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Louisville, Kentucky, Nov 1, 2010

Greenery Office Interiors Ltd has been awarded a Grand Award for its Winter Garden installation at Jamieson Place in the 2010 Annual Environmental Improvement Awards Program sponsored by the Professional Landcare Network (PLANET).

The 22,000 sq ft space, called the Winter Garden, was created to be a contemplative andrestful gallery type space in a modern and minimalist style combining art, sculpture, water,and lots of green including a Living Wall.

The Living wall, which is 1950 square feet, consists of over 20,000 plants with over 20varieties, is the largest Interior Living Wall in Western Canada.

“To be involved in a project that has been noted as “the Interior Plant Scape Installation ofthe Decade” has been a real thrill, says Joanne Young, President of Greenery OfficeInteriors. The recognition of this project, the Winter Garden, and our company is now worldwide. We look forward to many more interesting and exciting projects in Calgary.”

Greenery Office Interiors Ltd adds this award to others collected in the past few years forthe Sheraton Eau Claire Suites, Fluor Canada, the Hyatt Regency Hotel and the NexenAtrium.

Greenery, a locally owned and operated company, has been providing top quality plants andplant care to corporate clients in Calgary for over 34 years now.

PLANET’s Environmental Improvement Awards Program reflects the association’scommitment to creating and preserving the beauty of our landscape. The program isdesigned to reward interior plantscaping professionals who execute superior projects.

PLANET strives to increase public awareness of environmental improvement throughcontracted interior plantscaping and encourages the consistent use of quality materials andworkmanship.

PLANET is the association of members who create and maintain the QUALITY OF LIFE incommunities across America. With more than 3,500 member companies and affiliates, thesefirms and their employees represent more than 100,000 green industry professionals.

This is the second award that Greenery has received for this project. earlier this year the project was presented with an Award of Excellence at the CalScape Awards presented by the Plantscape Industry Alliance (PIA).

More information is available at www.greenery.ca and www.facebook.com/greenerycalgary

December 9, 2009

THIS IS POTENTIALLY MONUMENTAL FOR THE INTERIORPLANTSCAPE INDUSTRY

CEO of USGBC seems to like the idea of green plants in interior spaces!

Rick Fedrizzi, CEO of the US Green Building Council (USGBC) spoke recently at the University of Arkansas, Clinton School of Public Service and in the question and answer segment, someone in the audience asked him a very important question on behalf of "McRae" and I'm assuming that's "our" McRae as that's not too common a name.

The question:
"Based upon the principles of evidence based design when can we expect that the USGBC will begin to include points for products that improve occupant health and well being, such as green plants and greenwalls...?"

After deferring the question to a colleague for discussion, Fedrizzi responded to the question with the following: "I have no doubt that there will be a very strong plant based ethic there at some point" and he even pointed out a live plant at the back of the room. He also mentioned biophilia and a study which indicates that hospital patients with a view to nature/plant life experience a faster recovery than those without.

This is indeed a movement in the right direction for our industry and I hope that we can maintain the momentum necessary to get the USGBC to include live interior plants in their point system.

Thanks to whomever it was for posing the question and thanks to McRae for "asking" it and while you're thinking about this, perhaps you should pop on over to the Green Plants for Green Buildings website and become an investor in the future of your industry.

Let's discuss this further on GreenChat.

If you'd like to watch the video of the entire speech you can view it at http://www.clintonschoolspeakers.com/lecture/view/ceo-us-green-building-council/

October 20, 2009

TWO INTERIOR PLANTSCAPE COMPANIES EARN GREEN EARTH--GREEN PLANTS BUSINESS CERTIFICATION

This week two companies earned their Green Earth--Green Plants business certification. Congratulations to Mike and Karin Senneff of Plant Interscapes, Inc. in Texas, and to Nicole McHenry of McHenry Plantation, Inc. in Costa Mesa, California! Both companies have proven their commitment to operating their businesses in an eco- friendly manner.

McHenry Plantation has worked closely with their landlord to transform their facilities into an environmentally- sound building to conduct their business. In addition, McHenry Plantation uses recycled products to clean and stage their plants. They also use recycled paper, email most of their invoices and recycle nearly everything they use.

Plant Interscapes has offices in San Antonio, Dallas, Austin and Houston and they are the largest business to earn their Green Earth--Green Plants certification to date. Plant Interscapes is very active in their local communities, and Mike Sennerff is currently the treasurer of Green Plants for Green Buildings. Plant Interscapes uses subirrigation systems extensively on their accounts which drastically cuts down on the need for water, fertilizer and pesticides.

Congratulations to both companies!.

For more information on this program go to www.greenearthgreenplants.com or email Kathy@JfaConsultingBiz.com.

JUNE 1, 2009

INTERIOR PLANTSCAPERS TO BENEFIT FROM PLANET’S NEW INTERIOR E-MAGAZINE

The Professional Landcare Network (PLANET) recently announced the launch of its new PLANET News Interior. This monthly e-magazine will deliver interior-focused articles; business solutions from PLANET’s human resource, public relations, and legal consultants; and best practices shared by industry peers. The magazine is just one of several initiatives underway to better serve interior plantscapers.

PLANET has also been instrumental in the formation of the new Interiorscape Industry Coalition (IIC). Made up of 10 interior industry organizations, the Coalition’s mission is to increase interiorscaping industry awareness, raise industry professionalism, and promote inclusion of plants in the interior environment through collaborative efforts of participating organizations. The Coalition’s next meeting will be held on June 26, 2009, at PLANET’s Summer Leadership Meeting at Skamania Lodge in Stevenson, Washington.

