The Jeffrey L. Bruce Awards of Excellence winning Powderhouse intensive green roof in Somerville, MA illustrates the function and beauty of integrating nature and built form into design. The former elementary school - vacant for 15 years - was brought back to life by a team featuring Recover Green Roofs.

A growing number of urban/rural communities are developing this kind of co-operative, food-friendly approach. Instead of building a residential development around a swimming pool, a tennis court or some kind of hard landscaping, more innovative developers are creating “agrihoods” - neighborhoods with a farm as the central focus.