green building

Price Drops Mean Green Roofs for All

| August 27, 2014 | Categories: Architecture and Design, Green Roofs
At Good Earth Plant Company and GreenScaped Buildings, we believe green roofs are beautiful, beneficial, and just overall wonderful.  But we know the cost is sometimes more than our clients had originally budgeted when they contact us.  We love providing our clients with the green roof of their dreams no matter the budget, and soon it will be a little easier to do so. As green roofs and other forms of Building-Integrated Vegetation become more popular, prices start to drop. For example, according to an article in Energy Management Today, by 2017 one of the major components of green roofs provided to us by our supplier Columbia Green Technologies will drop by 28 percent.… Read More

Planting Seeds at ASLA San Diego Living Architecture Mixer

| July 24, 2014 | Categories: Architecture and Design, Good Earth Plant Company, Green Roofs, Indoor Plants, Living Walls
Plenty of seeds were planted at the ASLA San Diego Living Architecture Mixer at Good Earth Plants.
It’s hard to say who enjoyed our recent Good Earth Plants and GreenScaped Buildings Living Architecture Mixer for ASLA San Diego: the hosts, or the attendees. It’s fair to say everyone had a great time. We welcomed 80 attendees including Landscape Architects, Architects, and Interior Designers. Food was eaten, drinks were had, and knowledge was shared. Many professionals viewed, touched, and experienced our dozens of Living Wall and Green Roof demos in our Good Earth Plant Company Living Lab. Even our bar had a green roof. Our rooftop irrigation system turned while our attendees were viewing our original green roof on the GEP HQ building.… Read More

Living Architecture: Beyond the Eye

| June 5, 2014 | Categories: Architecture and Design, Biophilic Design, Good Earth Plant Company, Green Roofs, Indoor Plants, Living Walls, Plantscaping, Sustainable Living
GreenScaped Buildings designed and installed this living wall for The Irvine Company, an excellent example of "Nature In The Space."
There are so many benefits of living walls and green roofs, but you don’t have to take our word for it. The Summer 2014 issue of Living Architecture Monitor magazine features businesses which have recently installed living architecture discussing the improvements in the health and well-being of employees, as well as a positive side effect: increased property values. GreenScaped Buildings client Irvine Company Office Properties is included in the article, “How Green Roofs & Walls Have Impacted Building Occupants’ Well-Being,” Irvine Company manager Sherry Mashadian explains, “The living wall is definitely one of the greater features to the building and added value to the project.… Read More

Vertical Forests: Green New Heights

| May 21, 2014 | Categories: Architecture and Design, Biophilic Design, Living Walls
The "Bosco Verticale" or vertical forest built by Boeri Studio in Milan, Italy.
  Italian architect Stefano Boeri came up with the concept of “Bosco Verticale,” or Vertical Forest, as a way to combine high-density residential development with tree planting in urban settings. Now his first project in Milan, Italy is nearly finished. It’s a twin tower apartment complex. I’ve been tracking this project for a couple of years now. What a project! Over 700 tress, 11,000 groundcover plants and 5,000 shrubs. I sure would like to get the maintenance contact on this baby. Can you image how beautiful the view is while framed by plants? Take a look for yourself here and I’m sure you will agree.… Read More

Greenroofs.com video: Seasons 52 Edible Wall & Living Wall

| May 6, 2014 | Categories: Case Studies, Green Roofs, Living Walls, Media Coverage
GreenScaped Buildings is thrilled to be part of the featured project of the week on the leading industry website Greenroofs.com The GreenScaped Buildings team installed both an edible wall and a living wall on the patio at the Seasons 52 restaurant in Santa Monica, California. We love all our projects, but we admit this one exceeded our expectations thanks to the passion of our client at Seasons 52, especially Executive Chef Clifford Pleau who originally envisioned the living chef’s garden inside the restaurant, a first. There are 125 types of culinary herbs on the wall, and now all the chefs and the bartenders make use of those herbs in food and beverages.… Read More

