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Letter from the Editor
To reach our editorial staff with questions or comments please write to:
Lyle Fitzsimmons
Managing Editor, North America
OK, I’ll admit it.
Not all that long ago, if someone had asked me to describe what a “green roof” was, I’d have replied with a straightforward and succinct answer.
“It’s simple,” I’d have said. “It’s a roof that’s painted green.”
But fortunately for people like me, there are people like Vanessa Keitges.
The hard-charging president/CEO of Columbia Green Technologies took time out of a busy schedule recently to chat with me about her company – which was created 10 years ago as an
offshoot of the Portland (Ore.) Water Bureau, whose task at the time was to build green infrastructure and manage storm water runoff along with Willamette River.
The actual concept of a green roof, she and others have since informed me, involves covering said roof – either partially or completely – with vegetation and a growing medium planted over a
waterproofing membrane. The roofs absorb rain water and thereby reduce stress on a given city’s storm water drainage systems, allowing those cities to save, or better allot, money on costly
infrastructure projects.
Under Keitges’s stewardship, Columbia Green has evolved into a rapidly growing juggernaut with sales offices in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. whose products are sold on a private-
label basis through roofing membrane companies. Among its partners these days are Firestone Building Products, Fiberlite/Green, Henry, Henry/Bakor, Malarkey Roofing Products,
Derbigum and Kemper System.
“The reason the green roof market has grown year over year is because it’s empty space that these building owners can use as alternative to a retention tank by using a green roof,” Keitges said.
“As more people migrate to these cities, they’re really trying to also build healthy places for people to live and work. Places where we can walk, ride our bikes, take the stairs and eat organic
food.You’re starting to see companies changing their building environments to be able to make happier places for people to live and work, by using greenery – little parks and green roofs – in
cities.”
Meanwhile, a few kilometers up north in Alberta, there’s another municipality – a county, in this case – that’s flexing its muscles and growing like gangbusters in the aftermath of the Great
Recession.
In fact, when it comes right down to it, the economic perils of the last several years seemed to glance off the exterior of the County of Grande Prairie No. 1 without leaving much of a mark.
“There’s a lot of energy up here,” said Chris King, the county’s economic development manager. “You talk to a lot of the folks up here about news articles that say we’re coming out of the
recession, and a lot of them make the comments ‘What recession? When did we have a slowdown?’We’ve just been going full-steam here.”
A diverse employment base and a significant connection to the still-burgeoning oil and gas industries helped the county sidestep much of the worst, and its small-town quality of life has
enabled it to pick up a lot of residents searching for an escape from the issues of larger-town existence.
“It’s pretty country,” King said. “For most of the county, you have a good view of the Rocky Mountains. There’s a blend of agricultural lands and hills and forests. So it’s quite a variety of
terrain as well, which is nice. On the weekends, if you want to go quad riding through the forests or in the mountains, that’s something you can do. It’s right there.”
In the next five years, the population of 21,000 is expected to swell to totals approaching 35,000, which creates a lot of activity for people in King’s line of work.
“It’s exciting,” he said.“Every day I get up and I’m anxious to get to work and see what’s going to happen. I just can’t even describe it.”
Check out the Columbia Green and County of Grande Prairie pieces as well as other feature stories in this issue, alongside supplemental content in the form of Top 10 lists, the Executive
Summary and the latest edition of our interactive feature – “One Last Question” – located on the back page.
As always, please feel free to contact me with any comments or critiques, as well as suggestions for ways we can continue to provide a publication that’s pertinent, educational and entertaining.
Until next month…
Regards,
