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Pervious Concrete |
* Manning Concrete is a Certified Pervious Installer
The Natural Choice
It's tough to balance the demand for development with the need to preserve our natural resources. However, this balance becomes easy to achieve when you construct parking lots using pervious concrete.
Pervious concrete is a mix of coarse aggregate, cement, water, and little to no sand. Also knowns as "no-fines" or porous concrete, this mixture creates an open-cell structure, allowing rainwater to filter through to underlying soil. By modeling natural ground cover, pervious concrete is an excellent choice for stormwater management.
The Environmentally Sound Choice
According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), stormwater runof can send as much as 90% of the pollutants-such as oil and other hydrocarbon liquids found on the surface of traditional parking lots-directly into our rivers and streams. The EPA now requires state and local governments to implement measures to reduce and improve the overall quality of stormwater runoff in an effort to address this important pollution problem. Pervious concrete has been recognized by the EPA as a best management practice (BMP) to address this most vital environmental concern. The open-cell structure of pervious concrete provides a medium for aerobic bacteria that break down many of the pollutants that seep from parked cars.
Pervioucs concrete also contributes to enhanced air quality by lowering atmospheric heating through lighter color and lower densityk decreasing the impact of heat island effects. The heat island effect occurs when tree-covered areas are replaced with dark pavement surfaces, and is characterized by up to a 12-degree average temperature increase between an urban area and its surrounding countryside. This heat island effect increases ground level ozone production by as much as 30%.
Concrete surfaces, both pervious and conventional, have a much higher albedo-a measure of reflectance-than competitive paving materials. Specifications requiring a minimum surface albedo are becoming increasingly popular. The inherently light color of concrete naturally reflects heat and light. Studies have shown as much as a 30% savings in lighting costs over other pavement types due o concrete pavement's reflectivity.
The Smart Business Choice
Using pervious concrete pavement in your parking lot can reduce the need for large detention ponds because the pavement acts as a detention area. Parking lot owners will spend fewer dollars on labor, construction and maintenance of detention ponds, skimmers, pumps, drainage pipes, and other stormwater management systems. Expensive irrigation systems can also be downsized or eliminated.
A pervious concrete parking lot will help reduce demands upon sewer systems. Today, many government agencies are now implementing stormwater impact fees for all impervoius areas. Pervious concrete can reduce these fees for the property owner.
Developers are using pervious concrete for parking lots to increase utilization of commercial properties. The land ordinarily devoted to costly stormwater management practices or compliance with maximum impervious area ordinances can now be developed or preserved, enhancing the bottom line.
Pervious concrete is a durable material-parking areas properly designed and constructed will last 20-40 years with little or no maintenance. Thus concrete, conventional or pervious, is widely recognized as the lowest life cycle cost option available for paving.
Benefits of Pervious Concrete
- Reduces stormwater runoff
- Eliminates the need for detention ponds and other costly stormwater management practices
- Replenishes water tables and aquifers
- Allows for more efficient land development
- Minimizes flash flooding and standing water
- Prevents warm and polluted wter from entering our streams
- Migrates surface pollutants
- Earns LEED credits
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