Jason Rokosh
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Jason Rokosh, BD(EP), MLA, OALA, CSLA
Principal, Vertical Landscape Architects
Jason Rokosh
As a prominent voice in the green wall community, you may know him or have seen him featured recently in the news for maintaining green walls during COVI19 and why plants are so important in our living and working environments.
Green Roof Professional (GRP), Jason Rokosh, BD(EP), MLA, OALA, CSLA of Vertical Landscape Architects is a driving force behind indoor vertical greening. You can check out some of his green roof and living wall projects at vertla.com.
This week, GRHC connected with Jason to ask him about the green wall industry and where he sees the future of green infrastructure going.
Why did you decide to become a GRP?
I became a GRP in 2012 because I wanted to create a business that would employ green technologies to improve the built environment and our quality of life. I thought that the GRP course would provide me with the necessary knowledge and credentials to achieve this.
How has it enhanced your career?
Being a GRP allows me to develop Green Roof plans and submit permits on behalf of my clients. It also gave me the opportunity to enter the green roof industry and gain valuable experience to the point where I can now approach any project with confidence.
What is your favourite part of your job?
I love knowing that my work is making a positive impact on people and urban ecology. The absolute best form of job satisfaction comes from people seeing our work and giving us compliments like “we absolutely love this living wall” or witnessing pollinator species and monarch butterflies flourishing on one of our green roofs several stories above the ground.
Additional details about the GRP process or how it contributes to your work
What advice would you provide to someone interested in pursuing a similar career path to yourself?
GRHC training and resources were critical to my professional development and decision to create a business specializing in green roofs and living walls. I have taken advantage of many GRHC courses over the years to keep abreast of new technologies and attend their conferences for both continuing education and networking opportunities. I would highly recommend others look into joining GRHC if they aren’t already members to learn more about living architecture – a field that I expect will only grow as urban densities continue to increase.
What trends about green infrastructure/sustainability make you excited for the future?
Rooftops have so much potential for productive agriculture and meaningful green spaces. I hope we soon go beyond the “minimum” green roof standards and push the envelope for better designs that can be considered or even classified as parks or natural landscapes on buildings. To achieve this vision a multi-disciplinary approach supported by landscape architects, architects, engineers, developers and political decision-makers is necessary.
What do you see the role of green infrastructure in resilience and the COVID-19 recovery?
Self-isolation to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 has significantly increased the amount of time we normally spend indoors. Views to a green roof or a living wall on a daily basis are beneficial for our mental and physical health. Knowing that this pandemic will likely persist for some time and other pandemics like this one may occur in the future, I would expect that trends for living architecture may increase even more, especially if these forms of living architecture both inside and outside can support the production of food, medicine, beautiful plants and pollinator species.
What does your company have to say about having a GRP on staff?
Individuals with GRP training start with a good knowledge base of green roof systems and assemblies for different conditions. When you couple that with experience and passion for the industry you have a great employee that I would feel comfortable sending out into the field on behalf of my business.
To learn more about Jason and Vertical Landscape Architects visit their website at vertla.com
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Green Roof Professionals are industry recognized as having the most extensive knowledge of green roofs due to the rigorous training and exam process. The GRP training series and exam is available online through the Living Architecture Academy. Learn more about Green Roofs for Healthy Cities or how to become a Green Roof Professional.