. Chris Raimondi, CLP, president of Raimondi Horticultural Group, member of the 2009/2010 PLANET Board of Directors, 2009/2010 PLANET Interior Specialty Group chair, and IIC chair is leading the charge with 2008/2009 PLANET President Jason Cupp, CLP, CEO of Highland Outdoor. Their goal is to re-energize PLANET’s interest in and support of the interior plantscaping segment of the green industry. “There is a genuine spirit of unity in the industry that we haven’t seen before,” says Raimondi. “Hopefully this is the beginning of an ongoing dialogue that will uncover exciting possibilities for all of us to work together to educate industry professionals and create a better, common understanding of the industry as a whole.”

PLANET will be introducing a new membership category that specifically focuses on PLANET benefits geared toward interior companies. Details about this new e-membership will be forthcoming.

For more information about PLANET’s new interior initiatives, e-mail Cecilia Riek-Whitham or call the PLANET office at (800) 395-2522.

PLANET is the association of members who create and maintain the QUALITY OF LIFE in communities across America. With more than 3,500 member companies and affiliates, these firms and their employees represent more than 100,000 green industry professionals.

PLANET News Interior

APRIL 28, 2009

PIA Announces the 2009 Interior Plantscape Hall of Fame Inductees.

The 2009 Plantscaping Professional is Richard Parker.  Richard grew up in the green industry, just a couple of minutes away from his parents’ wholesale greenhouse. He graduated from Texas Tech but returned home to New Jersey to take over the nursery’s newly established interiorscape division. With his wife, Vicki, he began to grow Parker Interior Plantscapes, Inc., into the successful company known to the industry today. The company diversified into four divisions – Parker Interior Plantscape Inc., Parker Holiday, Parker3D, and Parker Urban Greenscapes. For 30 years, Richard Parker has led Parker Interior Plantscape Inc. It is one of the largest privately-owned interiorscape companies, with excellent employee retention – 17 of his employees have been with the company for over 20 years. Parker’s achievements include two awards from the White House, a Maxie award, developing the first flame retardant trees, training a Japanese company in interiorscaping, and consulting with Steve Wynn in Las Vegas. Richard is a member of many industry associations and has been a contributor to several publications.

The 2009 Allied Trade Professional is Tom Acklin. Tom has always been a strong supporter of the interiorscape industry. He graduated from Cleveland State University with a bachelor’s in business administration, and initially worked with artificial grass putting greens before moving into other types of artificial plants. Known for his natural-looking artificials, he started Autograph Foliages back when an artificial plant was created from plastic and vinyl. Tom worked with factories in China to promote the use of fire retardant materials in the manufacture of artificials. Autograph Foliages is a family business, with five of Tom’s six children involved in the company. Tom has participated in a variety of industry organizations, including the American Floral Importers Association, SILK Trade Show, National Interiorscape Network, and the Professional Landcare Network.

The 2009 Posthumous inductee is Todd Bachman. Todd had an early exposure to horticulture. He grew up working in greenhouses and overseeing crops with his relatives. He graduated in 1968 with a bachelor’s in horticulture and a minor in business administration from the University of Minnesota. Todd loved working in the green industry – the people, the flowers and trees, the products and services. He worked hard as a chairman and board member of many boards, including the Minnesota Commercial Flower Growers, Society of American Florists, North Central Florists’ Association, Ohio State Florists’ Association, American Floral Endowment, Yoder Brothers, Minnesota Nursery and Landscape Association Foundation, and Hortica Insurance Company. He was a strong supporter of his community through his faith and through the establishment of the Todd and Barbara Bachman Chair in Horticulture/Floriculture Marketing at the University of Minnesota. Todd passed away in the summer of 2008 at the Olympic Games in Beijing.

APRIL 20, 2009

THE WINNER OF AN EasyGreenz™ Micro-web is!

Artscape located in Royal Oak Michigan. Congratulations Caprice, please click HERE within 72 hours to define the parameters of your EasyGreenz™ micro-web and use the promo code that we emailed to you a short while ago.

APRIL 1, 2009

Interiorplantscaper.com introduces GreenChat™

GreenChat, our new Interior Plantscape Industry Discussion Forum has officially launched. You may visit GreenChat™ and register with your name and company name to post to the Branches.

WOW! After just three days, we now have over 50 registered GreenChat™ Members. How Cool. If you've got a colleague whom you think would be a great addition to our community, please don't hesitate to tell them about GreenChat™

APRIL 1, 2009

PLEASE WELCOME BARB HELFMAN TO Interiorplantscaper.com™

Times they sure are changing! The economy is challenging, to say the least and you must be quick to respond to your clients needs and the ever changing market. We're changing too here at Interiorplantscaper.com and with this issue, we welcome Barb Helfman as a Contributor to the Interiorplantscaper.com community.

Look for additional Contributors and more frequent issues of our web-zine in the coming months!

March 15, 2009

INTERIOR PLANTSCAPERS LAY GROUNDWORK FOR NEW COALITION

The second gathering of the new Interior Industry Coalition (IIC) was held on January 16, 2009, in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, at the Tropical Plant Industry Exhibition (TPIE). PLANET representatives at the meeting included PLANET President Jason Cupp, CLP; PLANET Interior Plantscape Specialty Group Chair Chris Raimondi, CLP; and the specialty group’s staff manager James H. Johnson.
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