CNLA WELCOMES EUROPE TO WESTERN CANADA

BY ANNE KADWELL

LANDSCAPE CANADA WELCOMES the European Landscape Contractors Association (ELCA) to the west coast from Sept 17 - 21. The host hotel will be in beautiful downtown Vancouver within a short walk from the Pacific ocean. This is an opportunity for our industry to show British Columbia’s leadership in the green movement, and to demonstrate various ways in which landscaping can emphasize on improving the environment to create healthier places to live. The delegates will visit numerous commercial and residential landscape locations, as well as gardens which illustrate innovative energy efficiency and sustainability systems like solar heating and green roofs.

Some of the many locations include the 2010 Olympic village, which continues to thrive with lush landscapes and remains one of the greenest communities in the world. Granville Island, originally founded by the Musqueam Indian Band and the Squamish people as their fishing area, is now a tourist destination with recent landscape upgrades. Granville Island now features hardy shrubs, grasses, accent boulders, stepping stones, prominent garden beds, and colourful annual plantings that bloom year round.

Delegates will see high-end residential estates in the famous Shaughnessy neighbourhood and discover why this area has some of the most desirable real estate in the world.

A visit to the VanDusen Botanical Gardens visitor’s centre, built in 2016, will highlight the building’s net-zero design that meets Living Building Challenge requirements. This is one of the first buildings in Canada to receive this certifi cation, and features include solar hot water, photovoltaic panels, a geothermal borehole, and a beautiful living roof.