly focused on the role of green roofs in biodiversity conservation but also analysed the wider benefits of their installation. The seminar was mainly targetted at members of the Wildlife Trust (WT) and the Association of Wildlife Trust Consultancy (AWTC) members. There were talks from speakers with wide-ranging expertise, namely: Dr Rossa Donovan (then with the University of Birmingham, now at White Young Green Consultants), Dr Jon Sadler (University of Birmingham), Dusty Gedge (Livingroofs.org), Dr Adam Bates (University of Birmingham), and Tim Moughtin (Land Care Associates).

Using green roofs as a teaching resource at the University of Birmingham

The University of Birmingham brown roof research facility is currently used as a teaching resource for the third year Geography course GGM312 – Landscape and Urban Ecology that includes Geography, Environmental Science and Environmental Management students.