Mayor Bob Harvey is delighted with a national landscape planning award recently received by the Waitakere City Council for its green roof--the first lightweight green roof in New Zealand. The green roof won two awards, a gold award for communication and promotion and an award of excellence for sustainability, at the New Zealand Institute of Landscape Architects Resene Pride of Place Landscape Awards 2008.
"This is a tremendous award, and it shows that we are leading the way in this environmental field," Harvey said. "Now that this has been recognized, it is our job to ensure that we consistently incorporate more of this type of environmentally friendly technology into our buildings."
The green roof was built in 2006; it sits atop the new Civic Centre at Waitakere Central, in the heart of Henderson. In announcing the Sustainability Award of Excellence for Communication and Promotion, the judges said that the 500-sq-meter green roof "brilliantly articulates a 21st century sustainable landscape solution.
In addition to creating a habitat for birds, butterflies and other insects, the green roof reduces the impact of storm water runoff with high roof coverage by storing rainfall, cumulatively helping lower downstream impacts of flooding, streambank erosion and stream degradation.
Source: Waitakere City
