Paola Garcia | Green Roof Professional (GRP)
Paola Garcia, GRP
How did you find out about GRHC and the GRP program?
I found out about GRHC googling events around sustainability and urban agriculture. My search led me to the CitiesAlive Conference which I immediately felt compelled to attend. I ended up becoming a Volunteer Coordinator for the NY sessions in 2015 and 2018, the Seattle and DC Cities Alive in 2016-17, as well as a volunteer at the Grey 2 Green Conference in Toronto. I found the field of Green Infrastructure fascinating and felt great inspiration hearing GRP’s talk about their projects and impacts.I was offered an opportunity to take the training and test to become an Accredited GRP myself and I eagerly took the opportunity!
Why did you become a Green Roof Professional (GRP)?
I became a GRP because at the time, I was on a mission to arm myself with an arsenal of skills that would yield me robust competencies and confidence. I had already immersed myself in the world of Earthship Biotecture for some time, volunteered at several urban farms in NYC, and explored a bit around built-environments and urban planning during my Master’s program. My curiosity around our collective resilience, adaptability, and readiness to confront future extreme-weather events had also peaked, so when I started attending the Cities Alive conferences, I was captivated by the projects being showcased. The impacts that these green walls and roofs rendered were even more impressive!! I was admittedly enamored quite instantly by all of the layers and disciplines that go into being a GRP. It was a training and qualification that I took very seriously and worked hard towards with much enthusiasm.
Anyone else get excited when they see a green wall? Photo: Paola Garcia
What does your job entail? What does your day to day look like?
This interview comes during a period of reinvention for me. A lot changed during and post-pandemic across realms. Professionally, personally, emotionally, spiritually. I was an Adjunct Professor of Sustainable Systems at Parsons School of Design at The New School and worked on Earthship builds between semesters. I was actually offered this teaching job right after receiving the President’s Award at a Cities Alive Conference in 2018! The position required a lot of my focus so instead of diving into designing green roofs once I received my Accreditation, I weaved what I had learned about green infrastructure and biotecture into my syllabi. Since then, I’ve steadily been creating different bilingual curriculums around climate science education that also include green roofs and walls as solid climate mitigation tools and solutions. My day to day varies as I’m also in the process of starting my own company “Born Carbon” which focuses on Earth and Human Stewardship. I often consult and extend project management services and prioritize work that impacts or centers youth and disadvantaged communities above all else. I’ve curated and managed events at the highest levels and do so with a gifted ease. What I spend A LOT of time doing is researching the world of science and green infrastructure and identifying other climate champions and organizations that work in fields of urban planning, disaster relief, cultural literacy and beyond. My calendar fills quickly with seminars, zooms and events as I’m a big proponent of hands-on learning, supporting others, and engaging with people face to face.
What is your favorite part of your job?
My favorite part of my job is that I’m constantly learning about how to optimize our human and planetary health. I also get to interact with exceptionally interesting and ambitious visionaries and changemakers who spend a lot of time thinking about our overall wellness as well. To be a valuable and successful GRP, biophilic designer or environmental educator, you have to have deep insight on vast subjects. I thoroughly enjoy intergenerational, interdisciplinary collaborations and discovering projects with aims of validating local social knowledge, imbuing healthier place-making and people growing.
What advice would you provide to someone interested in pursuing a similar career path to yourself?
Go for it! Dream BIG and have fun spelling out your dreams- onto paper and also in conversation with others. Be as specific as you can about your desires, but remain flexible as to what, how, and when you achieve said goals. Attend events or talk to people in your field of interest. Green Roofs for Healthy Cities has been an exceptional inspiration and resource for me within the grand world of Green Infrastructure. I suggest you identify who models what you would like to do and does it well. Establish some systems for yourself that help you keep track of your research and findings. Make wishlists of who’d you’d like to meet, who you’d like to work for and where you’d like to go. Re-visit and build upon these lists periodically and let this guide your strategy. Follow up with contacts you meet that inspire you or can help you level up. Express your admiration and offer them an insight or skillset you think they’d value- and don’t be shy to explicitly suggest a collaboration! I’ve learned that EVERY shot is worth taking. You score and gain in life, by being an active participant. When you “lose”, don’t lose the lesson. My career has been equal parts a dream and an incredible amount of hard-work and hustle!
What trends about green infrastructure/sustainability make you excited for the future?
Trending or not, green infrastructure wields tremendous power over our collective wellness. Considering our human and natural landscape, some benefits are more obvious than others. Utilizing vegetation strategically to reduce flood risks or urban heat island effect render us significant advantages. Green roofs, walls and other bio-elements also help us address a growing biodiversity crisis. Nature based restoration or coastal resiliency projects for example, excite me because I can tangibly see more species thriving around me. I hear more bird songs and have greater opportunities to go bird watching with my nephew! Biophilic design also enhances our connections to other natural systems and is a means for us to create benign spaces that can attune our frequencies through osmosis and reduce stresses we may carry.
What do you see as the role of green infrastructure in resilience and the COVID-19 recovery?