Don’t Miss The Plant Bargains at the Good Earth Plants Open House

| April 24, 2014 | Categories: Gardening, Good Earth Plant Company, Green Roofs, Indoor Plants, Living Walls
We are knee-deep in palms, ficus and orchids here at Good Earth Plants and busy getting ready to welcome you to our Spring Plant Sale and Open House on Friday, April 24 from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Have you sent your RSVP yet? What are you waiting for! The greenhouse and demonstration garden have never looked better with living wall and green roof displays and “Plant Portrait” samples fully planted and lush with spring growth. Some of the smaller living walls will be on sale and you can take one home with you. We also have a number of assorted items for sale from indoor green plants and pottery  to 10-foot Queen palm trees.… Read More

Welcome Spring at the Good Earth Plants Open House and Plant Sale

| April 17, 2014 | Categories: Gardening, Good Earth Plant Company, Green Roofs, Indoor Plants, Living Walls
The Good Earth Plant Company green roof seven years ago and today.
The buds are bursting, hotels are filled and days are longer. It must be spring in San Diego.  It’s also time for the Good Earth Plants crew to sweep up and dust off our warehouse and demo garden so we can show off some exciting new projects at our Open House and Plant Sale on Friday, April 25 from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Opening the doors to guests is a great way for us to see our operation with fresh eyes. Our talented staff coaxes new growth to show off our living wall displays and our now seven-year-old green roof, one of the first in San Diego.… Read More

Plants In The Workplace Show Major Benefits

| March 27, 2014 | Categories: Biophilic Design, Case Studies, Good Earth Plant Company, Indoor Plants, Plantscaping
Scientific studies prove it: Plants in our working environment improve our mental and physical health.
What once began as an interesting topic for plant people to chew on has taken root in serious science. There is proof working in an environment with plants provides multiple benefits. At last we can measure what I have experienced for years: Plants make good sense in many ways. We can link working in plant filled environments to cleaner air, better health and increased productivity. Let’s look at each of these benefits in more detail. Cleaner Air: When plants transpire water vapor from their leaves, they pull air down around their roots. This supplies their root microbes with oxygen. The root microbes also convert other substances in the air (such as toxic chemicals) into a source of food and energy.… Read More

GreenScaped Buildings: Top Five Green Roofs and Living Walls Trends

| March 15, 2014 | Categories: Good Earth Plant Company Tips, Green Roofs, Living Walls
Take a look at our latest: the innovative living wall at LPL Financial including a flat screen TV display.
If I am still awake at 11:45 p.m., I am compelled to prop my eyes open long enough to catch late night talk show host David Letterman’s “Top Ten List.” He keeps things light while skating right on the edge of being controversial. Good stuff! While my list isn’t quite as edgy or as long, my Top Five Green Roofs and Living Walls Trends are a cool way to quickly catch up on what’s new in our industry. The benefits of having a green roof are tremendous, from long-term energy savings to being just plain beautiful. It’s a growing niche business and we are proud as parents when one gets completed and is up and growing on its own.… Read More

Hospitals “Greening Up” Healthcare

| March 6, 2014 | Categories: Biophilic Design, Green Roofs, Nature and Wellbeing
One of the patient rooms' at Sharp Memorial Hospital that looks out over the Good Earth Plants "green roof."
If you have visited a friend of family member in a hospital, chances are you brought them flowers or a plant. Why? Besides being a thoughtful gesture, studies have shown that plants play an important role in the healing process. Viewing settings with plants or nature for a few minutes can promote measurable restoration even in hospital patients who are acutely stressed. Patients heal more quickly, use less pain medication and complain less to staff. (Ulrich, 2002) I have read lots and lots of studies about plants and healing during my years in the plant industry. This is serious science and can be summed up in one sentence: Plants make us FEEL GOOD.… Read More