I’m a realist and an optimist and try to identify a silver-lining out of every situation. Re-positioning and re-introducing ourselves to the world post Covid, there was much uncertainty about what “new normal” would evolve beyond the pandemic and how would we engage one another safely, and where?. One thing we did know was that there was a heightened concern around space ergonomics and circulation. As a fellow asthmatic and proclaimed nature enthusiast, I’ve personally thought a lot about designing low-allergen landscapes and potent green walls that can help us expedite air filtration and mitigate negative health outcomes. I thought the built-environment was a mighty tool for us to triage and remedy our situation and was happy that the value and efficiency of green infrastructure was being recognized during this urgent crisis. . Assessing where the most pronounced health inequities existed or identifying zones most vulnerable to covid or climate sensitive diseases, helped us prioritize relief and map transformation efforts.
Rain gardens and other green spaces have a multi-functional potency. Cleaning the air, as I mentioned, assisting with stormwater mitigation, and in times of deep grief, which we also lived during the pandemic, these natural areas were and are critical for our heart and mental health. Science has proven that nature can reduce high blood pressure, alleviate stress, and can lift our moods. All of these positive externalities (and more) are remnants of strategic, well-executed green infrastructure!
How does having a GRP on projects benefit the company?
Having a GRP on your team is like having a reliable Swiss Army Knife in many ways. It is having a resource that serves many functions and comes in handy for pragmatic and complex situations. My interactions with all GRP’s have been inspiring and interesting. Their conversations always feed my curiosity and round-out more of what I yearn to know. A GRP tends to be a big-picture thinker with an attention to detail and understanding of how all elements come together to achieve the end result. A Green Roof Professional also tends to be an independent thinker and team player. There is a recognition that our work calls for collaboration across disciplines. Having a solid engineer that understands structural integrity, or an expert botanist that knows a native plants ideal bioclimatic conditions or understands a plants thresholds and ability to endure and retain water from extreme rain events. These are just two examples or insights that a GRP needs in their purview to succeed. More than likely, the benefits of having an individual with the comprehensive training a GRP has, is that you will have an asset that tends to be creative, flexible, collaborative and logistically oriented, all in one!
Aerial view of TainaSoy Apiario, the Earthship in Puerto Rico. Earthship. Photo: Paola Garcia
Tell us about a recent project or two:
While I’ve been planning and activating my own company, Born Carbon, I’ve been steadily involved with a couple of important initiatives our GRP community should know about. TainaSoy Apiario, is a project dear to my heart that I’ve been involved with for several years now. It’s an Earthship I helped build in Aguada, the Western part of Puerto Rico. It was built as a demonstration project that could withstand extreme weather events and has already proven its performance multiple times over during many hurricanes. . We built five domes, two showers and two bathrooms upon an intergenerational family farm and apiary and there’s no greater feeling than to know the shelter we built has kept many safe! This autonomous design models to the community how to be self-sufficient. Many school groups visit year-round and its been exhilarating for me to bear witness to the excitement these solid, whimsical grounds bring out in all visitors- young kids especially! . Currently I’m working with an organization called EcoHab
which builds these resilient, passive solar spaces in vulnerable regions across the globe. We’ll be going back to PR this Fall and my peers will be building a school in Guatemala this April. Check us out and please support!
February 6, 2024: CRETF trip to Albany, advocating for Bill S278A/A1559A. Group picture with our Lead Sponsors, Senator Andrew Gounardes and Assemblywoman JoAnne Simon.
Another worthy mention to our GI community is my recent work with CRETF- the Climate and Resilience Education Task Force. They're a project started by the National Wildlife Federation in NYC and WE ACT for Environmental Justice.I started attending their events last year and have become increasingly impressed by their organization and programming. I recently joined them on two lobbying trips to Albany, advocating for Bill S.278A/ A.1559A
CRETF helped write a bill which asks for comprehensive climate education to be a permanent part of P-12th grade education. They're also asking for the creation of a NYS Office dedicated to climate education, workforce development, funding to establish green career and technical education, and pre-service training for educators. I highly encourage you to join this movement as it implores NYS to prioritize climate education at all ages, across subject areas. This could be an aperture and opportunity for many future GRP’s!
Green Roofs for Healthy Cities is a non-profit 501(c)(6) professional industry association working to grow the green roof and wall industry throughout North America since 1999. Our mission is to develop and protect the market by increasing the awareness of the economic, social, and environmental benefits of green roofs, green walls, and other forms of living architecture through education, advocacy, professional development, and celebrations of excellence.
We publish The Living Architecture Monitor quarterly online magazine where industry leaders share their insights and expertise. These articles increase awareness of the economic, social, and environmental benefits of green roofs, walls and other forms of living architecture.
We also offer free access to The Living Architecture Academy, an online professional development platform which is dedicated to bringing you the best, most up to date professional training information on design, installation and maintenance practices across a wide range of green infrastructure topics. The LAA offers short lectures and multi-day courses such as: Green Roof Professional Training, Introduction to Green Walls, Biodiverse Green Roof Maintenance, and more.
We also publish the Green Pages: Industry Green Roof and Wall Directory which is designed to support you with your living architecture projects by providing a list of trusted manufacturers, suppliers of accessories, green walls, nurseries, and certified Green Roof Professionals (GRPs). From small-scale residential projects to large commercial installations, this directory has everything you need to find support to create a sustainable and beautiful living space.
From the Living Architecture Monitor
